Analysis of plasma proteins using 2D gels and novel fluorescent probes: in search of blood based biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease.

BACKGROUND: The Australian Imaging and Biomarker Lifestyle (AIBL) study of aging is designed to aid the discovery of biomarkers. The current study aimed to discover differentially expressed plasma proteins that could yield a blood-based screening tool for Alzheimer's disease. METHODS: The concentration of proteins in plasma covers a vast range of 12 orders of magnitude. Therefore, to search for medium to low abundant biomarkers and elucidate mechanisms of AD, we immuno-depleted the most abundant plasma proteins and pre-fractionated the remaining proteins by HPLC, prior to two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The relative levels of approximately 3400 protein species resolved on the 2D gels were compared using in-gel differential analysis with spectrally resolved fluorescent protein detection dyes (Zdyes™). Here we report on analysis of pooled plasma samples from an initial screen of a sex-matched cohort of 72 probable AD patients and 72 healthy controls from the baseline time point of AIBL. RESULTS: We report significant changes in variants of apolipoprotein E, haptoglobin, α1 anti-trypsin, inter-α trypsin inhibitor, histidine-rich glycoprotein, and a protein of unknown identity. α1 anti-trypsin and α1 anti-chymotrypsin demonstrated plasma concentrations that were dependent on APOE ε4 allele dose. Our analysis also identified an association with the level of Vitamin D binding protein fragments and complement factor I with sex. We then conducted a preliminary validation study, on unique individual samples compared to the discovery cohort, using a targeted LC-MS/MS assay on a subset of discovered biomarkers. We found that targets that displayed a high degree of isoform specific changes in the 2D gels were not changed in the targeted MS assay which reports on the total level of the biomarker. CONCLUSIONS: This demonstrates that further development of mass spectrometry assays is needed to capture the isoform complexity that exists in theses biological samples. However, this study indicates that a peripheral protein signature has potential to aid in the characterization of AD.

Cyclic 1,2-diketones as core building blocks: a strategy for the total synthesis of (-)-terpestacin.

We report a full account of our work towards the total synthesis of (-)-terpestacin (1), a sesterterpene originally isolated from fungal strain Arthrinium sp. FA1744. Its promising anti-HIV and anti-cancer activity, as well as its novel structure, make terpestacin an attractive synthetic target. A strategy based on the unique reactivity of cyclic 1,2-diketones (diosphenols) was developed and total synthesis of 1 was achieved in 20 steps, in the longest linear sequence, from commercially available 2-hydroxy-3-methyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one. The key feature of our synthesis is the double usage of a "Pd AAA-Claisen" protocol (AAA=asymmetric allylic alkylation), first in the early stages to generate the C1 quaternary center and then in the late stages to install the side chain. In addition, a rather unusual ene-1,2-dione moiety was synthesized and utilized as an excellent Michael acceptor to attach the C15 substituent. Several possible routes towards the total synthesis have been examined and carefully evaluated. During our exploration many interesting chemoselectivity issues have been addressed, such as a highly selective ring-closing metathesis and a challenging oxidation of a disubstituted olefin in the presence of three trisubstituted ones.

Imidazolylsulfonates: electrophilic partners in cross-coupling reactions.

Aryl imidazolylsulfonates participate as electrophilic coupling partners in palladium-mediated cross-coupling reactions. The aryl imidazolylsulfonates display good stability while maintaining good reactivity in a variety of palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions. Imidazolylsulfonates are a practical and economic alternative to triflates.

Synthesis and evaluation of aminomethyl dihydrocinnamates as a new class of PPAR ligands.

PPAR ligands with varied subtype selectivity have been synthesized using an achiral aminomethyl dihydrocinnamate template. Several compounds in this series have demonstrated potent plasma glucose and triglyceride lowering capability in rodent models of type 2 diabetes.