Structure-affinity relationship study of bleomycins and Shble protein by use of a chemical array.

The photocrosslinked chemical array format is useful not merely for screening protein ligands, but also for gaining insight into structure-affinity relationships (SARs). By probing an array of 2000 natural products, containing 50 bleomycin (BLM) derivatives, with cell lysates that overexpress RFP-fused Shble protein, we successfully observed interactions between Shble protein and BLMs on the array. Among the BLM derivatives, those that had long C-terminal tails were found to bind strongly. The binding signal intensities observed on the chemical array correlated well with the association constants, which were determined by isothermal titration carolimetry (ITC) experiments (r(2)=0.663), showing that the on-chip results were not an artifact of ligand immobilization. In addition to the C-terminal tails, the propionamide moieties in pyrimidoblamic acid (PBA) also appeared to be important for binding. The contributions of the propionamide moieties of PBA to binding were further supported by the X-ray structure of the complex of Shble protein and BLM A(6). These results provide insight into the structural requirements for recognition of BLMs by Shble protein.

Dioctatin A is a strong inhibitor of aflatoxin production by Aspergillus parasiticus.

Dioctatin A (DotA), a metabolite of Streptomyces, is known to be an inhibitor of human dipeptidyl aminopeptidase II. Here, it was found that DotA strongly inhibited aflatoxin production by Aspergillus parasiticus, with an IC50 value of 4.0 microM. The mycelial growth of the fungus was not affected by the addition of DotA at a concentration of 50 microM, but inhibition of conidiation was observed at the same concentration. DotA inhibited production of norsolorinic acid, an early biosynthetic intermediate of aflatoxin, and it strongly reduced the mRNA levels of genes encoding aflatoxin biosynthetic enzymes, and significantly decreased the mRNA level of aflR, which encodes a key regulatory protein for aflatoxin biosynthesis. In addition to these genes, the mRNA level of brlA, which encodes a conidiation-specific transcription factor, was also reduced by the addition of DotA. It was also found that DotA dramatically enhanced kojic acid production by the fungus. Furthermore, DotA inhibited production of sterigmatocystin, which is a toxic aflatoxin biosynthetic intermediate, and it also inhibited conidiation in Aspergillus nidulans. These results indicate that DotA has pleiotropic effects on regulatory mechanisms of fungal secondary metabolite production and differentiation, leading to inhibition of aflatoxin production.

Sulphostin, a novel inhibitor of dipeptidyl peptidases IV (DPPIV) that stimulates hematopoiesis in mice.

CD26, a membrane-bound ectopeptidase, is known as an activated T cell marker with dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV) activity that has diverse functional roles in the regulation of peptide hormones, neuropeptides, chemokines and growth factors. We recently isolated a novel inhibitor of DPPIV, sulphostin, from culture broth of Streptomyces sp. MK251-43F3. We investigated herein the hematopoietic effect of sulphostin in mice and found that sulphostin induced the production of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), stimulated myeloblasts in bone marrow, and increased neutrophil numbers in peripheral blood in both normal mice and mice with cyclophosphamide-induced leucopenia. Sulphostin desulfonate, in addition to sulphostin, has a similar inhibitory effect on DPPIV and stimulatory effect on neutrophils. These results suggest that DPPIV/CD26 might be a novel target for hematopoietic stimulation and DPPIV inhibitors including sulphostin and derivatives may be candidates for further development.

Synthesis and biological activity of sulphostin analogues, novel dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitors.

The structure of sulphostin (1), a novel dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) inhibitor, is consisted of three key functional groups, including a characteristic amino(sulfoamino)phosphinyl group, on a piperidine ring. To examine the relationship between its structure and the inhibitory activity against DPP-IV, various analogues were synthesized and their activities were investigated. These results indicated that all of the functional groups on the piperidine ring were crucial to the DPP-IV inhibitory activity of sulphostin, and that the sulfonic acid group, which constructed the amino(sulfoamino)phosphinyl group, contributed to the stability of the compound. Moreover, those functional groups should be adjoined on the piperidine ring for the inhibitory activity. The size of the nitrogen-containing heterocyclic ring including piperidine appeared to scarcely affect the activity. In the present study, the sulfonic acid-deficient five-membered ring analogue 27a showed the strongest inhibitory activity (IC50=11 nM).

First synthesis and determination of the absolute configuration of sulphostin, a novel inhibitor of dipeptidyl peptidase IV.

Sulphostin, a novel dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) inhibitor, was isolated from the culture broth of Streptomyces sp. MK251-43F3. Determination of the absolute configurations of two asymmetric atoms using the natural product was not achieved due to the small amount of the compound obtained. We synthesized four possible stereoisomers of sulphostin from D- or L-ornithine and compared their physicochemical and biological data to naturally isolated sulphostin. As a result, the absolute configurations at C-3 and the phosphorus atom of sulphostin were determined to be S and R, respectively, by X-ray crystallography. Synthetic sulphostin and its C-3 epimer have strong inhibitory activities against DPP-IV, IC50 values of which are 6.0 and 8.9 ng/mL, respectively. Thus it appears that the configuration of the phosphorus atom is primarily responsible for the activity; in contrast, the configuration of C-3 does not appear to affect the activity.

Tripropeptins, novel antimicrobial agents produced by Lysobacter sp.

Planar structures of tripropeptins (TPPs) were elucidated by spectroscopic studies including various NMR measurements. Stereochemistry of constituent amino acids of tripropeptin C (TPPC) (3) was identified by marfey's method except hydroxyproline which was determined by studies of NMR and CD spectra. The absolute structure of 3 was determined by analyses of the fragments obtained by Birch reduction and LiBH4 reduction of 3. The configuration of the fatty acid, isolated from acid hydrolysate of 3, was determined to be (3R)-hydroxy-13-methyltetradecanoic acid from MS, NMR spectra and negative sign of the optical rotation.