Diterpenoids from Euphorbia paralias.

Two segatane diterpenoids containing a bicyclic [4,3,1] ring system were isolated, together with 11 known diterpenoids, four segetanes, five jatrophanes and two paralianes, from the aerial parts of Euphorbia paralias. The structures of the new compounds were established by spectroscopic means, including by 2D NMR and CD spectroscopic analyses. The antifeedant and antiviral activities of the isolated compounds are also described.

Unprecedented sugar-dependent in vivo antitumor activity of carbohydrate-pendant cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) complexes.

Eight carbohydrate-pendant platinum(II) complexes have been synthesized from carbohydrate-diamine conjugates. D-Glucose, D-mannose, D-galactose, D-xylose, and L-glucose are attached to the dichloroplatinum(II) moiety by 1,3- or 1,2-diaminopropane chelates through with an O-glycoside bond. All the carbohydrate moieties reduced the toxicity inherent with platinum(II) complexes.

Antifeedant rings B and D opened limonoids from Khaya senegalensis.

Three new rings B and D opened limonoids, two mexicanolides named khayanone (1) and 2-hydroxyseneganolide (2) and one rearranged phragmalin limonoid of 1-O-acetylkhayanolide A (3), were isolated together with six known B,D-seco compounds from the acetone extract of the stem bark of Khaya senegalensis. Structures of new compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic means, and the absolute stereochemistry of 1 was established by CD study of the dibenzoate derivative. The insect antifeedant and antiviral activities of the new compounds were also determined.

Sugar-pendant diamines.

A set of 1,3-propanediamine derivatives connected to carbohydrates (5) has been prepared in four steps from peracetylated sugar and 1,3-dibromo-2-propanol in 60-73% yields. D-Glucose, D-mannose, D-galactose, D-xylose, D-ribose, and maltose are utilized as sugar molecules in this work. The diamine moiety was connected to the C1 carbon of the glycopyranose ring via an O-glycoside bond. All of the anomeric configurations and sugar puckering conformations, except in the D-maltose derivative, were determined by X-ray crystallography of the diazido or dibromo precursors. While glycosidation of peracetylated galactopyranose with 1,3-dibromo-2-propanol in the presence of boron trifluoride afforded both anomers, the neighboring group participation of the 2-acetoxy group yielded a single anomer for the other substrates. This method has been used to synthesize a library of sugar-pendant diamines including an OH-protected derivative (6), and an N,N'-diisopropyl-substituted derivative (7). A similar series of reactions using 2,3-dibromo-1-propanol gave ethylenediamine-type derivatives (11), and bis(bromomethyl)bis(hydroxymethyl)methane (12) gave bisglucose-pendant derivatives (16).

Structure and serologic properties of O-specific polysaccharide from Citrobacter freundii possessing cross-reactivity with Escherichia coli O157:H7.

Citrobacter freundii OCU158 is a serologically cross-reactive strain with Escherichia coli O157:H7. To explore the close relationship between two strains, we have analyzed the chemical structures of O-specific polysaccharides and antigenic properties of lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) of both strains. The structure of O-specific polysaccharides from both strains was found to be identical by chemical and nuclear magnetic resonance analyses, in which D-PerNAc was 4-acetamido-4,6-dideoxy-D-mannose: [-->4)-beta-D-Glc-(1-->3)-alpha-D-PerNAc-(1-->4)-alpha-D-GalNAc-(1 --> 3)-alpha-L-Fuc-(1-->](n). The enzyme immunoassay using LPS derived either from E. coli O157 or from C. freundii could equally detect high levels of serum antibodies against LPS in patients with enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) O157 infection. Absorption of antibodies in EHEC patient serum by LPS from E. coli O157 or C. freundii, however, showed a difference in the epitopes. This difference was attributable to the epitope specificity of the core region and/or lipid A structure in LPS.

A novel sphingoglycolipid containing galacturonic acid and 2-hydroxy fatty acid in cellular lipids of Sphingomonas yanoikuyae.

A novel sphingoglycolipid was isolated from Sphingomonas yanoikuyae, and its structure was identified as a galacturonosyl-beta (1-->1)-ceramide. This was a characteristic sphingoglycolipid present in S. yanoikuyae and certain other species of Sphingomonas, such as Sphingomonas mali, Sphingomonas terrae, and Sphingomonas macrogoltabidus, but not in the type species of Sphingomonas, Sphingomonas paucimobilis.

New cembranes from the soft coral sarcophyton species

Three new cembranes, including one with a 13-membered carbocyclic ring, have been isolated from the soft coral Sarcophyton sp.

Synthesis and opiate activity of pseudo-tetrapeptides containing chiral piperazin-2-one and piperazine derivatives.

Enantiomeric piperazin-2-one derivatives, N,N'-ethylene-bridged alanylphenylalanines (1a or 1b), were synthesized using (S)- or (R)-alanine and phenylalanine as starting materials, and were inserted into the second and third positions of enantiomeric pseudo-tetrapeptides (P1a- or P1b-OEt). The corresponding piperazine derivatives (1a- or 1b-sRed) obtained by selective BH3 reduction of the amide carbonyl groups of 1a or 1b were similarly inserted into the same positions of tetrapeptides (P1a- and P1b-sRed). Enantiomeric N,N'-ethylene-bridged tyrosyltyrosine derivatives (2a or 2b) obtained from (S)- or (R)-tyrosine were also inserted into the first and second positions of two pairs of enantiomeric tetrapeptides (P2a- and P2b-OEt or P'2a- and P'2b-OEt). The opiate activities of the eight peptides thus obtained were studied by use of the mouse vas deferens and the guinea pig ilcum assays in order to elucidate the structure-activity relationships of these peptides, especially with respect to stereochemistry.

Kinetics of proliferation and differentiation in the hair follicle and epidermis in neonatally undernourished rats.

Cell population growth kinetics of hair follicle and epidermis were measured in rats undernourished during suckling by increasing the litter size. Animals reared in litters of normal size served as controls. There was a marked atrophy of epidermis and hair follicles, and the thickness and length of the hairs were markedly reduced in the undernourished animals. Autoradiography following pulse labeling with 3H TdR demonstrated prolongation of the cell generation cycle. The G2 and S phases were chiefly affected, whereas the G1 was not altered. The double pulse labeling technique indicated a hold-up in the S phase in the epidermis, although the labeling index was not altered in the undernourished rats. On the basis of available literature, it is porposed that G2 is more energy dependent, whereas protein deficiency affects predominantly the S phase. Unlike the alteration in cell generation cycle, the process of differentiation--measured histochemically and on the basis of rate of migration of 3H-TdR-labeled bulb cells--appeared to be unaffected in undernutrition. However, there was a lag in the movement of cells out of the germinative zone. It is proposed that in undernutrition, cells spend longer time in the germinative zone to complete a critical number of division which may be peculiar to every tissue.