Mechanistic Insights into the Chaperoning of Human Lysosomal-Galactosidase Activity: Highly Functionalized Aminocyclopentanes and C-5a-Substituted Derivatives of 4-epi-Isofagomine.

Glycosidase inhibitors have shown great potential as pharmacological chaperones for lysosomal storage diseases. In light of this, a series of new cyclopentanoid ß-galactosidase inhibitors were prepared and their inhibitory and pharmacological chaperoning activities determined and compared with those of lipophilic analogs of the potent ß-d-galactosidase inhibitor 4-epi-isofagomine. Structure-activity relationships were investigated by X-ray crystallography as well as by alterations in the cyclopentane moiety such as deoxygenation and replacement by fluorine of a "strategic" hydroxyl group. New compounds have revealed highly promising activities with a range of ß-galactosidase-compromised human cell lines and may serve as leads towards new pharmacological chaperones for GM1-gangliosidosis and Morquio B disease.

Elastin receptor (S-gal) occupancy by elastin peptides modulates T-cell response during murine emphysema.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema are associated with increased elastin peptides (EP) production because of excessive breakdown of lung connective tissue. We recently reported that exposure of mice to EP elicited hallmark features of emphysema. EP effects are largely mediated through a receptor complex that includes the elastin-binding protein spliced-galactosidase (S-gal). In previous studies, we established a correlation between cytokine production and S-gal protein expression in EP-treated immune cells. In this study, we investigated the S-gal-dependent EP effects on T-helper (Th) and T-cytotoxic (Tc) responses during murine EP-triggered pulmonary inflammation. C57BL/6J mice were endotracheally instilled with the valine-glycine-valine-alanine-proline-glycine (VGVAPG) elastin peptide, and, 21 days after treatment, local and systemic T-lymphocyte phenotypes were analyzed at cytokine and transcription factor expression levels by multicolor flow cytometry. Exposure of mice to the VGVAPG peptide resulted in a significant increase in the proportion of the CD4+ and CD8+ T cells expressing the cytokines IFN-γ or IL-17a and the transcription factors T-box expressed in T cells or retinoic acid-related orphan receptor-γt (RORγt) without effects on IL-4 and Gata-binding protein 3 to DNA sequence [A/T]GATA[A/G] expression. These effects were maximized when each T-cell subpopulation was challenged ex vivo with EP, and they were inhibited in vivo when an analogous peptide antagonizing the EP/S-gal interactions was instilled together with the VGVAPG peptide. This study demonstrates that, during murine emphysema, EP-S-gal interactions contribute to a Th-1 and Th-17 proinflammatory T-cell response combined with a Tc-1 response. Our study also highlights the S-gal receptor as a putative pharmacological target to modulate such an immune response.

5-Fluoro derivatives of 4-epi-isofagomine as D-galactosidase inhibitors and potential pharmacological chaperones for GM1-gangliosidosis as well as Fabry's disease.

Electrophilic fluorination of an exocyclic methoxymethylene enol ether derived from N-tert-butyloxycarbonyl-1,5-dideoxy-1,5-imino-3,4-O-isopropylidene-D-erythro-pent-2-ulose (11) provided the 5-fluoro derivative of the powerful ß-galactosidase inhibitor 4-epi-isofagomine (8). This structural alteration, in combination with N-alkylation, led to considerably improved α-galactosidase selectivity. New compounds may serve as leads en route to new pharmacological chaperones for Fabry's disease.

N-Alkyl-, 1-C-Alkyl-, and 5-C-Alkyl-1,5-dideoxy-1,5-imino-(L)-ribitols as Galactosidase Inhibitors.

A series of 1,5-dideoxy-1,5-imino-(l)-ribitol (DIR) derivatives carrying alkyl or functionalized alkyl groups were prepared and investigated as glycosidase inhibitors. These compounds were designed as simplified 4-epi-isofagomine (4-epi-IFG) mimics and were expected to behave as selective inhibitors of ß-galactosidases. All compounds were indeed found to be highly selective for ß-galactosidases versus α-glycosidases, as they generally did not inhibit coffee bean α-galactosidase or other α-glycosidases. Some compounds were also found to be inhibitors of almond ß-glucosidase. The N-alkyl DIR derivatives were only modest inhibitors of bovine ß-galactosidase, with IC50 values in the 30-700 µM range. Likewise, imino-L-ribitol substituted at the C1 position was found to be a weak inhibitor of this enzyme. In contrast, alkyl substitution at C5 resulted in enhanced ß-galactosidase inhibitory activity by a factor of up to 1000, with at least six carbon atoms in the alkyl substituent. Remarkably, the 'pseudo-anomeric' configuration in this series does not appear to play a role. Human lysosomal ß-galactosidase from leukocyte lysate was, however, poorly inhibited by all iminoribitol derivatives tested (IC50 values in the 100 µM range), while 4-epi-IFG was a good inhibitor of this enzyme. Two compounds were evaluated as pharmacological chaperones for a GM1-gangliosidosis cell line (R301Q mutation) and were found to enhance the mutant enzyme activity by factors up to 2.7-fold.

