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Calix[4]pyrrolidine, is a topological analogue of the chromophore of the pigments of life. An efficient two-step procedure, starting with the condensation between acetone and pyrrole followed by a heterogenous catalytic hydrogenation, has been developed. Many unsuspected aspects demonstrating the influence of the topology on the physicochemical and chemical properties emerged. The simple, symmetric structure showed unique attributes.

Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is a type of phthalate plasticizer found in a variety of consumer products and poses a public health concern due to its metabolic and endocrine disruption activities. Dysregulation of epigenetic modifications, including DNA methylation, has been shown to be an important mechanism for the pathogenic effects of prenatal exposures, including phthalates. In this study, we used an established mouse model to study the effect of perinatal DEHP exposure on the DNA methylation profile in liver (a primary target tissue of DEHP) and blood (a common surrogate tissue) of both juvenile and adult mice. Despite exposure ceasing at 3 weeks of age (PND21), we identified thousands of sex-specific differential DNA methylation events in 5-month old mice, more than identified at PND21, both in blood and liver. Only a small number of these differentially methylated cytosines (DMCs) overlapped between the time points, or between tissues (i.e. liver and blood), indicating blood may not be an appropriate surrogate tissue to estimate the effects of DEHP exposure on liver DNA methylation. We detected sex-specific DMCs common between 3-week and 5-month samples, pointing to specific DNA methylation alterations that are consistent between weanling and adult mice. In summary, this is the first study to assess the genome-wide DNA methylation profiles in liver and blood at two different aged cohorts in response to perinatal DEHP exposure. Our findings cast light on the implications of using surrogate tissue instead of target tissue in human population-based studies and identify epigenetic biomarkers for DEHP exposure.

Phthalate plasticizers are ubiquitous chemicals linked to several cardiovascular diseases in animal models and humans. Despite this, the mechanisms by which phthalate exposures cause adverse cardiac health outcomes are unclear. In particular, whether phthalate exposures during pregnancy interfere with normal developmental programming of the cardiovascular system, and the resulting implications this may have for long-term disease risk, are unknown. Recent studies suggest that the effects of phthalates on metabolic and neurobehavioral outcomes are sex-specific. However, the influence of sex on cardiac susceptibility to phthalate exposures has not been investigated. One mechanism by which developmental exposures may influence long-term health is through altered programming of DNA methylation. In this work, we utilized an established mouse model of human-relevant perinatal exposure and enhanced reduced representation bisulfite sequencing to investigate the long-term effects of diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) exposure on DNA methylation in the hearts of adult male and female offspring at 5 months of age (n = 5-7 mice per sex and exposure). Perinatal DEHP exposure led to hundreds of sex-specific, differentially methylated cytosines (DMCs) and differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in the heart. Pathway analysis of DMCs revealed enrichment for several pathways in females, including insulin signaling, regulation of histone methylation, and tyrosine phosphatase activity. In males, DMCs were enriched for glucose transport, energy generation, and developmental programs. Notably, many sex-specific genes differentially methylated with DEHP exposure in our mouse model were also differentially methylated in published data of heart tissues collected from human heart failure patients. Together, these data highlight the potential role for DNA methylation in DEHP-induced cardiac effects and emphasize the importance of sex as a biological variable in environmental health studies.

Lead (Pb) is a well-known toxicant that interferes with the development of a child's nervous and metabolic systems and increases the risk of developing diseases later in life. Although studies have investigated epigenetic effects associated with Pb exposure, knowledge of genome-wide changes with in vivo low dose perinatal Pb exposure in multiple tissues is limited. Within the Toxicant Exposures and Responses by Genomic and Epigenomic Regulators of Transcription (TaRGET II) consortium, we utilized a mouse model to investigate tissue- and sex-specific DNA methylation. Dams were assigned to control or Pb-acetate water, respectively. Exposures started 2 weeks prior to mating and continued until weaning at post-natal day 21 (PND21). Liver and blood were collected from PND21 mice, and the DNA methylome was assessed using enhanced reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (ERRBS). We identified ∼1000 perinatal Pb exposure related differentially methylated cytosines (DMCs) for each tissue- and sex-specific comparison, and hundreds of tissue- and sex-specific differentially methylated regions (DMRs). Several mouse imprinted genes were differentially methylated across both tissues in males and females. Overall, our findings demonstrate that perinatal Pb exposure can induce tissue- and sex-specific DNA methylation changes and provide information for future Pb studies in humans.

Developmental exposure to phthalates has been implicated as a risk for obesity; however, epidemiological studies have yielded conflicting results and mechanisms are poorly understood. An additional layer of complexity in epidemiological studies is that humans are exposed to mixtures of many different phthalates. Here, we utilize an established mouse model of perinatal exposure to investigate the effects of three phthalates, diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), diisononyl phthalate (DINP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP), on body weight and organ weights in weanling mice. In addition to individual phthalate exposures, we employed two mixture exposures: DEHP+DINP and DEHP+DINP+DBP. Phthalates were administered through phytoestrogen-free chow at the following exposure levels: 25 mg DEHP/kg chow, 25 mg DBP/kg chow and 75 mg DINP/kg chow. The viable yellow agouti (Avy) mouse strain, along with measurement of tail DNA methylation, was used as a biosensor to examine effects of phthalates and phthalate mixtures on the DNA methylome. We found that female and male mice perinatally exposed to DINP alone had increased body weights at postnatal day 21 (PND21), and that exposure to mixtures did not exaggerate these effects. Females exposed to DINP and DEHP+DINP had increased relative liver weights at PND21, and females exposed to a mixture of DEHP+DINP+DBP had increased relative gonadal fat weight. Phthalate-exposedAvy/aoffspring exhibited altered coat color distributions and altered DNA methylation at intracisternal A-particles (IAPs), repetitive elements in the mouse genome. These findings provide evidence that developmental exposures to phthalates influence body weight and organ weight changes in early life, and are associated with altered DNA methylation at IAPs.

Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an acquired autoimmune bleeding disorder which presents with isolated thrombocytopenia and risk of hemorrhage. While most children with ITP promptly recover with or without drug therapy, ITP is persistent or chronic in others. When needed, how to select second-line therapies is not clear. ICON1, conducted within the Pediatric ITP Consortium of North America (ICON), is a prospective, observational, longitudinal cohort study of 120 children from 21 centers starting second-line treatments for ITP which examined treatment decisions. Treating physicians reported reasons for selecting therapies, ranking the top three. In a propensity weighted model, the most important factors were patient/parental preference (53%) and treatment-related factors: side effect profile (58%), long-term toxicity (54%), ease of administration (46%), possibility of remission (45%), and perceived efficacy (30%). Physician, health system, and clinical factors rarely influenced decision-making. Patient/parent preferences were selected as reasons more often in chronic ITP (85.7%) than in newly diagnosed (0%) or persistent ITP (14.3%, P = .003). Splenectomy and rituximab were chosen for the possibility of inducing long-term remission (P < .001). Oral agents, such as eltrombopag and immunosuppressants, were chosen for ease of administration and expected adherence (P < .001). Physicians chose rituximab in patients with lower expected adherence (P = .017). Treatment choice showed some physician and treatment center bias. This study illustrates the complexity and many factors involved in decision-making in selecting second-line ITP treatments, given the absence of comparative trials. It highlights shared decision-making and the need for well-conducted, comparative effectiveness studies to allow for informed discussion between patients and clinicians.

A scalable synthesis of calix[n]furan[4-n]pyrroles and their fully reduced analogues, the novel calix[n]tetrahydrofuran[4-n]pyrrolidines obtained by hydrogenation of their aromatic relatives, was developed and optimized. The hydrogenation reaction was studied at several selected pressures (P = 100, 50 and 15 bars) and high diastereoselectivity was observed for the four possible calix[n]tetrahydrofuran[4-n]pyrrolidines. Moreover, two of the saturated macrocycles were obtained with good overall yields starting from the easily accessible calix[4]furan. The conformation of the eight macrocycles was analysed by X-ray diffraction and while a classical 1,3-alternate conformation of this type of compound was observed for the aromatic macrocycles, two distinct types of conformation were observed with the calix[n]tetrahydrofuran[4-n]pyrrolidines.

BackgroundDNA methylation is a critical epigenetic mechanism linking early developmental environment to long-term health. In humans, the extent to which toxicant-induced changes in DNA methylation in surrogate tissues, such as blood, mirror those in the target tissues is unclear. The Toxicant Exposures and Responses by Genomic and Epigenomic Regulators of Transcription (TaRGET II) consortium was established by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to address the utility of surrogate tissues as proxies for toxicant-induced epigenetic changes in target tissues.ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to investigate the effects of perinatal exposure to a human environmentally relevant level (32 ppm in maternal drinking water) of lead (Pb) on liver and blood DNA methylation in adult male and female mice. We hypothesized that developmental Pb exposure would lead to persistent changes in DNA methylation, and that a subset of differentially methylated loci would overlap between liver and blood.MethodsEnhanced reduced-representation bisulfite sequencing was used to assess DNA methylation in 5 month old Pb-exposed and control mice. Sex-stratified modeling of differential methylation by Pb exposure was conducted using an established bioinformatics pipeline.ResultsAlthough Pb exposure ceased at 3 weeks of age, we observed thousands of stably modified, sex-specific differentially methylated regions in the blood and liver of Pb-exposed animals, including 44 genomically imprinted loci. In males, we discovered 5 sites that overlapped between blood and liver, and exhibited changes in DNA methylation in the same direction in both tissues.ConclusionsThese data demonstrate that perinatal exposure to Pb induces sex-specific changes in hepatic DNA methylation in adulthood, some of which are also present in blood. Ongoing studies will provide additional exposure-specific insights, and include other epigenetic marks that will enable further refinement of the design and analysis of human studies where target tissues are inaccessible.

Dynamic protein-protein interactions control cellular behavior, from motility to DNA replication to signal transduction. However, monitoring dynamic interactions among multiple proteins in a protein interaction network is technically difficult. Here, we present a protocol for Quantitative Multiplex Immunoprecipitation (QMI), which allows quantitative assessment of fold changes in protein interactions based on relative fluorescence measurements of Proteins in Shared Complexes detected by Exposed Surface epitopes (PiSCES). In QMI, protein complexes from cell lysates are immunoprecipitated onto microspheres, and then probed with a labeled antibody for a different protein in order to quantify the abundance of PiSCES. Immunoprecipitation antibodies are conjugated to different MagBead spectral regions, which allows a flow cytometer to differentiate multiple parallel immunoprecipitations and simultaneously quantify the amount of probe antibody associated with each. QMI does not require genetic tagging and can be performed using minimal biomaterial compared to other immunoprecipitation methods. QMI can be adapted for any defined group of interacting proteins, and has thus far been used to characterize signaling networks in T cells and neuronal glutamate synapses. Results have led to new hypothesis generation with potential diagnostic and therapeutic applications. This protocol includes instructions to perform QMI, from the initial antibody panel selection through to running assays and analyzing data. The initial assembly of a QMI assay involves screening antibodies to generate a panel, and empirically determining an appropriate lysis buffer. The subsequent reagent preparation includes covalently coupling immunoprecipitation antibodies to MagBeads, and biotinylating probe antibodies so they can be labeled by a streptavidin-conjugated fluorophore. To run the assay, lysate is mixed with MagBeads overnight, and then beads are divided and incubated with different probe antibodies, and then a fluorophore label, and read by flow cytometry. Two statistical tests are performed to identify PiSCES that differ significantly between experimental conditions, and results are visualized using heatmaps or node-edge diagrams.

