Enzymatic methylation and structure-activity-relationship studies on polycarcin V, a gilvocarcin-type antitumor agent.

Polycarcin V, a polyketide natural product of Streptomyces polyformus, was chosen to study structure-activity relationships of the gilvocarcin group of antitumor antibiotics due to a similar chemical structure and comparable bioactivity with gilvocarcin V, the principle compound of this group, and the feasibility of enzymatic modifications of its sugar moiety by auxiliary O-methyltransferases. Such enzymes were used to modify the interaction of the drug with histone H3, the biological target that interacts with the sugar moiety. Cytotoxicity assays revealed that a free 2'-OH group of the sugar moiety is essential to maintain the bioactivity of polycarcin V, apparently an important hydrogen bond donor for the interaction with histone H3, and converting 3'-OH into an OCH3 group improved the bioactivity. Bis-methylated polycarcin derivatives revealed weaker activity than the parent compound, indicating that at least two hydrogen bond donors in the sugar are necessary for optimal binding.

Angucyclines: Biosynthesis, mode-of-action, new natural products, and synthesis.

Covering: 1997 to 2010. The angucycline group is the largest group of type II PKS-engineered natural products, rich in biological activities and chemical scaffolds. This stimulated synthetic creativity and biosynthetic inquisitiveness. The synthetic studies used five different strategies, involving Diels-Alder reactions, nucleophilic additions, electrophilic additions, transition-metal mediated cross-couplings and intramolecular cyclizations to generate the angucycline frames. Biosynthetic studies were particularly intriguing when unusual framework rearrangements by post-PKS tailoring oxidoreductases occurred, or when unusual glycosylation reactions were involved in decorating the benz[a]anthracene-derived cores. This review follows our previous reviews, which were published in 1992 and 1997, and covers new angucycline group antibiotics published between 1997 and 2010. However, in contrast to the previous reviews, the main focus of this article is on new synthetic approaches and biosynthetic investigations, most of which were published between 1997 and 2010, but go beyond, e.g. for some biosyntheses all the way back to the 1980s, to provide the necessary context of information.

Engineered biosynthesis of gilvocarcin analogues with altered deoxyhexopyranose moieties.

A combinatorial biosynthetic approach was used to interrogate the donor substrate flexibility of GilGT, the glycosyltransferase involved in C-glycosylation during gilvocarcin biosynthesis. Complementation of gilvocarcin mutant Streptomyces lividans TK24 (cosG9B3-U(-)), in which the biosynthesis of the natural sugar donor substrate was compromised, with various deoxysugar plasmids led to the generation of six gilvocarcin analogues with altered saccharide moieties. Characterization of the isolated gilvocarcin derivatives revealed five new compounds, including 4-ß-C-D-olivosyl-gilvocarcin V (D-olivosyl GV), 4-ß-C-D-olivosyl-gilvocarcin M (D-olivosyl GM), 4-ß-C-D-olivosyl-gilvocarcin E (D-olivosyl GE), 4-α-C-L-rhamnosyl-gilvocarcin M (polycarcin M), 4-α-C-L-rhamnosyl-gilvocarcin E (polycarcin E), and the recently characterized 4-α-C-L-rhamnosyl-gilvocarcin V (polycarcin V). Preliminary anticancer assays showed that D-olivosyl-gilvocarcin and polycarcin V exhibit antitumor activities comparable to that of their parent drug congener, gilvocarcin V, against human lung cancer (H460), murine lung cancer (LL/2), and breast cancer (MCF-7) cell lines. Our findings demonstrate GilGT to be a moderately flexible C-glycosyltransferase able to transfer both D- and L-hexopyranose moieties to the unique angucyclinone-derived benzo[D]naphtho[1,2b]pyran-6-one backbone of the gilvocarcins.

Cloning and characterization of the ravidomycin and chrysomycin biosynthetic gene clusters.

