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A spider toxin NSTX-3 obtained from the venom of Papua New Guinean spider, Nephila maculata was synthesized in order to confirm its proposed structure and to supply the sample for the biological tests. The structure of NSTX-3 is now established as 2,4-dihydroxyphenylacetyl-L-Asn→Cad←Pua←L-Arg, where Cad stands for cadaverine and Pua for putreanine.

The isomers of sialic acid with 6-acetylamino group, 1a and 1b were synthesized from furanose 3a and 3b respectively obtained by aldol condensation of D -glucose with oxalacetic acid.

A main component of ganglioside M5 from egg of the sea urchin, Anthocidaris crassispina, Neu5Gcα2 → 6Glcβ1 → 1Cer (1), which has N-glycolyl group in neuraminic acid part, as well as phytosphingosine and saturated nonhydroxy fatty acid in ceramide part was first synthesized starting from N-acetylneuraminic acid.

Chemistry-based investigation is reviewed which led to identification of the active entities responsible for the immunostimulating potencies of peptidoglycan and lipopolysaccharide. Though these glycoconjugates which ubiquitously occur in wide range of bacteria as the essential components of their cell envelopes have long been known to enhance the immunological responses of higher animals, neither the precise chemical structures required nor the mechanism of their action had been [corrected] elucidated until early 1970s. Chemical synthesis of partial structures of peptidoglycan proved N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine to be the minimum structure responsible for the activity and led to later identification of its receptor protein Nod2 present in animal cells. Another active partial structure of peptidoglycan, gamma-D-glutamyl-meso-diaminopimelic acid, and its receptor Nod1 were also identified as well. With regard to lipopolysaccharide, its glycolipid part named lipid A was purified and the structure studied. Chemically synthesized lipid A according to the newly elucidated structure exhibited full activity described for lipopolysaccharide known as endotoxin. Synthetic homogeneous lipid A and its structural analogues and labeled derivatives enabled precise studies of their interaction with receptor proteins and the mechanism of their action. Chemical synthesis of homogeneous partial structures of peptidoglycan and lipopolysaccharide gave unequivocal evidences for the concept that definite small molecular parts of these complex macromolecular bacterial glycoconjugates are specifically recognized by their respective receptors and trigger our defense system now widely recognized as innate immunity.

In this paper, we compared the chemical and biological activities of natural and synthetic clavamines, N-[2, 4-dihydroxyphenylacetyl-4-L-asparaginyl)-N'-[N-(L-arginyl-glycyl-L-alanyl)-8-amino-4-azaoctanoyl]-1, 5-pentane-diamine (DPA→Asn→Cad←Ptr←Ala←Gly←Arg)[DPA, 2, 4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid; Cad, 1.5-pentanediamine (cadaverine); Ptr, 8-amino-4-azaoctanoic acid (putreanine, or carboxyethylputrescine)], and found that both were identical. Both compounds showed the same Rf value in thin-layer chromatography and the same retention time in high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Both hydrolyzates consisted of the same components, such as Gly, DPA, Ala, Asp, Arg and Ptr in gas chromatography. The Edman degradation of both compounds also gave exactly the same sequence. The 1H-NMR spectrum and fast atom bombardment (FAB) mass spectrum of the synthetic compound coincided with those of the natural one. Both were active on the insects used. Clavamine was the main component of the insecticidal activity in the crude venom. By this synthetic study, the structure of a new venom insecticide was thus established. The synthetic compound in abundant quantity will be advantageous for practical use as an insecticide over natural ones, because the latter is available only in small amounts. Also, it will be useful for the exploitation of a new field of biochemistry for polyamines.

An assay method for GDP-L-Fuc:N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminide alpha 1-6fucosyltransferase (alpha 1-6FucT; EC 2.4.1.68) activity has been developed, involving a fluorescent pyridylaminated substrate. A glycopeptide derived from bovine gamma-globulin was coupled with 4-(2-pyridylamino)butylamine (PABA) through the peptide bond, and the following substrate was obtained. [equation: see text] The substrate and guanosine diphospho-fucopyranoside (GDP-Fuc) were incubated with a crude enzyme extract for 2 h, and then the enzymatic product was separated by reversed phase HPLC. Quantitation of the product involved measurement of the fluorescence intensity of the fucosylated pyridylaminated sugar. The structures of both synthesized GnGn-bi-Asn-PABA (substrate), and synthesized GnGnF-bi-Asn-PABA (product) were analyzed by 1H NMR. The enzymatic product was also analyzed by 1H NMR and was found to have alpha 1-6fucose at the reducing end GlcNAc. This method is highly specific for alpha 1-6FucT and is applicable for various experiments, including purification and cell culture ones.

A protein having a high-affinity binding site for [3H]mepyramine (MBP) was purified to homogeneity from rat liver membranes. The purified MBP has a single type of binding site for [3H]mepyramine with Kd value of 18.5 nM, and its molecular weight was determined to be 56,000 by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Amino acid sequences of twelve tryptic peptides derived from MBP are highly homologous with those of rat debrisoquine 4-hydroxylase (cytochrome P450 2D1) and other rat P450 2D subfamily members. In immunoblotting analysis, an antibody against rat P450 2D1 stained a band corresponding to MBP with Mr of 56,000; its migration position was clearly different from that of rat P450 2D1. Substrates and inhibitors of debrisoquine 4-hydroxylase potently displace [3H]-mepyramine binding to MBP. Quinine and quinidine showed 400 and 80 times, respectively, higher affinity for MBP than for debrisoquine 4-hydroxylase. These results suggest that MBP is a novel P450 2D family member.

