The utility of Streptococcus mutans undecaprenol kinase for the chemoenzymatic synthesis of diverse non-natural isoprenoids.

Isoprene chemoenzymatic cascades (ICCs) overcome the complexity of natural pathways by leveraging a streamlined two-enzyme cascade, facilitating efficient synthesis of C5-isoprene diphosphate precursors from readily available alcohol derivatives. Despite the documented promiscuity of enzymes in ICCs, exploration of their potential for accessing novel compounds remains limited, and existing methods require additional enzymes for generating longer-chain diphosphates. In this study, we present the utility of Streptococcus mutans undecaprenol kinase (SmUdpK) for the chemoenzymatic synthesis of diverse non-natural isoprenoids. Using a library of 50 synthetic alcohols, we demonstrate that SmUdpK's promiscuity extends to allylic chains as small as four carbons and benzylic alcohols with various substituents. Subsequently, SmUdpK is utilized in an ICC with isopentenyl phosphate kinase and aromatic prenyltransferase to generate multiple non-natural isoprenoids. This work provides evidence that, with proper optimization, SmUdpK can act as the first enzyme in these ICCs, enhancing access to both valuable and novel compounds.

Improved synthesis and application of an alkyne-functionalized isoprenoid analogue to study the prenylomes of motor neurons, astrocytes and their stem cell progenitors.

Protein prenylation is one example of a broad class of post-translational modifications where proteins are covalently linked to various hydrophobic moieties. To globally identify and monitor levels of all prenylated proteins in a cell simultaneously, our laboratory and others have developed chemical proteomic approaches that rely on the metabolic incorporation of isoprenoid analogues bearing bio-orthogonal functionality followed by enrichment and subsequent quantitative proteomic analysis. Here, several improvements in the synthesis of the alkyne-containing isoprenoid analogue C15AlkOPP are reported to improve synthetic efficiency. Next, metabolic labeling with C15AlkOPP was optimized to obtain useful levels of metabolic incorporation of the probe in several types of primary cells. Those conditions were then used to study the prenylomes of motor neurons (ES-MNs), astrocytes (ES-As), and their embryonic stem cell progenitors (ESCs), which allowed for the identification of 54 prenylated proteins from ESCs, 50 from ES-MNs, and 84 from ES-As, representing all types of prenylation. Bioinformatic analysis revealed specific enriched pathways, including nervous system development, chemokine signaling, Rho GTPase signaling, and adhesion. Hierarchical clustering showed that most enriched pathways in all three cell types are related to GTPase activity and vesicular transport. In contrast, STRING analysis showed significant interactions in two populations that appear to be cell type dependent. The data provided herein demonstrates that robust incorporation of C15AlkOPP can be obtained in ES-MNs and related primary cells purified via magnetic-activated cell sorting allowing the identification and quantification of numerous prenylated proteins. These results suggest that metabolic labeling with C15AlkOPP should be an effective approach for investigating the role of prenylated proteins in primary cells in both normal cells and disease pathologies, including ALS.

Diastereoselectivity is in the Details: Minor Changes Yield Major Improvements to the Synthesis of Bedaquiline.

Bedaquiline is a crucial medicine in the global fight against tuberculosis, yet its high price places it out of reach for many patients. Herein, we describe improvements to the key industrial lithiation-addition sequence that enable a higher yielding and therefore more economical synthesis of bedaquiline. Prioritization of mechanistic understanding and multi-lab reproducibility led to optimized reaction conditions that feature an unusual base-salt pairing and afford a doubling of the yield of racemic bedaquiline. We anticipate that implementation of these improvements on manufacturing scale will be facile, thereby substantially increasing the accessibility of this essential medication.

Dynamic Kinetic Spiroketalization/Oxa-Michael Addition Cascade of Alkoxyboronates and Peroxyacetals: Enantio- and Diastereoselective Synthesis of Benzannulated Spiroketals.

A unified dynamic kinetic spiroketalization/enantioselective oxa-Michael addition cascade of an aromatic ketone tethered to an alkoxyboronate and an enone moiety has been developed using cinchona alkaloid based amino-thiourea/squaramide organocatalysts to provide isobenzofuran-based benzannulated spiroketals with high diastereoselectivities and excellent enantioselectivities. Further, a dynamic kinetic peroxy-hemiacetalization/dynamic kinetic spiroketalization/enantioselective oxa-Michael addition cascade of the above substrates provides the corresponding exo-peroxy-benzannulated spiroketals with outstanding enantio- and diastereoselectivities.