Developmental exposures to phthalates are suspected to contribute to risk of metabolic syndrome. However, findings from human studies are inconsistent, and long-term metabolic impacts of early-life phthalate and phthalate mixture exposures are not fully understood. Furthermore, most animal studies investigating metabolic impacts of developmental phthalate exposures have focused on diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), whereas newer phthalates, such as diisononyl phthalate (DINP), are understudied. We used a longitudinal mouse model to evaluate long-term metabolic impacts of perinatal exposures to three individual phthalates, DEHP, DINP, and dibutyl phthalate (DBP), as well as two mixtures (DEHP+DINP and DEHP+DINP+DBP). Phthalates were administered to pregnant and lactating females through phytoestrogen-free chow at the following exposure levels: 25 mg of DEHP/kg of chow, 25 mg of DBP/kg of chow, and 75 mg of DINP/kg of chow. One male and female per litter (n = 9 to 13 per sex per group) were weaned onto control chow and followed until 10 months of age. They underwent metabolic phenotyping at 2 and 8 months, and adipokines were measured in plasma collected at 10 months. Longitudinally, females perinatally exposed to DEHP only had increased body fat percentage and decreased lean mass percentage, whereas females perinatally exposed to DINP only had impaired glucose tolerance. Perinatal phthalate exposures also modified the relationship between body fat percentage and plasma adipokine levels at 10 months in females. Phthalate-exposed males did not exhibit statistically significant differences in the measured longitudinal metabolic outcomes. Surprisingly, perinatal phthalate mixture exposures were statistically significantly associated with few metabolic effects and were not associated with larger effects than single exposures, revealing complexities in metabolic effects of developmental phthalate mixture exposures.

White adipose tissue (WAT) plays an important role in obesity pathophysiology. Redox signaling underlies several aspects of WAT physiology; however, the thiol redox environment of WAT has not yet been fully characterized. Dietary and endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) exposures during development can transiently impact the cellular redox environment, but it is unknown whether these exposures can reprogram the WAT thiol redox environment. To characterize the WAT thiol redox environment, we took a descriptive approach and measured thiol redox parameters using high-performance liquid chromatography in mouse mesenteric (mWAT), gonadal (gWAT) and subinguinal (sWAT) depots. Cysteine (CYSS:CYS) and glutathione (GSSG:GSH) redox potentials (Eh) were more oxidizing in gWAT and sWAT than mWAT. Increased body weight, relative WAT weight and age were associated with oxidizing GSSG:GSH Eh in mWAT in a sex-specific manner. Body weight and relative WAT weight were also positively associated with GSSG:GSH Eh in sWAT. We carried out a second mouse study with perinatal exposures to bisphenol A (BPA) and Mediterranean and Western high-fat diets (HFDs) to determine whether early-life chemical and dietary factors have long-lasting impacts on mWAT redox parameters. Mice exposed to Mediterranean HFD or BPA had more oxidizing GSSG:GSH mWAT Eh than controls, with more pronounced differences in females. These findings suggest an important role for the thiol redox environment in WAT physiology. Observed sex-specific and depot-specific differences in thiol redox parameters are consistent with known WAT physiology. Lastly, mWAT GSSG:GSH Eh may be reprogrammed by developmental exposure to HFDs and EDCs, which may have implications for obesity risk.

The defense system of a plant can be primed for increased defense, resulting in an augmented stress resistance and/or tolerance. Priming can be triggered by biotic and abiotic stimuli, as well as by chemicals such as β-aminobutyric acid (BABA), a nonprotein amino acid considered so far a xenobiotic. Since the perception mechanism of BABA has been recently identified in Arabidopsis thaliana, in the present study we explored the possibility that plants do synthesize BABA. After developing a reliable method to detect and quantify BABA in plant tissues, and unequivocally separate it from its two isomers α- and γ-aminobutyric acid, we measured BABA levels in stressed and nonstressed A. thaliana plants, and in different plant species. We show that BABA is a natural product of plants and that the endogenous levels of BABA increase rapidly after infection with necrotrophic, biotrophic and hemibiotrophic pathogens, as well as after salt stress and submergence. Our results place the rise in endogenous BABA levels to a point of convergence in plant stress response and provide biological significance to the presence of a receptor in plants. These findings can explain the extremely widespread efficacy of BABA and open the way to unravel the early steps of priming.

