Oxidative inactivation of the lymphoid tyrosine phosphatase mediated by both general and active site directed NO donors.

Oxidative modification of protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) has recently been recognized as an important regulatory mechanism in biological systems. Reported herein is the oxidative inactivation of the lymphoid tyrosine phosphatase (LYP) with both the general nitrosating reagent sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and also a novel peptide-based nitrosating reagent, Ac-ARLIEDNE(HcyNO)TAREG-NH(2), where HcyNO = S-nitrosohomocysteine. The SNP oxidatively inactivated LYP with a k(inact) of 0.383 per min and a K(I) of 27.4 µM and mixed-type inactivation kinetics. The peptide was a competitive LYP inactivator with a k(inact) of 0.0472 per min and a K(I) of 7.00 µM. LYP nitrosation by SNP was characterized by the addition of several NO moieties to the enzyme, while oxidation of LYP by the peptide did not result in the formation of a LYP-NO adduct. We propose that general NO donors promiscuously nitrosate any free cysteine residue while the active-site directed peptide selectively oxidizes the catalytic cysteine residue, resulting in the formation of a disulfide bond between the catalytic cysteine residue and a second cysteine in the active site.

A re-examination of the difluoromethylenesulfonic acid group as a phosphotyrosine mimic for PTP1B inhibition.

Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) is involved in the down-regulation of insulin signaling and is a well-validated therapeutic target for the treatment of diabetes and obesity. Key to the design of potent inhibitors of PTP1B is a moiety that effectively mimics the phosphate group of the natural phosphotyrosine substrate. Difluoromethylsulfonomethylphenylalanine (F(2)Smp) is one of the best monoanionic pTyr mimics reported to date. However, the difluoromethylenesulfonic acid (DFMS) group as a phosphate mimic has not been carefully evaluated in the context of a non-peptidyl platform. Here we present a careful examination of the DFMS group as a phosphate mimic. This was achieved by first constructing an analog of a previously reported high affinity, non-peptidyl PTP1B inhibitor (compound 2, IC(50)=8nM) in which a difluoromethylenephosphonic acid group is replaced with the DFMS moiety (compound 6). We also report the synthesis of its non-fluorinated methylenesulfonic analog (compound 7), as well as two other derivatives in which a distal sulfonamide moiety is replaced with a difluoromethylenesulfonamide group (compounds 8 and 9). Compounds 2 and 6-9 were examined as PTP1B inhibitors. Replacing the distal sulfonamide moiety with a difluoromethylenesulfonamide group had only a modest effect on inhibitor potency. However, compound 6 was approximately a 1000-fold poorer inhibitor than compound 2. Most significantly, inhibition studies with compound 7 and a peptide bearing sulfonomethylphenylalanine revealed that the fluorines have little effect on the potency of the DFMS-bearing inhibitors. This is in contrast to a previous assumption that the fluorines in DFMS-bearing inhibitors contributed significantly to their potency. This may in part explain the large difference in potency between the DFMS and DFMP-bearing compounds. These results also demonstrate that sulfonomethylphenylalanine, a pTyr mimic that is readily constructed, is a relatively good pTyr mimic in comparison to most others that have been reported when examined in the context of the DADE-X-LNH(2) peptide platform.

Covalent inhibition of the lymphoid tyrosine phosphatase.

Covalent inhibitors of lymphoid tyrosine phosphatase (LYP) were identified from a screen of the NIH Molecular Libraries Small Molecules Repository (MLSMR). Both of the two lead compounds identified have phosphotyrosine-mimetic benzoic acid moieties as well as electrophilic acrylonitrile groups. Inhibition kinetics of both compounds are consistent with covalent modification of the enzyme, with nanomolar KI and reciprocal millisecond kinact values, representing the best efficiency ratios (kinact /KI ) among currently reported covalent LYP inhibitors. Covalent inhibitors can provide longer efficacy and better selectivity than more conventional noncovalent inhibitors, and these lead compounds are an important step toward the development of protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP)-targeted covalent therapeutic compounds.