Synthesis of all-cis 2,5-imino-2,5-dideoxy-fucitol and its evaluation as a potent fucosidase and galactosidase inhibitor.

We here describe a simple and efficient synthetic method for a non-hydrolysable precursor of a GDP-fucose analogue: The synthesis of the racemic aminofuranofucitol 3 from sorbic alcohol by nitroso-Diels-Alder reaction. This 'all-cis-pyrrolidine', with all substituents occupying a cis position, has been determined as a potent inhibitor of α-L-fucosidase and a moderate inhibitor of α- and ß-D-galactosidase. The good recognition of this fucose moiety analogue by specific enzymes is thus confirmed. The C-anomeric bond in this particular structure is in the ß-position and makes this compound an interesting candidate for further chemical modifications. Influence of the methyl and hydroxymethyl groups on the inhibition potency is discussed.

Fluorous iminoalditols: a new family of glycosidase inhibitors and pharmacological chaperones.

A collection of new reversible glycosidase inhibitors of the iminoalditol type featuring N-substituents containing perfluorinated regions has been prepared for evaluation of physicochemical, biochemical and diagnostic properties. The vast variety of feasible oligofluoro moieties allows for modular approaches to customised structures according to the intended applications, which are influenced by the fluorine content as well as the distance of the fluorous moiety from the ring nitrogen. The first examples, in particular in the D-galacto series, exhibited excellent inhibitory activities. A preliminary screen with two human cell lines showed that, at subinhibitory concentrations, they are powerful pharmacological chaperones enhancing the activities of the catalytically handicapped lysosomal D-galactosidase mutants associated with GM1 gangliosidosis and Morquio B disease.

3,4-Dihydroxypyrrolidine as glycosidase inhibitor.

Glycosidases are involved in various important biological processes including digestion of starch in the intestine, oligosaccharide processing inside rough ER and Golgi apparatus, and degradation of glycoconjugates in lysosomes. It is apparent that inhibitors of this class of enzymes are useful in the investigation of biological functions of glycoconjugates. Furthermore, it is believed that these compounds are important as pharmaceuticals. The structures of glycosidase inhibitors can be categorized into two major classes; ground-state mimetics and transition-state mimetics. The former has a chair-shaped six-membered structure that mimics monosaccharides where ring oxygens are often replaced with other elements for an improved binding affinity. On the other hand, the latter possesses a somewhat distorted shape compared with the chair conformation of carbohydrates. One of the ways to derive such distortion is by the introduction of sp2 character into the six-membered ring, and another is by ring contraction to form a five-membered system for the transition-state mimetics. The functions of these transition-state mimetics are often unpredictable regarding inhibitory activity and enzyme specificity. This review focuses on such "difficult to predict" species in an attempt to extract information or common aspects for the future development of inhibitors of glycosidases based on transition-state mimetics.

1-Deoxygalactonojirimycin-lysine hybrids as potent D-galactosidase inhibitors.

Cyclization by double reductive amination of L-arabino-hexos-5-ulose with suitably protected D- as well as L-lysine derivatives provided 1-deoxygalactonojirimycin lysine hybrids without any observable epimer formation at C-5. Modifications on the lysine moiety by acylation gave access to lipophilic derivatives which exhibited excellent D-galactosidase inhibitory activities.

Flexible synthesis and biological evaluation of novel 5-deoxyadenophorine analogues.

Adenophorine and its 5-deoxy analogue have been identified as natural iminosugars with efficient glycosidase inhibitory effects. The syntheses and biological evaluation of two new series of 5-deoxyadenophorine analogues in their racemic form are reported. The compounds 12e and 13d bearing a C11 and C7 alkyl chain, respectively, were found to be potent inhibitors of the beta-glucosidase from almond with Ki near to 60 microM. The compounds 13a,d which possess a 3,4-cis stereochemistry were efficient on glucosidases but also on the beta-galactosidase, what was not observed with the 3,4-trans series 12.

Ceramide catabolism critically controls survival of human dendritic cells.