Summary.: The retrosynthetic analysis of Ibogamine, a natural psychotropic alkaloid with exceptional anti-addictive properties found in both enantiomeric forms, requires an efficient access to a racemic cyclohexene. This cyclohexene can be obtained via the sequence Diels-Alder/[3,3] sigmatropic rearrangement reaction starting from substituted 1-thiocyanatobutadienes. An efficient synthesis of the enone, a stable precursor of 1-thiocyanatobutadienes, is reported. Enolisation of this enone was studied to find the optimal conditions to get the desired 1-thiocyanatobutadienes with good Z-selectivity

The macrocyclisation of hydroxyethylfuranyl acetic acid and of dehydrogenated model compounds of nonactic acid was investigated to develop a facile synthesis of nonactin analogues. By applying the Yamagushi macrocyclisation to our ω-hydroxyacids, we were able to isolate a mixture of di-, tri-, tetra- and pentameric macrocycles. Graphical abstract

The genetic material of every organism exists within the context of regulatory networks that govern gene expression—collectively called the epigenome. Animal models and human birth cohort studies have revealed key developmental periods that are important for epigenetic programming and vulnerable to environmental insults. Thus, epigenetics represent a potential mechanism through which sexually dimorphic effects of early-life exposures such as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) manifest. Several animal studies, and to a lesser extent human studies, have evaluated life-course sexually dimorphic health effects following developmental toxicant exposures; many fewer studies, however, have evaluated epigenetics as a mechanism mediating developmental exposures and later outcomes. To evaluate epigenetic reprogramming as a mechanistic link of sexually dimorphic early-life EDCs exposures, the following criteria should be met: (1) well-characterized exposure paradigm that includes relevant windows for developmental epigenetic reprogramming; (2) evaluation of sex-specific exposure-related epigenetic change; and (3) observation of a sexually dimorphic phenotype in either childhood, adolescence, or adulthood.

The self-assembly of N,N′,N″-trialkylbenzene-1,3,5-tricarboxamides (BTAs) 1 or of “crowded” BTAs 11 and 12 lead to supramolecular columnar-stacked structures with attractive material properties. The introduction of three alkoxy groups is reported to reinforce the self-assembly process. The influence of a single substituent introduced onto the aromatic core of BTA significantly affects the self-assembly process. The aggregation process of 2-substituted BTAs in the bulk and in solution, as studied by DSC, POM, X-ray diffraction and 1H NMR experiments, is impaired by hydrogen-bond-accepting substituents but strengthened by non-hydrogen-bond-accepting substituents.

Porphobilinogen synthase catalyzes the first committed step of the tetrapyrrole biosynthesis pathway. In an aldol-like condensation, two molecules of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) form the first pyrrole, porphobilinogen. Newly synthesized analogues of a reaction intermediate of porphobilinogen synthase have been employed in studying the active site and the catalytic mechanism of this early enzyme of tetrapyrrole biosynthesis. This study combines structural and kinetic evaluation of the inhibition potency of these inhibitors. In addition, one of the determined protein structures provides for the first time structural evidence of a magnesium ion in the active site. From these results, we can corroborate an earlier postulated enzymatic mechanism that starts with formation of a C-C bond, linking C3 of the A-side ALA to C4 of the P-side ALA through an aldole addition. The obtained data are discussed with respect to the current literature.

The biaryl core structure of rhazinilam with its fixed dihedral angle is a pivotal element for its unique in vitro cytotoxic activity. Most of the related natural products are oxidized versions of rhazinilam. Replacing the sensitive pyrrole ring by a pyrrolinone ring is the basis of our initial strategy towards rhazinilam analogues. With this goal, variants of the sequence crossed Mukaiyama aldol reaction followed by the Staudinger reaction were studied. Reacting a suitably substituted acetophenone with O-methyl O-trimethylsilyl ketene acetal gave pyrrolinones 8a and 8b in good to excellent yields. These intermediates could be transformed in four high-yielding steps into the pyrrolic precursors 7a–c containing all the atoms necessary for the construction of rings A, B, and C of rhazinilam. Our studies illustrate a lack of stability of these intermediates. Alternative synthetic approaches towards this central biaryl core structure are described.

Rhazinilam a structurally relatively simple tetracyclic natural product exerts interesting anticancer activities in vitro, which are difficult to reproduce in vivo. Based on the findings accumulated during the synthetic efforts and on the known metabolic sensitivity towards oxidation and acids a modified structural analogue of rhazinilam is proposed. A novel convergent approach towards the heterocyclic biaryl unit is described. The key sequence for the construction of 7 is the Mukaiyama crossed aldol reaction followed by the Staudinger reaction. Using known N-alkylation procedures the introduction of the side chains onto the 3-pyrrolin-2one intermediate 2 needed for the construction of the tetracycle could not be achieved.

The Rothemund-type condensation of methoxycarbonylpyrrole with acetone produces mainly the α,β′-linked dipyrromethane, a building block for the synthesis of N-confused macrocycles. The influence of the reaction conditions on the regioselectivity of the process is reported. The X-ray structures of the α,α′-, α,β′- and β,β′-linked dipyrromethanes show an interesting discrimination of the structurally different types of hydrogen bonds.

The synthesis of compound 2 and its derivatives 6 and 8 combining a pyrrolidine ring with an 1H-pyrrole unit is described (Scheme 2). Their attempted usability as organocatalysts was not successful. Reacting these simple pyrrolidine derivatives with cinnamaldehyde led to the tricyclic products 3b, 9b, and 10b first (Scheme 1, Fig. 2). The final, major products were the pyrrolo-indolizidine tricycles 3a, 9a, and 10a obtained via the iminium ion reacting intramolecularly with the nucleophilic β-position of the 1H-pyrrole moiety (cf. Scheme 1).

