2,3-Di-O-picolinyl building blocks as glycosyl donors with switchable stereoselectivity.

2-O-Picolinyl protected glycosyl donors lead to the formation of 1,2-trans glycosides with complete stereoselectivity. This is due to the participatory effect of the picolinyl nitrogen that is able to block the bottom face of the ring via a six-membered cyclic intermediate. Herein we demonstrate that if the nitrogen atom of the O-picolinyl moiety is temporarily blocked by coordination to the metal center (Pd), it becomes unavailable to participate in glycosylation and hence the stereoselectivity of 2-O-picolinyl-assisted glycosylations can be "switched".

2-Acylamido analogues of N-acetylglucosamine prime formation of chitin oligosaccharides by yeast chitin synthase 2.

Chitin, a homopolymer of ß1,4-linked N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) residues, is a key component of the cell walls of fungi and the exoskeletons of arthropods. Chitin synthases transfer GlcNAc from UDP-GlcNAc to preexisting chitin chains in reactions that are typically stimulated by free GlcNAc. The effect of GlcNAc was probed by using a yeast strain expressing a single chitin synthase, Chs2, by examining formation of chitin oligosaccharides (COs) and insoluble chitin, and by replacing GlcNAc with 2-acylamido analogues of GlcNAc. Synthesis of COs was strongly dependent on inclusion of GlcNAc in chitin synthase incubations, and N,N'-diacetylchitobiose (GlcNAc2) was the major reaction product. Formation of both COs and insoluble chitin was also stimulated by GlcNAc2 and by N-propanoyl-, N-butanoyl-, and N-glycolylglucosamine. MALDI analyses of the COs made in the presence of 2-acylamido analogues of GlcNAc showed they that contained a single GlcNAc analogue and one or more additional GlcNAc residues. These results indicate that Chs2 can use certain 2-acylamido analogues of GlcNAc, and likely free GlcNAc and GlcNAc2 as well, as GlcNAc acceptors in a UDP-GlcNAc-dependent glycosyltransfer reaction. Further, formation of modified disaccharides indicates that CSs can transfer single GlcNAc residues.

Psychosine, the cytotoxic sphingolipid that accumulates in globoid cell leukodystrophy, alters membrane architecture.

Globoid cell leukodystrophy (GLD) is a neurological disease caused by deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme galactosylceramidase (GALC). In the absence of GALC, the cytotoxic glycosphingolipid, psychosine (psy), accumulates in the nervous system. Psychosine accumulation preferentially affects oligodendrocytes, leading to progressive demyelination and infiltration of activated monocytes/macrophages into the CNS. GLD is characterized by motor defects, cognitive deficits, seizures, and death by 2-5 years of age. It has been hypothesized that psychosine accumulation, primarily within lipid rafts, results in the pathogenic cascade in GLD. However, the mechanism of psychosine toxicity has yet to be elucidated. Therefore, we synthesized the enantiomer of psychosine (ent-psy) to use as a probe to distinguish between protein-psy (stereo-specific enantioselective) or membrane-psy (stereo-insensitive nonenantioselective) interactions. The enantiomer of psychosine has equal or greater toxicity compared with psy, suggesting that psy exerts its toxicity through a nonenantioselective mechanism. Finally, in this study we demonstrate that psy and ent-psy localize to lipid rafts, perturb natural and artificial membrane integrity, and inhibit protein Kinase C translocation to the plasma membrane. Although other mechanisms may play a role in disease, these data strongly suggest that psy exerts its effects primarily through membrane perturbation rather than through specific protein-psy interactions.

Reactive thioglucoside substrates for ß-glucosidase.

A new, very efficient, class of thioglycoside substrates has been found for ß-glucosidase. While thioglycosides are usually resistant to hydrolysis, even in the presence of acids or most glycohydrolases, the ß-D-glucopyranosides of 2-mercaptobenzimidazole (GlcSBiz) and 2-mercaptobenzoxazole (GlcSBox) have been found to be excellent substrates for ß-glucosidase from both sweet almond (a family 1 glycohydrolase) and Aspergillus niger (a family 3 glycohydrolase), reacting nearly as well as p-nitrophenyl ß-D-glucoside. The enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of GlcSBiz proceeds with retention of configuration. As with the (1000-fold slower) hydrolysis of phenyl thioglucosides catalyzed by the almond enzyme, the pL (pH/pD)-independent kcat/KM does not show a detectable solvent deuterium kinetic isotope effect (SKIE), but unlike the hydrolysis of phenyl thioglucosides, a modest SKIE is seen on kcat [(D2O)kcat=1.28 (±0.06)] at the pL optimum (5.5≤pL≤6.6). A solvent isotope effect is also seen on the KM for the N-methyl analog of GlcSBiz. These results suggest that the mechanism for the hydrolysis of the ß-thioglucoside of 2-mercaptobenzimidazole and of 2-mercaptobenzoxazole involves remote site protonation (at the ring nitrogen) followed by cleavage of the thioglucosidic bond resulting in the thione product.