Enantio- and Diastereoselective Synthesis of exo-Peroxyacetals: An Organocatalyzed Peroxyhemiacetalization/oxa-Michael Addition Cascade.

An unprecedented enantioselective peroxyhemiacetalization/oxa-Michael addition cascade of ortho-formyl homochalcones has been developed using cinchona-alkaloid-based chiral bifunctional organocatalysts to provide cis-configured exo-peroxyacetals, a new class of organic peroxide, in good yields with excellent enantio- and diastereoselectivities. The resulting cis-configured exo-peroxyacetals were converted into the corresponding trans-configured peroxyacetals without affecting the enantioselectivity. Furthermore, the displacement of the peroxide moiety of exo-peroxyacetals with various nucleophiles has been demonstrated to afford 1,3-disubstituted isochromans with high diastereoselectivities and excellent enantioselectivities.

Transition-Metal-Free Synthesis of Homo- and Hetero-1,2,4-Triaryl Benzenes by an Unexpected Base-Promoted Dearylative Pathway.

An unprecedented approach for the synthesis of homo- and hetero-1,2,4-triaryl benzenes has been developed using a simple base-mediated reaction of either α-aryl cinnamyl alcohols or α,γ-di-aryl propanones. The salient feature of this strategy involves the sequential hydride transfer, regiospecific condensation, regiospecific dearylation, and aromatization under metal-free reaction conditions. The synthesis of unsymmetrically substituted triphenylenes by oxidative coupling of the synthesized 1,2,4-triaryl benzenes has also been demonstrated.

Organocatalytic, Enantioselective Synthesis of 1- and 3-Substituted Isochromans via Intramolecular Oxa-Michael Reaction of Alkoxyboronate: Synthesis of (+)-Sonepiprazole.

The enantioselective oxa-Michael reaction of alkoxyboronate strategy was demonstrated to provide a new and practical route to enantioriched 1- and 3-substituted isochromans using a chiral bifunctional organocatalyst. Furthermore, this methodology was extended to the enantioselective synthesis of (+)-sonepiprazole, a dopamine receptor antagonist.

Improved synthesis and application of an alkyne-functionalized isoprenoid analogue to study the prenylomes of motor neurons, astrocytes and their stem cell progenitors.

Protein prenylation is one example of a broad class of post-translational modifications where proteins are covalently linked to various hydrophobic moieties. To globally identify and monitor levels of all prenylated proteins in a cell simultaneously, our laboratory and others have developed chemical proteomic approaches that rely on the metabolic incorporation of isoprenoid analogues bearing bio-orthogonal functionality followed by enrichment and subsequent quantitative proteomic analysis. Here, several improvements in the synthesis of the alkyne-containing isoprenoid analogue C15AlkOPP are reported to improve synthetic efficiency. Next, metabolic labeling with C15AlkOPP was optimized to obtain useful levels of metabolic incorporation of the probe in several types of primary cells. Those conditions were then used to study the prenylomes of motor neurons (ES-MNs), astrocytes (ES-As), and their embryonic stem cell progenitors (ESCs), which allowed for the identification of 54 prenylated proteins from ESCs, 50 from ES-MNs and 84 from ES-As, representing all types of prenylation. Bioinformatic analysis revealed specific enriched pathways, including nervous system development, chemokine signaling, Rho GTPase signaling, and adhesion. Hierarchical clustering showed that most enriched pathways in all three cell types are related to GTPase activity and vesicular transport. In contrast, STRING analysis showed significant interactions in two populations that appear to be cell type dependent. The data provided herein demonstrates that robust incorporation of C15AlkOPP can be obtained in ES-MNs and related primary cells purified via magnetic-activated cell sorting allowing the identification and quantification of numerous prenylated proteins. These results suggest that metabolic labeling with C15AlkOPP should be an effective approach for investigating the role of prenylated proteins in primary cells in both normal cells and disease pathologies, including ALS.

Application of Chiral Transfer Reagents to Improve Stereoselectivity and Yields in the Synthesis of the Antituberculosis Drug Bedaquiline.