An exposure simulation study was conducted to characterize potential formaldehyde exposures of salon workers and clients during keratin hair smoothing treatments. Four different hair treatment brands (Brazilian Blowout, Coppola, Global Keratin, and La Brasiliana) were applied to separate human hair wigs mounted on mannequin heads. Short-term (6-16 min) and long-term (41-371 min) personal and area samples (at distances of 0.5 to 3.0 m from the source) were collected during each treatment for the 1-day simulation. A total of 88 personal, area, and clearance samples were collected. Results were analyzed based on task sampling (blow-dry, flat-iron), treatment sampling (per hair product), and time-weighted averages (per hair treatment, four consecutive treatments). Real-time monitoring of tracer gas levels, for determining the air exchange rate, and formaldehyde levels were logged throughout the simulation. Bulk samples of each hair treatment were collected to identify and quantify formaldehyde and other chemical components that may degrade to formaldehyde under excessive heat. Mean airborne concentrations of formaldehyde ranged from 0.08-3.47 ppm during blow-dry and 0.08-1.05 ppm during flat-iron. During each treatment, the mean airborne concentrations ranged from 0.02-1.19 ppm throughout different zones of the salon. Estimated 8-hr time-weighted averages for one treatment per day ranged from 0.02 ppm for La Brasiliana to 0.08-0.16 ppm for Brazilian Blowout. For four treatments per day, means ranged from 0.04-0.05 ppm for La Brasiliana to 0.44-0.75 ppm for Brazilian Blowout. Using all four products in one day resulted in estimated 8-hr time-weighted averages ranging from 0.17-0.29 ppm. Results from bulk sampling reported formaldehyde concentrations of 11.5% in Brazilian Blowout, 8.3% in Global Keratin, 3% in Coppola, and 0% in La Brasiliana. Other products that degrade into formaldehyde were detected in Global Keratin, Coppola, and La Brasiliana. The results of this study show that professional hair smoothing treatments--even those labeled "formaldehyde-free"--have the potential to produce formaldehyde concentrations that meet or exceed current occupational exposure limits.

The naturally occurring macrotetrolide antibiotic nonactin is used in ammonium ion selective electrodes. To increase the lifetime of nonactin in the semipermeable membrane of these sensors we have developed methods for the introduction of hydrophobic side-chains. Simple model compounds for nonactic acid such as 5 and 7 were synthesised. Maintaining the cis arrangement of the substituents in the 2,5-disubstituted tetrahydrofurans proved to be difficult. Three different routes were studied. The enolates obtained by treatment with NaHMDS or KHMDS could be alkylated with benzyl or allyl iodide as electrophiles. Under these conditions a cis/trans isomerisation of the substituents on the tetrahydrofuran ring occurred. A multistep methodology was developed as a synthetic alternative. The sequence consisted of a selective retro-Michael reaction, a 5-exo-tet iodocyclisation and a radical substitution. The products obtained by the two methodologies could be correlated, and thereby a tentative assignment of the relative configurations could be achieved. In the third route the thione ester 18 was deprotonated with tBuOK. At temperatures below -78 °C, the enolate maintained the cis configuration of the substituents at the tetrahydrofuran ring. The alkylated product 12 could be isolated with a satisfactory cis/trans ratio of 85:15. The model compound 12 could be successfully transformed into more hydrophobic derivatives by using either the Heck coupling or the cross-coupling metathesis transformation.

Background: The impact of second line therapies on health related quality of life (HRQoL) and fatigue in pediatric patients with ITP is not well studied. Objective: To describe the impact of second line therapies on HRQoL and fatigue in North American pediatric patients with ITP. Methods: A longitudinal observational cohort of 120 children with ITP starting second line treatments was enrolled from 2013-2015 at 21 ICON centers. Enrollment requirements included age 1-17y and starting a second line treatment (not IVIG, corticosteroids or anti-D immunoglobulin) as monotherapy. HRQoL (Kids ITP Tool - KIT) and fatigue (Hockenberry Fatigue Scale - FS) surveys were completed prior to starting treatment (baseline) and 1 and 12 months after starting treatment by patient/caregiver. KIT is scored from 0 (worst) to 100 (best), and the FS scores were re-scaled so that 0 is no fatigue and 100 is highest fatigue. At the same time points as the patient/caregiver surveys, physicians assessed the perceived effect of treatment on patient HRQoL using a 7-point scale. ANOVA was used to compare the baseline means of the treatment groups. This study specifically compared change from baseline to 1 month in the KIT and FS using paired t-tests within each treatment group. The 12 month timepoint was not used in the paired analysis of individual treatments due to attrition between 1 and 12 months. Results: The median age at enrollment was 11.3 y (1.2-17.8), and 16% (19/120) had newly diagnosed ITP, 31% (37/120) had persistent ITP, and 53% (64/120) had chronic ITP. The median number of prior treatments was 3 (range: 1-9). Fifty-eight (48%) patients had received at least one prior second line treatment. Treatments selected for second line treatment included: rituximab (n=43), romiplostim (n=31), eltrombopag (n=20), oral immunosuppressants (n=19), splenectomy (n=4), and dapsone (n=3). The child and parent proxy KIT scores significantly improved on rituximab (p As previously described, at enrollment, physicians reported that ITP had impacted the patients' HRQoL severely in 15%, significantly in 45%, moderately in 38%, and almost not at all in 3%. Physicians reported that HRQoL improved in 68% (range: 64-75%) of patients while on treatment from baseline to 1 month with no significant difference by treatment group (p=0.46). The physician's assessment of the patient's baseline HRQoL significantly correlated with the child and parent proxy KIT report (p At enrollment, the median FS-Child score (n=54) was 18.5 (range 0-85), the median FS-Adolescent score (n=42) was 20.2 (0-73), and the median FS-Parent (n= 100) score was 35 (7-81). One month FS-Child improved for those who were treated with rituximab (p=0.03); there was no significant change in fatigue on the other treatments. One month FS-Parent significantly improved for those treated with rituximab (p=0.015) and eltrombopag (p=0.009). Conclusions: In this pediatric cohort, all second line treatments appear to significantly improve HRQoL in ITP. Rituximab had the greatest impact in decreasing fatigue at one month. Physician assessment of patient HRQoL did not correlate well with patient assessment after treatment was started, suggesting there may be challenges in ascertaining the effect of treatment on HRQoL. Future analysis of ICON1 will consider the impact of treatment on HRQoL and fatigue while also accounting for the treatment effect on bleeding and platelet count. Disclosures Grace: Agios: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Klaassen: Amgen: Consultancy; Hoffman-La Roche LTD: Consultancy; Octapharma: Honoraria; Baxalta: Honoraria; Biogen Canada LTD: Consultancy; Agios Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy. Despotovic: Sanofi: Consultancy; Schell Cooley LLP: Other: Expert witness. Bussel: Protalex: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Momenta: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Rigel: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Rothman: Pfizer: Consultancy; Agios Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria. Haley: Genentech: Honoraria; Baxalta: Honoraria; CSL Behring: Honoraria. Neufeld: Octapharma: Consultancy, Honoraria; Genentech: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Lambert: Educational Concepts in Medicine: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria; AstraZeneca: Research Funding.

