Symmetric halogen bonding is preferred in solution.

Halogen bonding is a recently rediscovered secondary interaction that shows potential to become a complementary molecular tool to hydrogen bonding in rational drug design and in material sciences. Whereas hydrogen bond symmetry has been the subject of systematic studies for decades, the understanding of the analogous three-center halogen bonds is yet in its infancy. The isotopic perturbation of equilibrium (IPE) technique with (13)C NMR detection was applied to regioselectively deuterated pyridine complexes to investigate the symmetry of [N-I-N](+) and [N-Br-N](+) halogen bonding in solution. Preference for a symmetric arrangement was observed for both a freely adjustable and for a conformationally restricted [N-X-N](+) model system, as also confirmed by computation on the DFT level. A closely attached counterion is shown to be compatible with the preferred symmetric arrangement. The experimental observations and computational predictions reveal a high energetic gain upon formation of symmetric, three-center four-electron halogen bonding. Whereas hydrogen bonds are generally asymmetric in solution and symmetric in the crystalline state, the analogous bromine and iodine centered halogen bonds prefer symmetric arrangement in solution.

Pseudoaeruginosins, nonribosomal peptides in Nodularia spumigena.

Nodularia spumigena is a filamentous cyanobacterium that forms toxic blooms in brackish waters around the world through the production of the pentapeptide toxin nodularin. This cyanobacterium also produces large amounts of protease inhibitors belonging to the aeruginosin and spumigin families. Here we report the discovery of previously unknown protease inhibitors, pseudoaeruginosins NS1 (1) and NS2 (2), from 33 strains of N. spumigena isolated from the Baltic Sea. Pseudoaeruginosin NS1 (1) and NS2 (2) contain hexanoic acid, tyrosine, 4-methylproline, and argininal/argininol. The chemical structure of the two pseudoaeruginosins was verified by thorough comparison of the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analyses of the extracts from the N. spumigena strains with synthetic peptides. The structures of the synthetic pseudoaeruginosins were confirmed using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Surprisingly, the structure of pseudoaeruginosin NS1 (1) and NS2 (2) combines features of both aeruginosins and spumigins, suggesting that they have been produced through the joint action of both the spumigin and aeruginosin biosynthesis pathways. We screened with polymerase chain reaction and LC-MS 68 N. spumigena strains from the Baltic Sea and Australia. Pseudoaeruginosins were present in half of the Baltic Sea strains but were not found from the Australian strains. The production of pseudoaeruginosin seems to be coupled to the production of aeruginosins and 4-methylproline-containing spumigins. Pseudoaeruginosin NS1 was found to be as potent trypsin inhibitor as the most potent aeruginosins and spumigins with an IC50 of 0.19 ± 0.04 µM. This finding suggests that cooperation between the spumigin and aeruginosin biosynthetic pathways results in hybrid pseudoaeruginosin peptides.

In silico design, synthesis, and assays of specific substrates for proteinase 3: influence of fluorogenic and charged groups.

Neutrophil serine proteases are specific regulators of the immune response, and proteinase 3 is a major target antigen in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis. FRET peptides containing 2-aminobenzoic acid (Abz) and N-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)ethylenediamine (EDDnp) as fluorophore and quencher groups, respectively, have been widely used to probe proteases specificity. Using in silico design followed by enzymatic assays, we show that Abz and EDDnp significantly contribute to substrate hydrolysis by PR3. We also propose a new substrate specific for PR3.

Reversible ketomethylene-based inhibitors of human neutrophil proteinase 3.

Neutrophil serine proteases, proteinase 3 (PR3) and human neutrophil elastase (HNE), are considered as targets for chronic inflammatory diseases. Despite sharing high sequence similarity, the two enzymes have different substrate specificities and functions. While a plethora of HNE inhibitors exist, PR3 specific inhibitors are still in their infancy. We have designed ketomethylene-based inhibitors for PR3 that show low micromolar IC50 values. Their synthesis was made possible by amending a previously reported synthesis of ketomethylene dipeptide isosteres to allow for the preparation of derivatives suitable for solid phase peptide synthesis. The best inhibitor (Abz-VADnV[Ψ](COCH2)ADYQ-EDDnp) was found to be selective for PR3 over HNE and to display a competitive and reversible inhibition mechanism. Molecular dynamics simulations show that the interactions between enzyme and ketomethylene-containing inhibitors are similar to those with the corresponding substrates. We also confirm that N- and C-terminal FRET groups are important for securing high inhibitory potency toward PR3.

Interaction of local anaesthetic articaine enantiomers with brain lipids: a Langmuir monolayer study.

The interactions of the racemic mixture of articaine as well as pure (R)-articaine and pure (S)-articaine with monolayers of glycerophospholipids and brain lipids have been studied using the Langmuir monolayer technique. Articaine was added to the glycerophospholipids dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC), dipalmitoylphosphatidylserine (DPPS), 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoylphosphatidylserine (POPS) and total lipid extract from pig brain (TLPB). The amount of articaine in the monolayers was 30 mol%. The intercalation of each of the two enantiomers of articaine into a glycerophospholipid/brain lipid monolayers composed of chiral phospholipids will be diastereoisomeric in nature, hence different intercalation pattern for the two enantiomers can be expected. All the articaine species are found to intercalate into the DPPC monolayer and to increase the monolayer stability, this is most pronounced for the (R)-enantiomer. Intercalation of the articaine species into the DPPS monolayer increases the MMA and hardly affects the stability of the DPPS monolayer. In this monolayer, the articaine species intercalates into the head group region of the small and negatively charged serine head group, this is pronounced for the (R)-enantiomer. Our results indicate that by introducing an unsaturated acyl chain in the monolayer as in POPS, the monolayer discriminates between the articaine species. The (R)-enantiomer is located deep in the acyl chain region, whereas the (S)-enantiomer is found at or close to the head group. The data also might indicate that the (R)-enantiomer in the racemic mixture forms dimers in the POPS monolayer. Both articaine species as well as the racemic mixture intercalate into the monolayer of TLPB. Intercalation into this monolayer did not show any distinct difference in intercalation mode of the articaine species, probably due to camouflaging effect of large head groups like gangliosides and/or formation of lipid rafts in the monolayer. However, the (R)-enantiomer appears to intercalate better into the TLPB monolayer than the (S)-enantiomer. With proper standardization the Langmuir monolayer technique is a powerful method to discriminate between (R)- and (S)-enantiomer articaine interaction with model membranes.