Cellular biochemistry methods for investigating protein tyrosine phosphatases.

SIGNIFICANCE: The protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) are a family of proteins that play critical roles in cellular signaling and influence many aspects of human health and disease. Although a wealth of information has been collected about PTPs since their discovery, many questions regarding their regulation and function still remain. CRITICAL ISSUES: Of particular importance are the elucidation of the biological substrates of individual PTPs and understanding of the chemical and biological basis for temporal and spatial resolution of PTP activity within a cell. RECENT ADVANCES: Drawing from recent advances in both biology and chemistry, innovative approaches have been developed to study the intracellular biochemistry and physiology of PTPs. We provide a summary of PTP-tailored techniques and approaches, emphasizing methodologies to study PTP activity within a cellular context. We first provide a discussion of methods for identifying PTP substrates, including substrate-trapping mutants and synthetic peptide libraries for substrate selectivity profiling. We next provide an overview of approaches for monitoring intracellular PTP activity, including a discussion of mechanistic-based probes, gel-based assays, substrates that can be used intracellularly, and assays tied to cell growth. Finally, we review approaches used for monitoring PTP oxidation, a key regulatory pathway for these enzymes, discussing the biotin switch method and variants of this approach, along with affinity trapping techniques and probes designed to detect PTP oxidation. FUTURE DIRECTIONS: Further development of approaches to investigate the intracellular PTP activity and functions will provide specific insight into their mechanisms of action and control of diverse signaling pathways.

Boronic acids as inhibitors of steroid sulfatase.

Steroid sulfatase (STS) catalyzes the hydrolysis of steroidal sulfates such as estrone sulfate (ES1) to the corresponding steroids and inorganic sulfate. STS is considered to be a potential target for the development of therapeutics for the treatment of steroid-dependent cancers. Two steroidal and two coumarin- and chromenone-based boronic acids were synthesized and examined as inhibitors of purified STS. The boronic acid analog of estrone sulfate bearing a boronic acid moiety at the 3-position in place of the sulfate group was a good competitive STS inhibitor with a K(i) of 2.8microM at pH 7.0 and 6.8microM at pH 8.8. The inhibition was reversible and kinetic properties corresponding to the mechanism for slow-binding inhibitors were not observed. An estradiol derivative bearing a boronic acid group at the 3-position and a benzyl group at the 17-position was a potent reversible, non-competitive STS inhibitor with a K(i) of 250nM. However, its 3-OH analog, a known STS inhibitor, exhibited an almost identical affinity for STS and also bound in a non-competitive manner. It is suggested that these compounds prefer to bind in a hydrophobic tunnel close to the entrance to the active site. The coumarin and chromenone boronic acids were modest inhibitors of STS with IC(50)s of 86 and 171microM, respectively. Surprisingly, replacing the boronic acid group of the chromenone derivative with an OH group yielded a good reversible, mixed type inhibitor with a K(i) of 4.6microM. Overall, these results suggest that the boronic acid moiety must be attached to a platform very closely resembling a natural substrate in order for it to impart a beneficial effect on binding affinity compared to its phenolic analog.

Enantioselective synthesis of protected L-4-[sulfonamido(difluoromethyl)]phenylalanine and L-4-[sulfonamido(methyl)]phenylalanine and an examination of hexa- and tripeptide platforms for evaluating pTyr mimics for PTP1B inhibition.