The gene clusters responsible for the biosynthesis of two antitumor antibiotics, ravidomycin and chrysomycin, have been cloned from Streptomyces ravidus and Streptomyces albaduncus, respectively. Sequencing of the 33.28 kb DNA region of the cosmid cosRav32 and the 34.65 kb DNA region of cosChry1-1 and cosChryF2 revealed 36 and 35 open reading frames (ORFs), respectively, harboring tandem sets of type II polyketide synthase (PKS) genes, D-ravidosamine and D-virenose biosynthetic genes, post-PKS tailoring genes, regulatory genes, and genes of unknown function. The isolated ravidomycin gene cluster was confirmed to be involved in ravidomycin biosynthesis through the production of a new analogue of ravidomycin along with anticipated pathway intermediates and biosynthetic shunt products upon heterologous expression of the cosmid, cosRav32, in Streptomyces lividans TK24. The identity of the cluster was further verified through cross complementation of gilvocarcin V (GV) mutants. Similarly, the chrysomycin gene cluster was demonstrated to be indirectly involved in chrysomycin biosynthesis through cross-complementation of gilvocarcin mutants deficient in the oxygenases GilOII, GilOIII, and GilOIV with the respective chrysomycin monooxygenase homologues. The ravidomycin glycosyltransferase (RavGT) appears to be able to transfer both amino- and neutral sugars, exemplified through the structurally distinct 6-membered D-ravidosamine and 5-membered D-fucofuranose, to the coumarin-based polyketide derived backbone. These results expand the library of biosynthetic genes involved in the biosyntheses of gilvocarcin class compounds that can be used to generate novel analogues through combinatorial biosynthesis.

Delineating the earliest steps of gilvocarcin biosynthesis: role of GilP and GilQ in starter unit specificity.

In vivo and in vitro investigations of GilP and GilQ, two acyltransferases encoded by the gilvocarcin gene cluster, show that GilQ confers unique starter unit specificity when catalyzing an early as well as rate limiting step of gilvocarcin biosynthesis.

Pyramidamycins A-D and 3-hydroxyquinoline-2-carboxamide; cytotoxic benzamides from Streptomyces sp. DGC1.

Four new benzamides, pyramidamycins A-D (2-5) along with the new natural 3-hydroxyquinoline-2-carboxamide (6) were isolated from the crude extract of Streptomyces sp. DGC1. Additionally, five other known compounds, namely 2-aminobenzamide (anthranilamide) (1), 4',7-dihydroxyisoflavanone (7), 2'-deoxy-thymidine, 2'-deoxy-uridine and adenosine were also isolated and identified. The structures of the new compounds 2-6 were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR studies along with HR MS analyses. The isolated compounds 1-6 contained the same amide side chain. The isolated compounds 1-7 were biologically evaluated in comparison with landomycin A against a prostate cancer cell line (PC3) and non-small cell lung cancer cell line (H460) for 48 h and against several bacterial strains. Pyramidamycin C (4) was the most active compound against both PC3 and H460 cell lines (GI(50)=2.473 and 7.339 µM, respectively). Benzamides (1-3) demonstrated inhibitory activity against Kocuria rosea B-1106 (a diameter halo of 13±2 mm for 1; 10±2 mm for 2 and 3). Compound 6 was slightly active against both Escherichia coli DH5α and Micrococcus luteus NRRL B-2618 (diameter halos 8±2 and 9±2 mm, respectively). Taxonomically, the amplified 500-bp 16 S rRNA fragment of the Streptomyces sp. DGC1 had 99% identity (BLAST search) to the 16S rRNA gene of Streptomyces atrovirens strain NRRL B-16357.

Laboratory maintenance of Streptomyces species.

This unit includes general protocols for the laboratory maintenance of Streptomyces species, including growth in liquid media, growth on solid agar, and short- and long-term storage. Considerations for the handling of Streptomyces species and the morphology of the bacteria are also reviewed.

Genetic manipulation of Streptomyces species.

This unit includes general protocols for the genetic manipulation of Streptomyces species, including genomic DNA isolation, genomic library preparation, intergeneric conjugation of Streptomyces with E. coli, generation and transformation of Streptomyces protoplasts, electroporation of Streptomyces mycelia, and colony PCR.

Laboratory maintenance of Streptomyces argillaceus and Streptomyces griseus.

This unit describes general protocols for the laboratory maintenance of Streptomyces argillaceus and griseus, including growth on solid and liquid media, as well as specific considerations for the type of medium to be used with these species.

Isolation of Streptomyces species from soil.

This unit describes a general protocol for the isolation of Streptomyces species from soil and fresh water, using a procedure for the selective growth of Streptomyces species. Preparation of the necessary growth medium, recognition of the morphology of the bacteria, and safety considerations are also covered.