Investigations into the decomposition of aminoacyl-substituted monosaccharide scaffolds from a drug discovery library.

This study investigated the unexpected decomposition and associated intermediates of compound 1, a specific member of a drug discovery library based on a monosaccharide scaffold. LC/MS and NMR spectroscopic analyses indicated that, under acidic conditions, 1 can be converted into the 4-aminogalactoside 2, due to cleavage of the 4-aminobutanoyl side chain. The reaction occurs most likely through an initial intramolecular amino­amide interaction, followed by an N- to O-acyl transfer of the side chain from C-4 to the C-6 position to form an ester intermediate (5), detectable by NMR, and subsequent hydrolysis. Similar decomposition reactions could be induced in selected compounds with similar structures, containing a free hydroxyl group at C-6 and a 4-aminobutanoyl side chain at C-4 of an aminogalactoside. Furthermore, three model compounds were synthesized without a C-6 hydroxyl group and with different length aminoalkanoyl side chains at the C-4 position. The model compounds all decomposed under acidic conditions, but at different rates and much slower when compared with compound 1, suggesting that both the C-6 hydroxyl group and the length of the side chain have an influence on stability.

In vivo profiling of seven common opioids for antinociception, constipation and respiratory depression: no two opioids have the same profile.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: For patients experiencing inadequate analgesia and intolerable opioid-related side effects on one strong opioid analgesic, pain relief with acceptable tolerability is often achieved by rotation to a second strong opioid. These observations suggest subtle pharmacodynamic differences between opioids in vivo. This study in rats was designed to assess differences between opioids in their in vivo profiles. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: Male Sprague Dawley rats were given single i.c.v. bolus doses of morphine, morphine-6-glucuronide (M6G), fentanyl, oxycodone, buprenorphine, DPDPE ([D-penicillamine(2,5) ]-enkephalin) or U69,593. Antinociception, constipation and respiratory depression were assessed using the warm water tail-flick test, the castor oil-induced diarrhoea test and whole body plethysmography respectively. KEY RESULTS: These opioid agonists produced dose-dependent antinociception, constipation and respiratory depression. For antinociception, morphine, fentanyl and oxycodone were full agonists, buprenorphine and M6G were partial agonists, whereas DPDPE and U69,593 had low potency. For constipation, M6G, fentanyl and buprenorphine were full agonists, oxycodone was a partial agonist, morphine produced a bell-shaped dose-response curve, whereas DPDPE and U69,593 were inactive. For respiratory depression, morphine, M6G, fentanyl and buprenorphine were full agonists, oxycodone was a partial agonist, whereas DPDPE and U69,593 were inactive. The respiratory depressant effects of fentanyl and oxycodone were of short duration, whereas morphine, M6G and buprenorphine evoked prolonged respiratory depression. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: For the seven opioids we assessed, no two had the same profile for evoking antinociception, constipation and respiratory depression, suggesting that these effects are differentially regulated. Our findings may explain the clinical success of 'opioid rotation'. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is part of a themed section on Opioids: New Pathways to Functional Selectivity. To view the other articles in this section visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bph.2015.172.issue-2.

The development and application of a novel safety-catch linker for BOC-based assembly of libraries of cyclic peptides.

Cyclic peptides are appealing targets in the drug-discovery process. Unfortunately, there currently exist no robust solid-phase strategies that allow the synthesis of large arrays of discrete cyclic peptides. Existing strategies are complicated, when synthesizing large libraries, by the extensive workup that is required to extract the cyclic product from the deprotection/cleavage mixture. To overcome this, we have developed a new safety-catch linker. The safety-catch concept described here involves the use of a protected catechol derivative in which one of the hydroxyls is masked with a benzyl group during peptide synthesis, thus making the linker deactivated to aminolysis. This masked derivative of the linker allows BOC solid-phase peptide assembly of the linear precursor. Prior to cyclization, the linker is activated and the linear peptide deprotected using conditions commonly employed (TFMSA), resulting in deprotected peptide attached to the activated form of the linker. Scavengers and deprotection adducts are removed by simple washing and filtration. Upon neutralization of the N-terminal amine, cyclization with concomitant cleavage from the resin yields the cyclic peptide in DMF solution. Workup is simple solvent removal. To exemplify this strategy, several cyclic peptides were synthesized targeted toward the somatostatin and integrin receptors. From this initial study and to show the strength of this method, we were able to synthesize a cyclic-peptide library containing over 400 members. This linker technology provides a new solid-phase avenue to access large arrays of cyclic peptides.

An activated O --> N acyl transfer auxiliary: efficient amide-backbone substitution of hindered "difficult" peptides.

Overcoming the phenomenon known as "difficult" synthetic sequences has been a major goal in solid-phase peptide synthesis for over 30 years. In this work the advantages of amide backbone-substitution in the solid-phase synthesis of "difficult" peptides are augmented by developing an activated N(alpha)()-acyl transfer auxiliary. Apart from disrupting troublesome intermolecular hydrogen-bonding networks, the primary function of the activated N(alpha)()-auxiliary was to facilitate clean and efficient acyl capture of large or beta-branched amino acids and improve acyl transfer yields to the secondary N(alpha)()-amine. We found o-hydroxyl-substituted nitrobenzyl (Hnb) groups were suitable N(alpha)()-auxiliaries for this purpose. The relative acyl transfer efficiency of the Hnb auxiliary was superior to the 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzyl (Hmb) auxiliary with protected amino acids of varying size. Significantly, this difference in efficiency was more pronounced between more sterically demanding amino acids. The Hnb auxiliary is readily incorporated at the N(alpha)()-amine during SPPS by reductive alkylation of its corresponding benzaldehyde derivative and conveniently removed by mild photolysis at 366 nm. The usefulness of the Hnb auxiliary for the improvement of coupling efficiencies in the chain-assembly of difficult peptides was demonstrated by the efficient Hnb-assisted Fmoc solid-phase synthesis of a known hindered difficult peptide sequence, STAT-91. This work suggests the Hnb auxiliary will significantly enhance our ability to synthesize difficult polypeptides and increases the applicability of amide-backbone substitution.

Biomolecular interaction analysis of IFN gamma-induced signaling events in whole-cell lysates: prevalence of latent STAT1 in high-molecular weight complexes.

The basic framework for the JAK/STAT pathway is well documented. Recruitment of latent cytoplasmic STAT transcription factors to tyrosine phosphorylated docking sites on cytokine receptors and their JAK-mediated phosphorylation instigates their translocation to the nucleus and their ability to bind DNA. The biochemical processes underlying recruitment and activation of this pathway have commonly been studied in reconstituted in vitro systems using previously defined recombinant signaling components. We have dissected the Interferon gamma (IFN gamma) signal transduction pathway in crude extracts from wild-type and STAT1-negative mutant cell lines by real-time BIAcore analysis, size-exclusion (SE) chromatography and immuno-detection. The data indicate that in detergent-free cell extracts: (1) the phospho-tyrosine (Y440P)-containing peptide motif of the IFN gamma-receptor alpha-chain interacts directly with STAT1, or STAT1 complexes, and no other protein; (2) non-activated STAT1 is present in a higher molecular weight complex(es) and, at least for IFN gamma-primed cells, is available for recruitment to the activated IFN gamma-receptor from only a subset of such complexes; (3) activated STAT1 is released from the receptor as a monomer.