The regulation of dendritic cell (DC) survival is crucial for the modulation of adaptive immunity. Ceramide is a lipid mediator of the stress response, which accumulates intracellularly during DC differentiation. We found that ceramide levels are tightly regulated in human DCs and that the pharmacological inhibition of enzymes responsible for ceramide catabolism, such as ceramidases and sphingosine kinases, sensitizes DCs to ceramide-induced cell death. It is important that inhibition of sphingosine kinases, during lipopolysaccharide stimulation, causes extensive ceramide accumulation and death of DCs. These data indicate that ceramide catabolism regulates survival of human DCs and reveal novel potential targets for the pharmacological manipulation of the immune response.

Evidence for the Cd(2+) activation of the aryl sulfatase from helix pomatia.

Often used to remove sulfate groups from carbohydrates, the regulatory properties of the aryl sulfatase from Helix pomatia remain little characterized. As many hydrolytic enzymes utilize exogenous metal ions in catalysis, the effect of various divalent metal ions on the sulfatase was investigated. Evidence for metal ion activation was collected, with Cd(2+) being notable for effective activation. The enzyme was inhibited by Cu(2+). The response of other common hydrolases to divalent metal ions was characterized. Activation by Cd(2+) was not observed for chymotrypsin, rabbit liver esterase, or beta-galactosidase. Instead, Cd was found to inhibit both the esterase and the galactosidase. Inhibition by Cu(2+) and Zn(2+) was also observed for some of these hydrolases.

Novel O-glycosyl amino acid mimetics as building blocks for O-glycopeptides act as inhibitors of galactosidases.

As potential lead structures for a new class of glycosidase inhibitors the novel O-glycosyl amino acid mimetics 3'-O-[2,6-anhydro-D-glycero-L-gluco-heptitol-1-yl]-L-serine 3 and-L-threonine 4 were synthesized, employing regio- and stereoselective aziridine ring opening methodology. They proved to be stable in the presence of glycosidases and showed competitive inhibition of alpha-galactosidase from Aspergillus niger.

New polyhydroxylated pyrrolidine, piperidine, and pyrrolizidine alkaloids from Scilla sibirica.

Chromatographic separation of an extract of the bulbs of Scilla sibirica resulted in the isolation of five pyrrolidines, two pyrrolidine glycosides, six piperidines, one piperidine glycoside, and eight pyrrolizidines. 2,5-Dideoxy-2,5-imino-glycero-d-manno-heptitol (homoDMDP, 1) is a common alkaloid in all plants of the Hyacinthaceae examined to date and was also found in S. sibirica. The structures of the new alkaloids were elucidated by spectroscopic methods as 7-deoxy-homoDMDP (4), 2,5-dideoxy-2,5-imino-glycero-d-galacto-heptitol (5), the 4-O-beta-d-mannoside (6) and the 4-O-beta-d-mannobioside (7) of 6-deoxy-homoDMDP (2), 7-deoxyhomonojirimycin (12), 7-deoxyhomomannojirimycin (13), and polyhydroxypyrrolizidines, hyacinthacines A(4) (15), A(5) (16), A(6) (17), A(7) (18), B(4) (20), B(5) (21), and B(6) (22). HomoDMDP (1) is a potent inhibitor of beta-glucosidase and beta-galactosidase, while 6-deoxy-homoDMDP (2) showed significantly less inhibition. However, 7-deoxygenation of 1, leading to 4, showed no effect on the inhibitory activity toward both enzymes. Although 2 is not an inhibitor of alpha-l-fucosidase, the monomannoside of 2 shows inhibitory activity toward alpha-l-fucosidase. Elongation of the beta-mannopyranosyl chain of 6 to give 7 enhanced the inhibitory activity.

Effect of quinacrine treatment on the activity of acid hydrolases (phosphatase, N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase, glucosidase, galactosidase and esterase) in Tetrahymena.

The effect of phospholipase A2 (PLA2) inhibitor, quinacrine, on the activity of hydrolytic enzymes in Tetrahymena pyriformis homogenate, was investigated. The activity of all of the enzymes studied (acid phosphatase, N-acetyl-beta-glusosaminidase, glucosidase, galactosidase and esterase) was significantly reduced in the presence of quinacrine. Since there are no data on the inhibitory effect of PLA2 and PLA2 influenced metabolic pathways to the hydrolytic enzymes, the direct effect of quinacrine on the hydrolytic enzymes (of Tetrahymena) can be supposed. This is supported by the fact that the other PLA2 inhibitor, 4-bromophenacyl bromide, did not influence phosphatase activity.

Applications of mass spectrometry in combinatorial chemistry.

