Synthesis of chitosan iodoacetamides via carbodiimide coupling reaction: Effect of degree of substitution on the hemostatic properties.

Uncontrolled hemorrhage continues to be the leading cause of death from traumatic injuries both in the battlefield and in the civilian life. Chitosan is among the very few materials that have made the short list of military recommended field-deployable hemostatic dressings. However, the detailed mechanism of its action is still not fully understood. Moreover, in the cases when patients developed coagulopathy, the efficacy of the dressings rely solely on those mechanisms that work outside of the regular blood coagulation cascade. In addition to the well-known erythrocyte agglutination, we proposed to use the reactive N-iodoacetyl group on a new chitosan derivative to accelerate hemostasis. In this paper, we describe the synthesis of chitosan iodoacetamide (CI) with considerations of the stoichiometry among the reagents, the choice of solvent, the pH of the reaction medium, and the reaction time. The reaction was confirmed by FT-IR, 1H and 13C NMR, elemental analysis, iodine content analysis, and SEM-EDS. Water contact angle measurements and Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) method were used to evaluate the hemostatic potential of the newly synthesized CI as a function of their degree of substitution (DS). The range of DS was 5.9% to 27.8% for CI. The mid-range of DS gave the best results for the ESR. CIs exhibit favorable cytocompatibilities up to DS 18.7 compared to the generic unmodified chitosan. In general, the biocompatibility of chitosan iodoacetamide slightly declined with increasing the iodide content up to DS 21.5 owing to its affinity to SH groups of cells.

Isotope-coded, iodoacetamide-based reagent to determine individual cysteine pK(a) values by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Cysteine reactivity in enzymes is imparted to a large extent by the stabilization of the deprotonated form of the reduced cysteine (i.e., the thiolate) within the active site. Although this is likely to be an important chemical attribute of many thiol-based enzymes, including cysteine-dependent peroxidases (peroxiredoxins) and proteases, only relatively few pK(a) values have been determined experimentally. Presented here is a new technique for determining the pK(a) value of cysteine residues through quantitative mass spectrometry following chemical modification with an iodoacetamide-based reagent over a range of pH buffers. This isotope-coded reagent, N-phenyl iodoacetamide (iodoacetanilide), is readily prepared in deuterated (d(5)) and protiated (d(0)) versions and is more reactive toward free cysteine than is iodoacetamide. Using this approach, the pK(a) values for the two cysteine residues in Escherichia coli thioredoxin were determined to be 6.5 and greater than 10.0, in good agreement with previous reports using chemical modification approaches. This technique allows the pK(a) of specific cysteine residues to be determined in a clear, fast, and simple manner and, because cysteine residues on separate tryptic peptides are measured separately, is not complicated by the presence of multiple cysteines within the protein of interest.

[A new bromine-containing reagent for cysteine modification].

5-Bromo-2[(2-iodoacetyl)amino]benzenesulfonic acid (AIBSA), a reagent for modification of free of cysteine thiol groups in proteins and peptides, was synthesized. Rate constants of its interaction with thiol groups were determined. The presence of a bromine atom allows an easy identification of the AIBSA-labeled peptides in mass spectra due to the characteristic isotope distribution. The compound is stable in solution and under exposure to light.

Synthesis of D-labeled naphthyliodoacetamide and application to quantitative peptide analysis by isotope differential mass spectrometry.

D-labeled and -unlabeled N-beta-naphthyliodoacetamides have been synthesized for specific modification of the sulfhydryl groups of cysteine residues in proteins or peptides, and have been applied to quantitative analysis of several peptides. A combination of these reagents, coupled with mass spectrometry, is anticipated to serve as a useful tool for quantitative analysis of peptides and hence proteins.

Synthesis and biological activity of new iodoacetamide derivatives on mutants of squalene-hopene cyclase.

New iodoacetamide derivatives, containing a dodecyl or a squalenyl moiety, were synthesized. The effect of these new thiol-reacting molecules was studied on two mutants of Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius squalene-hopene cyclase constructed especially for this purpose. In the quintuple mutant, all five cysteine residues of the enzyme are substituted with serine; in the sextuple mutant, this quintuple substitution is accompanied by the substitution of aspartate D376, located at the enzyme's active site, with a cysteine. N-Dodecyliodoacetamide had little activity toward either mutant, whereas N-squalenyliodoacetamide showed a stronger effect on the sextuple than on the quintuple mutant, as expected.

8-endo versus 7-exo cyclization of alpha-carbamoyl radicals. A combination of experimental and theoretical studies.

Atom transfer radical cyclization reactions of N-(4-pentenyl)iodoacetamides were investigated. The reactions were efficiently promoted by BF3.OEt2. For N-alkenyl-substituted iodoamides, excellent regioselectivity in favor of 8-endo cyclization was observed, while both 7-exo and 8-endo cyclization products were formed with the 8-endo cyclization preferred in the cases of N-(2-allylphenyl)-substituted iodoamides. Density functional theory calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G level revealed that both the s-trans and the s-cis conformational transition structures were feasible for the 8-endo cyclization of N-alkenyl-substituted alpha-carbamoyl radicals while 7-exo transition structures were much less stable. For the cyclization of N-(2-allylphenyl)-substituted alpha-carbamoyl radicals, the transition structures for 8-endo and 7-exo cyclizations were of comparable energy. These results were in excellent agreement with the experimental observations.

Synthesis of norbiotinamine and its derivatives.

Synthesis of norbiotinamine (II) and its reactive derivatives, isothiocyanates (III and IV), iodoacetamide (V), and maleimide (VI), are described. In addition, N-norbiotinyl-gamma-L-glutamylamide (VII) was prepared as a potential alternative to the fixable polar tracer biocytin (biotinoyllysine).

Modification of cysteine residues with N-methyl iodoacetamide.

Cysteine residues derivatized with N-methyl iodoacetamide (MIAA) can be analyzed by the Edman sequencing with a high degree of reliability. By HPLC, the phenylthiohydantoin (PTH) derivative of MIAA-modified cysteine eluted between dimethylphenylthiourea and PTH-Ala--a wide gap which is not occupied or interfered with by any other by-products or PTH amino acids. During extended Edman degradation, the recovery of PTH derivative of MIAA-modified Cys was as quantitative and reproducible as that of other stable PTH derivatives such as Ala, Val, and Leu.

Interactions of the tau-tubulin-vinblastine complex with colchicine, podophyllotoxin, and N,N'-ethylenebis(iodoacetamide).

Microtubule assembly is inhibited by anti-mitotic drugs such as colchicine or podophyllotoxin and also by sulfhydryl-oxidizing reagents, but it is not known which tubulin-tubulin interactions are disrupted by these agents. We have studied the interactions of a complex of tubulin, vinblastine, and tau protein with these agents. This complex has the form of a spiral filament and may consist of tubulin dimers joined end to end as in a protofilament; presumably, therefore, the lateral interaction sites should be accessible in this structure but not in the intact microtubule. Unlike the microtubule, the complex binds to colchicine and podophyllotoxin with high affinity. Again, unlike intact microtubules, the complex reacts with N,N'-ethylene-bis(iodoacetamide) to generate an intra-chain cross-link in beta-tubulin. Tubulin molecules containing this cross-link are unable to polymerize, suggesting that formation of this cross-link involves sulfhydryl groups that are critical for assembly. These results are consistent with a model whereby colchicine-, podophyllotoxin-, and sulfhydryl-oxidizing agents inhibit microtubule assembly by preventing lateral interactions between tubulin molecules in adjacent protofilaments.