Bedaquiline (BDQ) is an important drug for treating multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), a worldwide disease that causes more than 1.6 million deaths yearly. The current synthetic strategy adopted by the manufacturers to assemble this molecule relies on a nucleophilic addition reaction of a quinoline fragment to a ketone, but it suffers from low conversion and no stereoselectivity, which subsequently increases the cost of manufacturing BDQ. The Medicines for All Institute (M4ALL) has developed a new reaction methodology to this process that not only allows high conversion of starting materials but also results in good diastereo- and enantioselectivity toward the desired BDQ stereoisomer. A variety of chiral lithium amides derived from amino acids were studied, and it was found that lithium (R)-2-(methoxymethyl)pyrrolidide, obtained from d-proline, results in high assay yield of the desired syn-diastereomer pair (82%) and with considerable stereocontrol (d.r. = 13.6:1, e.r. = 3.6:1, 56% ee), providing BDQ in up to a 64% assay yield before purification steps toward the final API. This represents a considerable improvement in the BDQ yield compared to previously reported conditions and could be critical to further lowering the cost of this life-saving drug.

Functional screening reveals Toxoplasma prenylated proteins required for endocytic trafficking and rhoptry protein sorting.

In the apicomplexans, endocytosed cargos (e.g., hemoglobin) are trafficked to a specialized organelle for digestion. This follows a unique endocytotic process at the micropore/cytostome in these parasites. However, the mechanism underlying endocytic trafficking remains elusive, due to the repurposing of classical endocytic proteins for the biogenesis of apical organelles. To resolve this issue, we have exploited the genetic tractability of the model apicomplexan Toxoplasma gondii, which ingests host cytosolic materials (e.g., green fluorescent protein[GFP]). We determined an association between protein prenylation and endocytic trafficking, and using an alkyne-labeled click chemistry approach, the prenylated proteome was characterized. Genome editing, using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repaet/CRISPR-associated nuclease 9 (CRISPR/Cas9), was efficiently utilized to generate genetically modified lines for the functional screening of 23 prenylated candidates. This identified four of these proteins that regulate the trafficking of endocytosed GFP vesicles. Among these proteins, Rab1B and YKT6.1 are highly conserved but are non-classical endocytic proteins in eukaryotes. Confocal imaging analysis showed that Rab1B and Ras are substantially localized to both the trans-Golgi network and the endosome-like compartments in the parasite. Conditional knockdown of Rab1B caused a rapid defect in secretory trafficking to the rhoptry bulb, suggesting a trafficking intersection role for the key regulator Rab1B. Further experiments confirmed a critical role for protein prenylation in regulating the stability/activity of these proteins (i.e., Rab1B and YKT6.1) in the parasite. Our findings define the molecular basis of endocytic trafficking and reveal a potential intersection function of Rab1B on membrane trafficking in T. gondii. This might extend to other related protists, including the malarial parasites. IMPORTANCE The protozoan Toxoplasma gondii establishes a permissive niche, in host cells, that allows parasites to acquire large molecules such as proteins. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the parasite repurposes the classical endocytic components for secretory sorting to the apical organelles, leaving the question of endocytic transport to the lysosome-like compartment unclear. Recent studies indicated that endocytic trafficking is likely to associate with protein prenylation in malarial parasites. This information promoted us to examine this association in the model apicomplexan T. gondii and to identify the key components of the prenylated proteome that are involved. By exploiting the genetic tractability of T. gondii and a host GFP acquisition assay, we reveal four non-classical endocytic proteins that regulate the transport of endocytosed cargos (e.g., GFP) in T. gondii. Thus, we extend the principle that protein prenylation regulates endocytic trafficking and elucidate the process of non-classical endocytosis in T. gondii and potentially in other related protists.

In Vivo Prenylomic Profiling in the Brain of a Transgenic Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease Reveals Increased Prenylation of a Key Set of Proteins.