O-Benzoxazolyl imidates as versatile glycosyl donors for chemical glycosylation.

Herein, we report a new class of glycosyl donors, benzoxazolyl imidates, for chemical glycosylation. The O-benzoxazolyl (OBox) leaving group was designed with an aim to compare the relative reactivity and stability of similarly structured S-benzoxazolyl (SBox) glycosides (thioimidates) developed in our lab and glycosyl trichloroacetimidates (TCAI, O-imidates) developed by Schmidt. Novel OBox donors can be activated under catalytic conditions and provided excellent yields in glycosylation. The OBox imidates were found to be more reactive than either SBox or TCAI donors. The high reactivity profile was confirmed in direct competitive experiments and was found beneficial for HPLC-assisted solid-phase synthesis.

Experimental and theoretical study of the structures and enthalpies of formation of 3H-1,3-benzoxazole-2-thione, 3H-1,3-benzothiazole-2-thione, and their tautomers.

This paper reports an experimental and theoretical study of the structures and standard (p(o) = 0.1 MPa) molar enthalpies of formation of 3H-1,3-benzoxazole-2-thione and 3H-1,3-benzothiazole-2-thione. The enthalpies of combustion and sublimation were measured by rotary bomb combustion calorimetry and the Knudsen effusion technique, and gas-phase enthalpies of formation values at T = 298.15 K of (42.0 +/- 2.7) and (205.5 +/- 3.8) kJ x mol(-1) for 3H-1,3-benzoxazole-2-thione and 3H-1,3-benzothiazole-2-thione, respectively, were determined. G3-calculated enthalpies of formation are in excellent agreement with the experimental values. The present work discusses the question of tautomerism explicitly for both compounds and compares the energetics of all the related species. A comparison of the theoretical results with the structural data is also reported.

Concise Synthesis of the Unnatural Sphingosine and Psychosine Enantiomer.

The accumulation of psychosine (galactosyl sphingosine) has been associated with the pathogenesis of Krabbe disease, however, the exact mechanism of its cytotoxicity remains unclear. Herein, we describe the synthesis of the unnatural enantiomer of erythrosphingosine, psychosine, and related derivatives thereof that would allow for the mechanistic elucidation of the toxicity of psychosine.

Identification of a simple chemical structure associated with protective human antibodies against multiple pneumococcal serogroups.

Streptococcus pneumoniae, a major human pathogen, expresses at least 91 serologically distinct carbohydrate capsules. Since pneumococcal vaccines are designed to elicit antibodies against many different capsular polysaccharides (PSs), it is important to identify the epitopes involved in eliciting anti-capsular PS antibodies. We investigated the epitopes recognized by Dob1, which is a hybridoma-secreting human immunoglobulin G2 antibody to the PS of serotype 6B (Y. Sun et al., Infect. Immun. 67:1172-1179, 1999). We found that Dob1 bound synthetic capsular carbohydrates Gal(1-->3)alpha-d-Glcp(1-->3)alpha-l-Rhap(1-->3)Rib-ol and alpha-d-Glcp(1-->3)alpha-l-Rhap(1-->3)Rib-ol but did not bind alpha-l-Rhap(1-->3)Rib-ol. The critical epitope alpha-d-Glcp(1-->3)alpha-l-Rhap is found in the capsular PSs of serotypes 6A, 6B, 6C, and 19A but not in the 19F PS. Consistent with this observation, Dob1 bound to the PSs of serotypes 6A, 6B, 6C, and 19A but did not bind the 19F PS and 23 additional unrelated pneumococcal capsular PSs. Also, Dob1 could opsonize pneumococci expressing serotypes 6A, 6B, 6C, and 19A but did not opsonize 19F pneumococci. In addition, ca. 7% of immune sera (12 of 175 sera) had significant amounts of Dob1-like antibodies, i.e., reacted with 6B and 19A PSs, but not with 19F PS. Humans can produce antibodies to the Dob1 epitope and the antibodies to that epitope cross-react with the four serotypes 6A, 6B, 6C, and 19A that belong to different serogroups. This epitope may be useful for producing a totally synthetic, simple chemical structure that is capable of generating protective antibodies to multiple pneumococcal serogroups.

Synthesis, conjugation, and immunological evaluation of the serogroup 6 pneumococcal oligosaccharides.

The first synthesis of the newly discovered oligosaccharide of pneumococcal serotype 6C and its spacer-containing analogue is reported. Conjugation of the spacer-containing oligosaccharides of pneumococcal saccharides 6A, 6B, 6C and derivatives thereof with bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein carrier was carried out by using squaric-acid approach to obtain the oligosaccharide-protein conjugates in excellent yields. The conjugates have been tested with a rabbit antiserum pool (Pool B) used for pneumococcal serotyping. The results showed that synthetic carbohydrate conjugates express epitopes found in native capsular polysaccharides of serotypes 6A, 6B, and 6C.