Esters and amino acid derivatives of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA)are efficient prodrugs for the production of protoporphyrin IX (PpIX),which has been used in photodynamic cancer therapy (PDT). The synthesisof novel bioconjugates combining ALA with adenosine and thymidineis reported. The novel bioconjugates have been made using a robustmethodology. The new class of prodrugs contains one, two, or threeALA per molecule. Preliminary cell tests in human cancer cell linesindicate that the thymidine conjugate of ALA is an efficient prodrugfor PDT.

A practical synthesis of porphobilinogen based on the biosynthetic mechanism is described. The crossed Mukayiama aldol reaction is the key step creating the central carbon-carbon bond between the two protected forms of 5-aminolevulinic acids. The optimized sequence gives a crystalline, storable precursor, which can be transformed in high yield into porphobilinogen and bioconjugates thereof. The enzymatic hydrolysis of the precursor produces porphobilinogen in quantitative yield.

The efficient synthesis of two stable, easily handled precursors of 5-aminolevulinate is reported. These precursors are stable to the chemical transformation needed for the synthesis of bioconjugates and can be readily deprotected in good yields.

A new tandem reaction leads to bicyclic cyclohexene derivatives with complete control of the relative configuration of the four chiral centers formed. The high diastereoselectivity is the consequence of an endo-selective Diels-Alder reaction followed by an Ireland-Claisen rearrangement that proceeds via a boat-like transition state. © Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart.

Porphobilinogen synthase (PBGS) synthesizes porphobilinogen 2 (PBG), the common precursor of all natural tetrapyrroles, through an asymmetric condensation of two molecules of 5-aminolevulinic acid 1 (ALA). Symmetrically linked dimers 7-11 derived from levulinic acid 3 (gamma-oxovaleric acid) have been synthesized to mimic the assumed bisubstrate bound to the active site of the enzyme. Their inhibition potential was characterized by determination of the IC(50) and K(i) values using PBGS from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The polarity and the size of the functional group linking the two levulinic acid 3 units have a strong influence on the inhibition behavior.

Summary.: A malonylation/decarbalkoxylation sequence from 2-substituted furans was investigated in view of developing a scalable synthesis of hydrophobic nonactic acid analogues

Studies on the preparation of pyrrolinone-based analogs of rhazinilam (VII) are presented, using suitably functionalized pyrrolinones, e.g. (VI), as key building blocks.

Hydrogenation of meso-octamethylporphyrinogen (calix[4]pyrrole) with a number of heterogeneous catalysts under different experimental conditions has been investigated. GC-MS analyses of the reaction mixtures showed the formation of one to four products in low to moderate yields: three of them were diastereoisomers of the product derived from half-hydrogenation of the substrate, and displayed alternating pyrrolidine and pyrrole rings, while the fourth was the all-cis saturated product. An acidic medium was necessary to achieve hydrogenation. However, the use of too strongly acidic solvents or additives was detrimental to the stability of the substrate and/or the catalyst.

The title compound, tetrachlorido-1κCl;2κ3Cl-(2,2,7,7,12,12,17,17-octamethyl-21,22,23,24-tetraazapentacyclo[16.2.1.13,6.18,11.113,16]tetracosane-1κ4N,N′,N′′,N′′′)-μ2-oxido-diiron(III), [Fe2Cl4O(C28H52N4)], undergoes a slow phase transformation atca173 K from monoclinic space groupP21/n, denoted form (I), to the maximal non-isomorphic subgroup, triclinic space groupP\overline{1}, denoted form (II), which is accompanied by nonmerohedral twinning [twin fractions of 0.693 (4) and 0.307 (4)]. The transformation was found to be reversible, as on raising the temperature the crystal reverted to monoclinic form (I). In the asymmetric unit of form (I),Z′ = 1, while in form (II),Z′ = 2, with a very small reduction (ca1.8%) in the unit-cell volume. The two independent molecules (AandB) in form (II) are related by a pseudo-twofold screw axis along thebaxis. The molecular overlay of moleculeAon moleculeBhas an r.m.s. deviation of 0.353 Å, with the largest distance between two equivalent atoms being 1.202 Å. The reaction of calix[4]pyrrolidine, the fully reduced form ofmeso-octamethylporphyrinogen, with FeCl3gave a red–brown solid that was recrystallized from ethanol in air, resulting in the formation of the title compound. In both forms, (I) and (II), the FeIIIatoms are coordinated to the macrocyclic ligand and have distorted octahedral FeN4OCl coordination spheres. These FeIIIatoms lie out of the mean plane of the four N atoms, displaced towards the O atom of the [OFeCl3] unit by 0.2265 (5) Å in form (I), and by 0.2210 (14) and 0.2089 (14) Å, respectively, in the two independent molecules (AandB) of form (II). The geometry of the [OFeCl3] units are similar, with each FeIIIatom having a tetrahedral coordination sphere. The NH H atoms are directed below the planes of the macrocycles and are hydrogen bonded to the coordinated Cl−ions. There are also intramolecular C—H...Cl hydrogen bonds present in both (I) and (II). In form (I), there are no significant intermolecular interactions present. In form (II), the individual molecules are arranged in alternate layers parallel to theacplane. TheBmolecules are linked by a C—H...Cl hydrogen bond, forming chains along [100].