Dysregulation of protein prenylation has been implicated in many diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Prenylomic analysis, the combination of metabolic incorporation of an isoprenoid analogue (C15AlkOPP) into prenylated proteins with a bottom-up proteomic analysis, has allowed the identification of prenylated proteins in various cellular models. Here, transgenic AD mice were administered with C15AlkOPP through intracerebroventricular (ICV) infusion over 13 days. Using prenylomic analysis, 36 prenylated proteins were enriched in the brains of AD mice. Importantly, the prenylated forms of 15 proteins were consistently upregulated in AD mice compared to nontransgenic wild-type controls. These results highlight the power of this in vivo metabolic labeling approach to identify multiple post-translationally modified proteins that may serve as potential therapeutic targets for a disease that has proved refractory to treatment thus far. Moreover, this method should be applicable to many other types of protein modifications, significantly broadening its scope.

Enhanced Affinity for 3-Amino-Chromane-Derived σ1 Receptor Ligands.

The σ1 receptor is implicated in regulating a diverse range of physiology and is a target for developing therapies for cancer, pain management, neural degradation, and COVID-19. This report describes 36 phenethylamine-containing 3-amino-chromane ligands, which bind to σ1 with low nM affinities. The family consists of 18 distinct compounds and each enantiomer was independently assayed. Three compounds with the greatest affinity bind in the 2 nM K i range (∼8.7 pK i). Furthermore, ligands with the (3R,4R) absolute stereochemistry on the 3-amino-chromane core have a higher affinity and greater σ1 versus TMEM97 selectivity. The most promising ligands were assayed in 661W cells, which did not show significant protective effects.

Primary Aminothiourea-Catalyzed Enantioselective Synthesis of Rauhut-Currier Adducts of 3-Arylcyclohexenone with a Tethered Enone on the Aryl Moiety at the Ortho-Position.

An enantioselective synthesis of Rauhut-Currier (RC) adducts from 3-aryl cyclohexenone with a tethered enone moiety at the ortho-position on the aryl group is accomplished. This method provides a wide range of valuable synthetic building blocks having a unique [6-5-6] all-carbon-fused tricyclic skeleton. A primary amine-containing thiourea, a bifunctional organocatalyst, was found to be an efficient catalyst for this transformation. The primary amine counterpart of the catalyst possibly activates the aliphatic enone via dienamine formation (HOMO activation), whereas the thiourea counterpart activates the tethered enone (LUMO activation). Considering the difficulty in achieving an RC reaction of ß,ß-disubstituted (alkyl and aryl) enones, this method would be significantly rewarding.

Switchable Chemoselectivity for Organocatalytic, Asymmetric Malononitrile Addition to ortho-Formyl Chalcones.

Chemoselective 1,2- and 1,4-addition of malononitriles to ortho-formyl chalcones using cinchona alkaloid based bifunctional chiral organocatalysts has been shown by tuning the electronic nature of the malononitriles. Alkyl (hard) malononitriles undergo an asymmetric 1,2-addition followed by oxa-Michael reaction cascade to afford 1,3-disubstituted isobenzofurans with high enantio- and diastereoselectivity. Aryl (soft) malononitriles proceed through 1,4-addition followed by an aldol reaction cascade to provide indanols, having three consecutive stereocenters, in good yields and with good to excellent enantio- and diastereoselectivites.

Organocatalytic, enantioselective synthesis of benzoxaboroles via Wittig/oxa-Michael reaction Cascade of α-formyl boronic acids.

An unprecedented enantioselective synthesis of 3-substituted benzoxaboroles has been developed. An in situ generated ortho-boronic acid containing chalcone provides the chiral benzoxaboroles via an asymmetric oxa-Michael addition of hydroxyl group attached to the boronic acid triggered by the cinchona alkaloid based chiral amino-squaramide catalysts. In general, good yields with good to excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99%) were obtained. The resulting benzoxaboroles were converted to the corresponding chiral ß-hydroxy ketones without affecting the enantioselectivity.

Catalytic Asymmetric Conjugate Addition of Carboxylic Acids via Oxa-Michael Reaction of Peroxy Hemiacetals followed by Kornblum DeLaMare Fragmentation.

Disclosed herein an overall methodology constitutes an equivalent to the long sought after enantioselective intramolecular oxa-Michael (IOM) reaction of carboxylic acids. An organocatalyzed IOM reaction of in situ formed peroxy hemiacetals followed by a Kornblum DeLaMare type rearrangement cascade provides a broad class of chiral lactones in good yields and with excellent enatioselectvities. Remarkably, the pure chiral lactones are obtained without any silica gel column chromatography, and in many cases, the enantioselectivity is further increased by a simple hexane wash of the isolated solid products.