The first enantioselective syntheses of L-4-(sulfonamidomethyl)phenylalanine and L-[sulfonamido(difluoromethyl)]phenylalanine suitably protected for peptide syntheses are described. A key step in the synthesis of L-(sulfonamidomethyl)phenylalanine was an oxidative chlorination on Ac-L-Phe(4-CH2SCOCH3)-OEt to give crude Ac-L-Phe(4-CH2SO2Cl)-OEt, which could be reacted with amines to give the corresponding sulfonamides. Key to the preparation of L-[sulfonamido(difluoromethyl)]phenylalanine was a highly enantioselective reaction involving William's auxiliary and a benzylic bromide intermediate. These amino acids were incorporated into two peptide sequences, DADE-X-LNH2 and FmocGlu(OBn)-X-LNH2, which have previously been employed as platforms for assessing pTyr mimics for inhibition of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B). Inhibition studies with these and other peptides and PTP1B revealed that good inhibition could be obtained using the tripeptide platform, although the presence of a pTyr mimic was not required for good inhibition. These results suggest that the FmocGlu(OBn)-X-LNH2 tripeptide platform is not suitable for assessing pTyr mimics for PTP1B inhibition.

Synthesis of a non-hydrolyzable estrone sulfate analogue bearing the difluoromethanesulfonamide group and its evaluation as a steroid sulfatase inhibitor.

Steroid sulfatase (STS) catalyzes the hydrolyis of steroidal sulfates such as estrone sulfate (ES1) and is considered to be an attractive target in the treatment of steroid dependent cancers. A non-hydrolyzable estrone sulfate (ES1) analogue bearing an alpha,alpha-difluorosulfonamide moiety at the 3-position on the A-ring, compound , was synthesized. Key to the success of this synthesis was the first use of the allyl group as a sulfonamide protecting group. The pK(a) of this ES1 mimic in 0.1 M bis-tris propane, 10% DMSO was determined to be 8.05 using 19F NMR. Compound is a reversible inhibitor with a K(i) similar to that of its sulfonate analogue at pH 7.0. It is more potent than its non-fluorinated sulfonamide analogue and, its inhibitory potency increases with increasing pH, a trend opposite to that of other STS inhibitors. Possible reasons for this are presented.

A fluorogenic substrate for the continuous assaying of aryl sulfatases.

The most common fluorogenic substrate for assaying aryl sulfatases (ARSs) is 4-methylumbelliferyl sulfate (MUS). However, ARSs operate optimally at pH values that are less than the pK(a) (7.8) of the reaction product of MUS, 4-methylumbelliferone (4-MU). Thus, a major disadvantage of this assay is that it is usually run in a discontinuous mode due to the need for basification of the reaction mixture to achieve complete ionization of the phenolic products and maximum fluorescence. To circumvent this problem, 6,8-difluoro-4-methylumbelliferyl sulfate (DiFMUS) was prepared and examined as a substrate for ARSs. The product of the reaction is 6,8-difluoro-4-methylumbelliferone, a known coumarin with fluorescent properties equal to those of 4-MU, and has a pK(a) of 4.9. This allowed for the continuous assaying of human placental ARSs A, B, and C, which operate optimally between pH 5.0 and pH 7.0. Furthermore, DiFMUS exhibited a lower K(m) (up to 20-fold) for the ARSs than did MUS; for ARSA and ARSB, it exhibited a greater V(max) than did MUS. This substrate should have considerable utility for the continuous assay of ARS activity.

The difluoromethylene group as a replacement for the labile oxygen in steroid sulfates: a new approach to steroid sulfatase inhibitors.

Several estrone sulfate and estradiol sulfate analogues, in which the sulfate group was replaced with an alpha,alpha-difluoromethylenesulfonate group or an alpha,alpha-difluoromethylenetetrazole group, were examined as inhibitors of steroid sulfatase (STS). These compounds were 4.5-10.5 times more potent than their non-fluorinated analogues. Moreover, the presence of the fluorines changed the mode of inhibition from mixed to competitive. The inhibitor bearing the alpha,alpha-difluoromethylenetetrazole group exhibited an affinity for STS approaching that of the natural STS substrate, estrone sulfate. Possible reasons for the enhanced affinity of the fluorinated compounds compared to their non-fluorinated counterparts are discussed.