Experimental and theoretical study of the structures and enthalpies of formation of the synthetic reagents 1,3-thiazolidine-2-thione and 1,3-oxazolidine-2-thione.

This paper reports an experimental and a theoretical study of the structures and standard (p(o) = 0.1 MPa) molar enthalpies of formation of the synthetic reagents 1,3-thiazolidine-2-thione [CAS 96-53-7] and 1,3-oxazolidine-2-thione [CAS 5840-81-3]. The enthalpies of combustion and sublimation were measured by rotary bomb combustion calorimetry, and the Knudsen effusion technique and gas-phase enthalpies of formation values at T = 298.15 K of (97.1 +/- 4.0) and -(74.4 +/- 4.6) kJ.mol(-1) for 1,3-thiazolidine-2-thione and 1,3-oxazolidine-2-thione, respectively, were determined. G3-calculated enthalpies of formation are in reasonable agreement with the experimental values. In the solid state, 1,3-thiazolidine-2-thione exists in two polymorphic forms (monoclinic and triclinic) and 1,3-oxazolidine-2-thione exits in the triclinic form. The isostructural nature of these compounds and comparison of their molecular and crystal structures have been analyzed. The experimental X-ray powder diffractograms have been compared with the calculated patterns from their structures for identification of the polymorphic samples used in this study. A comparison of our results with literature thermochemical and structural data for related compounds is also reported.

Synthesis of spacer-containing analogs of serogroup 6 pneumococcal oligosaccharides.

An efficient convergent strategy for the synthesis of a range of spacer-containing pneumococcal oligosaccharides of serogroup 6 and derivatives thereof has been developed. The spacer-containing oligosaccharides were deprotected and are available for subsequent conjugation and immunological studies, which are underway in our laboratory.

Electrochemical characterization of globotriose-containing self-assembled monolayers on nanoporous gold and their binding of soybean agglutinin.

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of α-D-Gal-(1→4)-ß-D-Gal-(1→4)-ß-D-Glc-mercaptooctane (globotriose, Gb3-C8-SH) were prepared both as single-component SAMs and as mixed SAMs with either octanethiol (OCT) or 8-mercapto-3,6-dioxaoctanol (HO-PEG2-SH), on flat gold and on nanoporous gold (NPG) electrodes. The binding of soybean agglutinin (SBA) to the globotriose (Gb3) unit in the SAMs was then studied using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), which is a label free method found to be quite sensitive to SAM composition and to the differences in SAM structure on NPG versus on flat Au. The affinity of SBA to the mixed SAM of HO-PEG2-SH and Gb3-C8-SH on NPG is found to be greater on NPG than on flat gold, and indicates a potential advantage for NPG as a substrate. The SAMs of HO-PEG2-SH were found to resist protein adsorption on either NPG or flat gold. The non-specific adsorption of SBA to OCT SAMs on flat Au was observed in EIS by the increase in charge transfer resistance; whereas, the increase seen on the NPG surface was smaller, and suggests that EIS measurements on NPG are less affected by non-specific protein adsorption. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of the SBA binding to mixed SAM of HO-PEG2-SH and Gb3-C8-SH on NPG showed a greater number of proteins on top of the OCT containing SAMs.

In vivo imaging of epileptic activity using 2-NBDG, a fluorescent deoxyglucose analog.

Accurately locating epileptic foci has great importance in advancing the treatment of epilepsy. In this study, epileptic seizures were first induced by intracortical injection of 4-aminopyridine in rats. A fluorescent deoxyglucose substitute, 2-(N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)amino)-2-deoxyglucose (2-NBDG), was then continuously injected via the tail vein. Brain glucose metabolism was subsequently monitored by fluorescence imaging of 2-NBDG. The initial uptake rate of 2-NBDG at the injection site of 4-aminopyridine significantly exceeded that of the control injection site, which indicated local hypermetabolism induced by seizures. Our results show that 2-NBDG can be used for localizing epileptic foci.

Comparison of the armed/disarmed building blocks of the D-gluco and D-glucosamino series in the context of chemoselective oligosaccharide synthesis.

A very elegant Fraser-Reid armed-disarmed approach recently expanded to the building blocks of the superarmed and superdisarmed series shows very high utility in chemoselective oligosaccharide synthesis. Although a number of studies dedicated to the chemoselective activation of 2-amino-2-deoxysugars have emerged, little remains known about how the reactivity of the armed/disarmed building blocks of the neutral sugars directly compares to that of their 2-aminosugar counterparts. A preliminary study of this comparative reactivity is presented.