Arginine-containing peptides as potent inhibitors of VIM-2 metallo-ß-lactamase.

BACKGROUND: Metallo-ß-lactamases (MBLs) play an important role in the emergence of microbial resistance to ß-lactam antibiotics, and are hence considered targets for the design of novel therapeutics. We here report on the inhibitory effect of peptides containing multiple arginine residues on VIM-2, a clinically important MBL from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. METHODS: Enzyme kinetic assays in combination with fluorescence spectroscopy and stopped-flow UV-Vis spectrophotometry were utilized to explore the structure-activity relationship of peptides as inhibitors of VIM-2. RESULTS: Our studies show that the inhibitory potency of the investigated peptides was mainly dependent on the number of arginine residues in the center of the peptide sequence, and on the composition of the N-terminus. The most potent inhibitors were found to curtail enzyme function in the mid-to-low nanomolar range. Salts generally reduced peptide-mediated inhibition. Analysis of the mode of inhibition suggests the peptides to act as mixed-type inhibitors with a higher affinity for the enzyme-substrate complex. Stopped-flow UV-Vis and fluorescence studies revealed the peptides to induce rapid protein aggregation, a phenomenon strongly correlated to the peptides' inhibitory potency. Inhibition of IMP-1 (another subclass B1 MBL) by the peptides was found to be much weaker than that observed with VIM-2, a finding which might be related to subtle molecular differences in the protein surfaces. CONCLUSION: The reported data indicate that arginine-containing peptides can serve as potent, aggregation-inducing inhibitors of VIM-2, and potentially of other MBLs. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: Arginine-containing peptides can be considered as a novel type of potent MBL inhibitors.

Assay for drug discovery: Synthesis and testing of nitrocefin analogues for use as ß-lactamase substrates.

We report on the synthesis of three nitrocefin analogues and their evaluation as substrates for the detection of ß-lactamase activity. These compounds are hydrolyzed by all four Ambler classes of ß-lactamases. Kinetic parameters were determined with eight different ß-lactamases, including VIM-2, NDM-1, KPC-2, and SPM-1. The compounds do not inhibit the growth of clinically important antibiotic-resistant gram-negative bacteria in vitro. These chromogenic compounds have a distinct absorbance spectrum and turn purple when hydrolyzed by ß-lactamases. One of these compounds, UW154, is easier to synthesize from commercial starting materials than nitrocefin and should be significantly less expensive to produce.

Experimental estimation of average fidelity of a Clifford gate on a 7-qubit quantum processor.

One of the major experimental achievements in the past decades is the ability to control quantum systems to high levels of precision. To quantify the level of control we need to characterize the dynamical evolution. Full characterization via quantum process tomography is impractical and often unnecessary. For most practical purposes, it is enough to estimate more general quantities such as the average fidelity. Here we use a unitary 2-design and twirling protocol for efficiently estimating the average fidelity of Clifford gates, to certify a 7-qubit entangling gate in a nuclear magnetic resonance quantum processor. Compared with more than 10^{8} experiments required by full process tomography, we conducted 1656 experiments to satisfy a statistical confidence level of 99%. The average fidelity of this Clifford gate in experiment is 55.1%, and rises to at least 87.5% if the signal's decay due to decoherence is taken into account. The entire protocol of certifying Clifford gates is efficient and scalable, and can easily be extended to any general quantum information processor with minor modifications.

PLCß1a and PLCß1b selective regulation and cyclin D3 modulation reduced by kinamycin F during k562 cell differentiation.

Here we report that both PLCß1a and PLCß1b are relevant regulators of erythropoiesis in that kinamycin F, a potent inducer of γ-globin production in K562 cells, caused a selectively reduction of both PLCß1 isozymes even though the results point out that the effect of the drug is mainly directed toward the expression of the PLCß1a isoform. We have identified a different role for the two isozymes as regulators of K562 differentiation process induced by kinamycin F. The overexpression of PLCß1b induced an increase in γ-globin expression even in the absence of kinamycin F. Moreover during K562 differentiation, cyclin D3 level is regulated by PLCß1 signaling pathway. Namely the amplification of the expression of the PLCß1a, but not of PLCß1b, is able to maintain high levels of expression of cyclin D3 even after treatment with kinamycin F. This could be due to their different distribution in the cell compartments since the amount of PLCß1b is mainly present in the nucleus in respect to PLCß1a. Our data indicate that the amplification of PLCß1a expression, following treatment with kinamycin F, confers a real advantage to K562 cells viability and protects cells themselves from apoptosis.

Inhibition of recombinant human maltase glucoamylase by salacinol and derivatives.

