RESUMO
Fungal transcription factor Upc2 senses ergosterol levels and regulates sterol biosynthesis and uptake. Constitutive activation of Upc2 causes azole resistance in Candida species. We determined the structure of ergosterol-bound Upc2, revealing the ligand specificity and transcriptional regulation. Ergosterol binding involves conformational changes of the ligand-binding domain, creating a shape-complementary hydrophobic pocket. The conserved helix α12 and glycine-rich loop are critical for sterol recognition by forming the pocket wall. The mutations of the glycine-rich loop inhibit ligand binding by steric clashes and constitutively activate Upc2. The translocation of Upc2 is regulated by Hsp90 chaperone in a sterol-dependent manner. Ergosterol-bound Upc2 associates with Hsp90 using the C-terminal tail, which retains the inactive Upc2 in the cytosol. Ergosterol dissociation induces a conformational change of the C-terminal tail, releasing Upc2 from Hsp90 for nuclear transport by importin α. The understanding of the regulatory mechanism provides an antifungal target for the treatment of azole-resistant Candida infections.
Assuntos
Antifúngicos , Azóis , Azóis/farmacologia , Antifúngicos/farmacologia , Farmacorresistência Fúngica/genética , Esteróis , Ligantes , alfa Carioferinas/genética , alfa Carioferinas/metabolismo , Ergosterol/genética , Ergosterol/metabolismo , Fatores de Transcrição/metabolismo , Proteínas de Choque Térmico HSP90/metabolismo , Glicina/metabolismo , Proteínas Fúngicas/metabolismo , Regulação Fúngica da Expressão GênicaRESUMO
Alphaviruses are arthropod-borne, positive-stranded RNA viruses capable of causing severe disease with high morbidity. Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an alphavirus that causes a febrile illness which can progress into chronic arthralgia. The current lack of vaccines and specific treatment for CHIKV infection underscores the need to develop new therapeutic interventions. To discover new antiviral agents, we performed a compound screen in cell culture-based infection models and identified two carbocyclic adenosine analogues, 6'-ß-fluoro-homoaristeromycin (FHA) and 6'-fluoro-homoneplanocin A (FHNA), that displayed potent activity against CHIKV and Semliki Forest virus (SFV) with 50% effective concentrations in the nanomolar range at nontoxic concentrations. The compounds, designed as inhibitors of the host enzyme S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) hydrolase, impeded postentry steps in CHIKV and SFV replication. Selection of FHNA-resistant mutants and reverse genetics studies demonstrated that the combination of mutations G230R and K299E in CHIKV nonstructural protein 1 (nsP1) conferred resistance to the compounds. Enzymatic assays with purified wild-type (wt) SFV nsP1 suggested that an oxidized (3'-keto) form, rather than FHNA itself, directly inhibited the MTase activity, while a mutant protein with the K231R and K299E substitutions was insensitive to the compound. Both wt nsP1 and the resistant mutant were equally sensitive to the inhibitory effect of SAH. Our combined data suggest that FHA and FHNA inhibit CHIKV and SFV replication by directly targeting the MTase activity of nsP1, rather than through an indirect effect on host SAH hydrolase. The high potency and selectivity of these novel alphavirus mRNA capping inhibitors warrant further preclinical investigation of these compounds.
Assuntos
Adenosina/análogos & derivados , Antivirais/farmacologia , Vírus Chikungunya/efeitos dos fármacos , Vírus Chikungunya/fisiologia , Adenosina/farmacologia , Animais , Vírus Chikungunya/patogenicidade , Chlorocebus aethiops , Relação Dose-Resposta a Droga , Avaliação Pré-Clínica de Medicamentos , Farmacorresistência Viral/efeitos dos fármacos , Farmacorresistência Viral/genética , Guanosina Monofosfato/metabolismo , Mutação , Radioisótopos de Fósforo , Vírus da Floresta de Semliki/efeitos dos fármacos , Células Vero , Proteínas não Estruturais Virais/antagonistas & inibidores , Proteínas não Estruturais Virais/genética , Proteínas não Estruturais Virais/metabolismo , Replicação Viral/efeitos dos fármacosRESUMO
5'-Homo-4'-selenonucleosides, a class of next-generation nucleosides, are synthesized from D-ribose via a 4-selenosugar intermediate. The key step in synthesizing this intermediate is a seleno-Michael reaction. 5'-Homo-4'-selenouridine and -adenosine are prepared using Pummerer-type and Vorbrüggen condensation, respectively. © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Assuntos
Nucleosídeos/síntese química , Selênio/química , Espectroscopia de Ressonância Magnética Nuclear de Carbono-13 , Nucleosídeos/química , Espectroscopia de Prótons por Ressonância Magnética , Espectrometria de Massas por Ionização por Electrospray , EstereoisomerismoRESUMO
There have been a number of reports of dietary supplements contaminated with illegal adulterants that threaten consumers' health because of their adverse pharmacological effects. In the present study, a convenient and economic method was developed to detect illegal pharmaceutics, such as PDE-5 inhibitor and appetite suppressants, using liquid chromatography (LC)/photodiode array (PDA) for screening and LC/mass spectrometry (MS) for successive confirmation. Target peaks were identified by comparison of their chromatographic retention times and PDA spectra with those of synthetic standards and finally confirmed by LC/MS. As a result, tadalafil, a PDE-5 inhibitor, and N-desmethylsibutramine, a derivative of sibutramine, were detected in various dietary supplements at concentrations of 13.5-21.9 mg and 3.0 mg per single dose, respectively. The present study will contribute to the development of an analytical method enabling rapid screening of a variety of health foods, and the result suggests that consumers should be aware of serious health risks related to these illegal compounds.