The structures of 5-aminolaevulinic acid dehydratase complexed with two irreversible inhibitors (4-oxosebacic acid and 4,7-dioxosebacic acid) have been solved at high resolution. Both inhibitors bind by forming a Schiff base link with Lys 263 at the active site. Previous inhibitor binding studies have defined the interactions made by only one of the two substrate moieties (P-side substrate) which bind to the enzyme during catalysis. The structures reported here provide an improved definition of the interactions made by both of the substrate molecules (A- and P-side substrates). The most intriguing result is the novel finding that 4,7-dioxosebacic acid forms a second Schiff base with the enzyme involving Lys 210. It has been known for many years that P-side substrate forms a Schiff base (with Lys 263) but until now there has been no evidence that binding of A-side substrate involves formation of a Schiff base with the enzyme. A catalytic mechanism involving substrate linked to the enzyme through Schiff bases at both the A- and P-sites is proposed.

4,7-Dioxosebacic acid (4,7-DOSA) is an active site-directed irreversible inhibitor of porphobilinogen synthase (PBGS). PBGS catalyzes the first common step in the biosynthesis of the tetrapyrrole cofactors such as heme, vitamin B(12), and chlorophyll. 4,7-DOSA was designed as an analogue of a proposed reaction intermediate in the physiological PBGS-catalyzed condensation of two molecules of 5-aminolevulinic acid. As shown here, 4,7-DOSA exhibits time-dependent and dramatic species-specific inhibition of PBGS enzymes. IC(50) values vary from 1 microM to 2.4 mM for human, Escherichia coli, Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and pea enzymes. Those PBGS utilizing a catalytic Zn(2+) are more sensitive to 4,7-DOSA than those that do not. Weak inhibition of a human mutant PBGS establishes that the inactivation by 4,7-DOSA requires formation of a Schiff base to a lysine that normally forms a Schiff base intermediate to one substrate molecule. A 1.9 A resolution crystal structure of E. coli PBGS complexed with 4,7-DOSA (PDB code ) shows one dimer per asymmetric unit and reveals that the inhibitor forms two Schiff base linkages with each monomer, one to the normal Schiff base-forming Lys-246 and the other to a universally conserved "perturbing" Lys-194 (E. coli numbering). This is the first structure to show inhibitor binding at the second of two substrate-binding sites.

Porphobilinogen synthase condenses two molecules of 5-aminolevulinate in an asymmetric way. This unusual transformation requires a selective recognition and differentiation between the substrates ending up in the A site or in the P site of porphobilinogen synthase. Studies of inhibitors based on the key intermediate first postulated by Jordan allowed differentiation of the two recognition sites. The P site, whose structure is known from X-ray crystallographic studies, tolerates ester functions well. The A site interacts very strongly with nitro groups, but is not very tolerant to ester functions. This differentiation is a central factor in the asymmetric handling of the two identical substrates. Finally, it could be shown that the keto group of the substrate bound at the A site is not only essential for the recognition, but that an increase in electrophilicity of the carbon atom also increases the inhibition potency considerably. This has important consequences for the recognition process at the A site, whose exact structure is not yet known.

Protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) is used as a photosensitizing agent in photodynamic detection and therapy (PDT) of cancer and is synthesized intracellularly from aminolevulinic acid (ALA) precursors. To evaluate means to specifically target ALA derivatives to defined cells, we have synthesized and characterized ethylene glycol esters and amino acid pseudodipeptide derivatives of ALA as potential specific substrates for cellular esterases and aminopeptidases, respectively. The PpIX formation induced by these products was investigated using cultures of human and rat cell lines of carcinoma and endothelial origins. The cytotoxicity of these compounds in the absence of light was also controlled. The results have shown that ethylenglycol esters can induce high levels of PpIX and are useful at concentrations below their cytotoxicity threshold. From the ALA-amino acid derivatives which were evaluated, the highest PpIX production was obtained using ALA derivatives of neutral amino acids, as compared to acidic or basic amino acids.

We report the synthesis of N-benzyl-N-[(E)-buta-1,3-dienyl]propanamide (6) and its corresponding O-silyl-substituted ketene N,O-acetal 7 and their Diels-Alder reaction. Propanamide 6 reacted smoothly, whereas the yield obtained from 7 was low, probably due to polymerization of the dienophile induced by electron transfer. The ketene N,O-acetals 27a – g were synthesized starting from the corresponding benzamides 25a – e (Scheme 9). The ketene N,O-acetals 27a – g showed increased stabilities and underwent amino-Claisen rearrangements under thermal conditions. Using catalysts, interesting side reactions leading either to the annulated systems rac-35 – 37 or to a β-lactam rac-34 were observed.

The novel tandem process Diels-Alder reaction/Ireland-Claisen rearrangement shows a high diastereoselectivity for the Ireland-Claisen rearrangement starting from the endo-product of the Diels-Alder reaction. Based on this mechanistic knowledge, the novel tandem process could be applied to the synthesis of rac-juvabione.

