A Guanidyl-Based Bivalent Peptidomimetic Inhibits K-Ras Prenylation and Association with c-Raf.

Unusual lipid modification of K-Ras makes Ras-directed cancer therapy a challenging task. Aiming to disrupt electrostatic-driven protein-protein interactions (PPIs) of K-Ras with FTase and GGTase I, a series of bivalent dual inhibitors that recognize the active pocket and the common acidic surface of FTase and GGTase I were designed. The structure-activity-relationship study resulted in 8 b, in which a biphenyl-based peptidomimetic FTI-277 was attached to a guanidyl-containing gallate moiety through an alkyl linker. Cell-based evaluation demonstrated that 8 b exhibited substantial inhibition of K-Ras processing without apparent interference with Rap-1A processing. Fluorescent imaging showed that 8 b disrupts localization of K-Ras to the plasma membrane and impairs interaction with c-Raf, whereas only FTI-277 was found to be inactive. These results suggest that targeting the PPI interface of K-Ras may provide an alternative method of inhibiting K-Ras.

Peptidomimetic modification improves cell permeation of bivalent farnesyltransferase inhibitors.

Bivalent enzyme inhibitors, in which a surface binding module is linked to an active site binding module through a spacer, are a robust approach for site-selectively delivering a minimally-sized agent to a protein surface to regulate its functions, such as protein-protein interactions (PPIs). Previous research revealed that these agents effectively disrupt the interaction between farnesyltransferase (FTase) and the C-terminal region of K-Ras4B protein. However, the whole cell activity of these peptide-based agents is limited due to their low membrane permeability. In this study, we tested a peptidomimetic modification of these bivalent agents using a previously developed inhibitor, FTI-249, and evaluated their cell permeability and biological activity in cells. Confocal cell imaging using fluorescently-labeled agents showed that the peptidomimetic 3-BODIPY penetrated cells, while the peptide-based 1-BODIPY did not. Cell-based evaluation demonstrated that peptidomimetic 3 at a concentration of 100µM inhibited HDJ-2 processing in cells, indicating that this peptidomimetic modification improves cell permeability, thus leading to enhanced whole cell activity of the bivalent compounds.

Photoinduced electron transfer of platinum(II) bipyridine diacetylides linked by triphenylamine- and naphthaleneimide-derivatives and their application to photoelectric conversion systems.

The recently reported efficient charge-separated system based on bipyridine-diacetylide platinum(ii) complexes was applied to photoelectric conversion systems herein, based on the design and synthesis of two triads: MTA-Pt-NDISAc (3, MTA: dimethoxytriphenylamine, Pt: platinum(ii) complex, NDISAc: thioacetate derivative linked to naphthalenediimide) and MTA-Pt-MNICOOH (4, MNICOOH: naphthaleneimide-4-carboxylic acid). The charge-separated (CS) states of triads 3 and 5 (MOM-protected 4) were effectively generated by photo-induced electron transfer in both THF and toluene, although the rate of formation of the CS state from 5 was relatively slow in toluene. The lifetimes of these CS states were determined to be 730 ns in toluene and 61 ns (70%) and 170 ns (30%) as a double exponential decay in THF for 3, and 600 ns in toluene and 170 ns in THF for 5. The acetylthio group of triad 3 was exploited in the preparation of a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on a gold surface. Photocurrent was detected upon irradiation of an electrochemical cell comprising Au/3/Na ascorbate/Pt, which was ascribed to the platinum(ii) complex based on the action spectrum. The carboxylic acid group of triad 4 facilitated adsorption on the TiO2 surface, and a dye-sensitized solar cell constructed based on FTO/TiO2/4/electrolyte (LiI-I2)/Pt exhibited a poor energy conversion efficiency (η = 0.20%) based on the incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency spectrum and the I-V curve. This poor efficiency may be derived from the bent molecular shape of 4, or may be due to a possible high energy barrier in the electron injection process through the adsorption site.