Inhibitors targeting pancreatic alpha-amylase and intestinal alpha-glucosidases delay glucose production following digestion and are currently used in the treatment of Type II diabetes. Maltase-glucoamylase (MGA), a family 31 glycoside hydrolase, is an alpha-glucosidase anchored in the membrane of small intestinal epithelial cells responsible for the final step of mammalian starch digestion leading to the release of glucose. This paper reports the production and purification of active human recombinant MGA amino terminal catalytic domain (MGAnt) from two different eukaryotic cell culture systems. MGAnt overexpressed in Drosophila cells was of quality and quantity suitable for kinetic and inhibition studies as well as future structural studies. Inhibition of MGAnt was tested with a group of prospective alpha-glucosidase inhibitors modeled after salacinol, a naturally occurring alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, and acarbose, a currently prescribed antidiabetic agent. Four synthetic inhibitors that bind and inhibit MGAnt activity better than acarbose, and at comparable levels to salacinol, were found. The inhibitors are derivatives of salacinol that contain either a selenium atom in place of sulfur in the five-membered ring, or a longer polyhydroxylated, sulfated chain than salacinol. Six-membered ring derivatives of salacinol and compounds modeled after miglitol were much less effective as MGAnt inhibitors. These results provide information on the inhibitory profile of MGAnt that will guide the development of new compounds having antidiabetic activity.

Direct multiplex assay of lysosomal enzymes in dried blood spots for newborn screening.

BACKGROUND: Newborn screening for deficiency in the lysosomal enzymes that cause Fabry, Gaucher, Krabbe, Niemann-Pick A/B, and Pompe diseases is warranted because treatment for these syndromes is now available or anticipated in the near feature. We describe a multiplex screening method for all five lysosomal enzymes that uses newborn-screening cards containing dried blood spots as the enzyme source. METHODS: We used a cassette of substrates and internal standards to directly quantify the enzymatic activities, and tandem mass spectrometry for enzymatic product detection. Rehydrated dried blood spots were incubated with the enzyme substrates. We used liquid-liquid extraction followed by solid-phase extraction with silica gel to remove buffer components. Acarbose served as inhibitor of an interfering acid alpha-glucosidase present in neutrophils, which allowed the lysosomal enzyme implicated in Pompe disease to be selectively analyzed. RESULTS: We analyzed dried blood spots from 5 patients with Gaucher, 5 with Niemann-Pick A/B, 11 with Pompe, 5 with Fabry, and 12 with Krabbe disease, and in all cases the enzyme activities were below the minimum activities measured in a collection of heterozygous carriers and healthy noncarrier individuals. The enzyme activities measured in 5-9 heterozygous carriers were approximately one-half those measured with 15-32 healthy individuals, but there was partial overlap of each condition between the data sets for carriers and healthy individuals. CONCLUSION: For all five diseases, the affected individuals were detected. The assay can be readily automated, and the anticipated reagent and supply costs are well within the budget limits of newborn-screening centers.

Synthesis of a novel class of sulfonium ions as potential inhibitors of UDP-galactopyranose mutase.

Two sulfonium salts of 1,4-anhydro-4-thio-D-galactitol, with structures related to the known sulfonium salt glycosidase inhibitor, salacinol, have been synthesized as potential inhibitors of UDP-galactopyranose mutase. The synthetic strategy relies on the alkylation reaction of 1,4-anhydro-2,3,5,6-tetra-O-benzyl-4-thio-D-galactitol at the sulfur atom with 2,4-O-benzylidene-D- or -L-erythritol-1,3-cyclic sulfate. In each case, the reaction proceeded stereoselectively to yield only one stereoisomer at the stereogenic sulfur atom. The effect of the polar solvent, 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP), in promoting high-yielding reactions is highlighted. The target compounds are then obtained by hydrogenolysis.

Synthesis of selenium analogues of the naturally occurring glycosidase inhibitor salacinol and their evaluation as glycosidase inhibitors.

The syntheses of two selenium analogues (10 and 11) of the naturally occurring sulfonium ion, salacinol (3), are described. Salacinol is one of the active principles in the aqueous extracts of Salacia reticulata that are traditionally used in Sri Lanka and India for the treatment of diabetes. The synthetic strategy relies on the nucleophilic attack of a 2,3,5-tri-O-benzyl-1,4-anhydro-4-seleno-D-arabinitol at the least hindered carbon of benzyl- or benzylidene-protected D- or L-erythritol-1,3-cyclic sulfate. The use of 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol as a solvent in the coupling reaction proves to be beneficial. Enzyme inhibition assays indicate that 10 is a better inhibitor (K(i) = 0.72 mM) of glucoamylase than 3, which has a K(i) value of 1.7 mM. In contrast, 11 showed no significant inhibition of glucoamylase. Compounds 10 and 11 showed no significant inhibition of barley-alpha-amylase or porcine pancreatic-alpha-amylase.