Background: Porphobilinogen synthase is the second enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of natural tetrapyrrolic compounds, and condenses two molecules of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) through a nonsymmetrical pathway to form porphobilinogen. Each substrate is recognized individually at two different active site positions to be regioselectively introduced into the product. According to pulse-labeling experiments, the substrate forming the propionic acid sidechain of porphobilinogen is recognized first. Two different mechanisms for the first bond-forming step between the two substrates have been proposed. The first involves carbon–carbon bond formation (an aldol-type reaction) and the second carbon–nitrogen bond formation, leading to an iminium ion. Results: With the help of kinetic studies, we determined the Michaelis constants for each substrate recognition site. These results explain the Michaelis–Menten behavior of substrate analog inhibitors — they act as competitive inhibitors. Under standard conditions, however, another set of inhibitors demonstrates uncompetitive, mixed, pure irreversible, slow-binding or even quasi-irreversible inhibition behavior. Conclusions: Analysis of the different classes of inhibition behavior allowed us to make a correlation between the type of inhibition and a specific site of interaction. Analyzing the inhibition behavior of analogs of postulated intermediates strongly suggests that carbon–nitrogen bond formation occurs first.

A number of 2,3-epoxy alcohol derivatives (1–16), obtained either asracemates or through the Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation reaction, were studied ona Chiralcel OD column. Nearly all compounds exhibit good enantioselective resolutionon this chiral support. The order of elution of enantiomers is reversed between nerol andgeraniol compounds. For 2,3-epoxy alcohols bearing a remote alkoxy (or silyloxy) group,the order of the enantiomeric elution alternates with the number n (n = 1–3) of methy-lenic groups present between the epoxide ring and the terminal OR (R=p−BrBn orOSitBuPh 2 ) functionality. In the case of trans 2,3-epoxy alcohols for the same number n,the order of elution is reversed when changing the terminal group −OSi to −OR. Thelatter group greatly improves the separation of the two enantiomers. KEY WORDS: 2,3-epoxyalcohols; enantiomeric elution order; protective groups; chain length influenceFor the last decade, intense interest has focused on thedevelopment of synthetic methods leading to optically ac-tive synthons possessing a 1,2, 1,3, 1,2,3 polyhydroxylatedframe.

In the title compound, C9H12Br2O3, a (tetra­hydro­furan-2-yl­idene)acetate, the double bond has the Z form. In the tetra­hydro­furan group, the relative configuration of the Br atom in the 3-position and the methyl group in the 5-position is anti. The compound crystallizes with two independent mol­ecules per asymmetric unit and, in the crystal structure, the individual mol­ecules are linked to their symmetry-equivalent mol­ecules by C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, so forming centrosymmetric hydrogen-bonded dimers.

In the crystal structure of the title compound, C8H14O3, the 2,5-tetra­hydro­furan ring junction is cis. The relative configuration of position 2 in the propanoic acid group was found to be the same as that in positions 2 and 5 in the tetra­hydro­furan ring. In the crystal structure, symmetry-related mol­ecules are linked by O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds to form centrosymmetric dimers.

The preparation of N-butadienyl-N-alkylketene N,O-tert-butyldimethylsilyl acetals (11a - d)from readily available starting materials is described. The cascade Diels-Alder reaction followed by acylation of these ketene acetals yields bicyclic and tricyclic products 7.13a,b and 14c,d with high diastereoselectivity.

By reaction of [K(18-crown-6)][N(PPh3)2]2[PMo12O40]·2MeCN 1 and [NBun4]4[S2Mo18O62] with PPh3 in acetonitrile the new compounds [K(18-crown-6)]2[N(PPh3)2]2[HPMo12O40]·8MeCN·18-crown-6 2(18-crown-6 = 1,4,7,10,13,16-hexaoxacyclooctadecane) and [NBun4]5[H3S2Mo18O62]·4MeCN 3 were prepared. Compound 2 contains the two-electron reduced [HPMo12O40]4– ion having the α-Keggin structure, 3 the four-electron reduced [H3S2Mo18O62]5– ion having the α-Dawson structure. Compounds 1–3 were characterised by means of IR and NMR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The structures of 1 and 2 are disordered in space group P. The heteropolyanions show apparent Th symmetry; their actual symmetry is T. Upon reduction the Mo ⋯ Mo distances increase slightly. The strongly alternating ‘short’(mean 1.814 A) and ‘long’(1.990 A) Mo–O–Mo bonds in the unreduced compound 1 become more equal in 2. The structural changes upon reduction observed in 3 were analysed in detail. The most significant alterations are an increase of the Mo ⋯ Mo distances between corner-sharing MoO6 octahedra in the equatorial belt by 0.066 A, and a decrease of the Mo–O–Mo bond lengths connecting the two halves of the anion. The alternation of the Mo–O(bridge) bonds is nearly evened out after reduction. All structural changes observed in 2 and 3 are consistent with the description that the additional electrons occupy delocalised molecular orbitals extending over the Mo–Ob framework.

In the title compounds, C11H18N2, (II), and C13H20N2O, (III), the pyrrolidine rings have twist conformations. Compound (II) crystallizes with two independent molecules (AandB) in the asymmetric unit. The mean planes of the pyrrole and pyrrolidine rings are inclined to one another by 89.99 (11) and 89.35 (10)° in moleculesAandB, respectively. In (III), the amide derivative of (II), the same dihedral angle is much smaller, at only 13.42 (10)°. In the crystal structure of (II), the individual molecules are linkedviaN—H...N hydrogen bonds to form inversion dimers, each with anR22(12) graph-set motif. In the crystal structure of (III), the molecules are linkedviaN—H...O hydrogen bonds to form inversion dimers with anR22(16) graph-set motif.