This article describes the use of two mass spectrometric techniques, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) and electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry, toward a variety of challenging problems in drug discovery and identification. Quantitative ESI was used to screen for inhibitor activity of two different enzymatic glycosylation reactions resulting in the identification of the most effective inhibitors and the determination of their IC50 (inhibitor concentration at 50% inhibition). Also described is a combinatorial extraction method used with automated MALDI mass spectrometry to improve upon the clinical analysis of the immunosuppressant drug cyclosporin A (CsA). Optimization was performed by generating an array of solvent systems which were screened (by MALDI-MS) for the most efficient extraction of CsA from whole blood. Ultimately a 70/30 hexane:CHCl3 mixture was identified as the most efficient binary solvent system for such extractions. In addition it was demonstrated that peptides and carbohydrates, covalently linked to a polymeric support (through a photolabile linker), can be directly analyzed by MALDI in a single step which requires no pretreatment of the sample to induce cleavage from the support. The UV laser light in the MALDI experiment was used to simultaneously promote the analyte's photolytic cleavage from the solid support and its gas phase ionization for subsequent mass spectral analysis. Overall, the strength of mass spectrometry lies in its versatility, making it a powerful analytical technique with which to characterize the diversity of compounds found in combinatorial libraries.

Active-site-directed inactivation of Aspergillus oryzae beta-galactosidase with beta-D-galactopyranosylmethyl-p-nitrophenyltriazene.

beta-D-Galactopyranosylmethyl-p-nitrophenyltriazene (beta-GalMNT), a specific inhibitor of beta-galactosidase, was isolated as crystals by HPLC and its chemical and physicochemical characteristics were examined. Aspergillus oryzae beta-galactosidase was inactivated by the compound. We studied the inhibition mechanism in detail. The inhibitor was hydrolyzed by the enzyme to p-nitroaniline and an active intermediate (beta-galactopyranosylmethyl carbonium or beta-galactopyranosylmethyldiazonium), which inactivated the enzyme. The efficiency of inactivation of the enzyme (the ratio of moles of inactivated enzyme to moles of beta-GalMNT hydrolyzed by the enzyme) was 3%; the efficiency of Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase was 49%. In spite of the low efficiency, the rate of inactivation of A. oryzae enzyme was not very different from that of the E. coli enzyme, because the former hydrolyzed beta-GalMNT faster than the latter did. A. oryzae beta-galactosidase was also inactivated by p-chlorophenyl, p-tolyl, and m-nitrophenyl derivatives of beta-galactopyranosylmethyltriazene. However, E. coli beta-galactosidase was not inactivated by these triazene derivatives. The results showed that the inactivation of A. oryzae and E. coli beta-galactosidases by beta-GalMNT was an enzyme-activated and active-site-directed irreversible inactivation. The possibility of inactivation by intermediates produced nonenzymatically was ruled out for E. coli, but not for the A. oryzae enzyme.

Lentiginosine, a dihydroxyindolizidine alkaloid that inhibits amyloglucosidase.

Lentiginosine, a dihydroxyindolizidine alkaloid, was extracted from the leaves of Astragalus lentiginosus with hot methanol and was purified to homogeneity by ion-exchange, thin-layer, and radial chromatography. A second dihydroxyindolizidine, the 2-epimer of lentiginosine, was also purified to apparent homogeneity from these extracts. Gas chromatography of the two isomers (as the TMS derivatives) showed that they were better than 95% pure; lentiginosine eluted at 8.65 min and the 2-epimer at 9.00 min. Both compounds had a molecular ion in their mass spectra of 157, and the NMR spectra demonstrated that both were dihydroxyindolizidines differing in the configuration of the hydroxyl group at carbon 2. Lentiginosine was found to be a reasonably good inhibitor of the fungal alpha-glucosidase, amyloglucosidase (Ki = 1 x 10(-5) M), but it did not inhibit other alpha-glucosidases (i.e., sucrase, maltase, yeast alpha-glucosidase, glucosidase I) nor any other glycosidases. The 2-epimer had no activity against any of the glycosidases tested.

Structure and properties of a Cephalosporium acremonium alpha-galactosidase.

The amino acid and sugar composition of the enzyme protein, the effect of urea, sodium dodecyl sulphate and Concanavalin A on the purified alpha-galactosidase (EC 3.2.1.22) from the mold Cephalosporium acremonium has been studied. The results obtained by gas liquid chromatography indicated the presence of N-acetylglucosamine, mannose, galactose and N-acetylneuramic acid in the molar proportions 2:7:3:11. The presence of two types of Asn-linked oligosaccharide structures in the enzyme molecule is assumed. The alpha-galactosidase liberates alpha(1-3), alpha(1-4) and alpha(1-6)-linked D-galactose units from various synthetic and natural substrates which have been tested. The effects of pH, substrate concentration and temperature on the catalytic activity of the enzyme are described. The purified alpha-galactosidase also exhibited a lectin activity with an affinity towards glucose, and to some extent mannose.