In this paper, the phrase should be corrected as follows: (page 322, Abstract, line 6) For “remained to be” Read “had been”

Two novel analogs of a biosynthetic precursor of lipid A (2) were synthesized. The one analog (3) has acyl groups identical to those of 2, and the other (4) has tetradecanoyl groups in place of the (R)-3-hydroxytetradecanoyl groups of 2. Both 3 and 4 possess an alpha-glycosidically-bound phosphonooxyethyl group in place of the alpha-glycosyl phosphate group of 2. Compounds 3 and 4 exhibited definite antitumor activity against Meth A fibrosarcoma and low toxicity in rabbits, as the original compound 2 does. The replacement of the hydroxytetradecanoyl groups with tetradecanoyl groups barely affected the antitumor activity, but slightly enhanced the toxicity in rabbits.

A rice bran polysaccharide designated RON was subjected either to partial hydrolysis with formic acid or to partial degradation by ultrasonic irradiation. A significant change in the molecular size was also observed during simple chromatography of RON on a strongly acidic ion exchange resin, although the apparent molecular weight of RON had been assumed to be more than 1 x 10(6) daltons (Da). This fact indicates that RON exists as molecular aggregates, presumably mediated by metal cations. Degradation products with average molecular weights above ca. 1 x 10(4) Da which were obtained by any of the three methods still retained the following activities of RON: in vivo antitumor activity against Meth-A fibrosarcoma in mice by oral administration, and in vitro macrophage stimulatory effects to induce tumoricidal activity and interleukin 1 production. This molecular size was proven to be the minimum requisite for these activities because smaller fragments were scarcely active. The aggregation was characteristic of RON but not essential for its antitumor activity because definite, though slightly reduced, activity was exhibited even by the smaller fragments obtained after the ion exchange resin treatment.

Three novel lipid A analogs, which have an alpha- or beta-glycosidically bound phosphonooxyethyl group instead of the alpha-glycosyl phosphate group of natural lipid A, were synthesized. The first analog (2) had an alpha-phosphonooxyethyl group on the identical acylated disaccharide 4'-phosphate structure found in natural lipid A (from Escherichia coli) and hence differed from the latter only in the nature of the acidic group at position 1. The second one (3) had tetradecanoyl groups in place of the two (R)-3-hydroxytetradecanoyl groups bound to the 2- and 3-hydroxyl function of 2, retaining the alpha-phosphonooxyethyl group. The structure of the third analog (4) was the same as that of 3 except that the phosphonooxyethyl group of the former was beta-oriented. Compounds 2 and 3 exhibited potent activity against Meth A at the same level as natural lipid A, whereas 4 showed less activity. This fact revealed that the glycosidic phosphate is not a prerequisite for the antitumor activity of lipopolysaccharide. It can be replaced with a phosphonooxyethyl group without any loss of activity provided that the alpha-anomeric configuration at C-1 is retained. The replacement of the hydroxytetradecanoyl groups with tetradecanoyl groups does not change the activity either.

Clavamine, a new insecticidal toxin isolated from the venom of Joro spider (Nephila clavata) was totally synthesized in order to confirm the proposed structure. In clavamine, a fragment of glycylalanine is inserted in the structure of NSTX-3, a New Guinean spider toxin. The synthesis determined the chemical structure of clavamine unambiguously.

In a study on structure-activity relationship of spider toxin NSTX-3 obtained from venom of Nephila maculata, nine analogs or fragments of natural toxin were synthesized. Among them, des-Arg- NSTX-3 was found to be the minimum structure for blocking the excitatory transmission in the crustacean neuromuscular synapse. A positive charge of the arginine part was concluded to play the most important role for exhibition of the activity.

A group of spider toxins (JSTX, NSTX, argiopin, argiotoxin etc.) share a basic common structure and have been reported to block strongly quisqualate- and kainate-sensitive glutamate responses in vertebrate and invertebrate nervous systems. They are presumed to be potent antagonists of both quisqualate and kainate receptors and may serve as useful tools for characterizing these receptors. We report here the synthesis of tritium-labeled NSTX-3 and the characterization of its binding sites in the rat brain. We found that high- and low-affinity binding sites exist in the cerebellum (Kd = 7.75 and 202 nM, Bmax = 0.37 and 5.54 pmol/mg protein, respectively). Synthetic NSTX analogs strongly inhibited [3H]NSTX-3 binding in the cerebellum (IC50 = 10(-7)-10(-6) M), whereas competitive agonists of glutamate receptors (AMPA, quisqualate, NMDA, kainate, glutamate and aspartate) exhibited weak or no inhibitory effects.

To confirm the revised lipid A structure of Escherichia coli and to establish the structure responsible for its functions, biological activities of the synthetic compounds based on the presented structure of E. coli lipid A were investigated. Compound 506, 2-deoxy-6-O-(2-deoxy-2-[(R)-3-dodecanoyloxytetradecanoylamino]-3-O [(R)3-tetradecanoyloxytetradecanoyl]-beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-3-O-[(R) -3-hydroxytetradecanoyl]-2-[(R)-3-hydroxytetradecanoylamino]-alpha -D-glucopyranose 1,4'-bis(phosphate), exhibited activities identical to those of natural E. coli lipid A in eliciting Shwartzman reaction and tests on lethality, pyrogenicity, interferon- and tumor necrosis factor-inducing activities as well as in B-cell activating activity and Limulus amebocyte lysate gelating activity. With the exception of the Shwartzman reaction the monophosphorylated synthetic compounds at either the 1 or 4' position showed slightly lower activities than the compound with the bisphosphorylated compound (Compound 506). The compound without the phosphate group showed no or only very weak activities. The structural requirements for each activity (i.e. binding position and composition of fatty acids and presence of phosphate groups) are discussed taking into account the results of previous investigations.

Re-mutant lipopolysaccharide (Re LPS) of Salmonella minnesota profoundly inhibited the growth of murine B-cell lines, designated CYG34 and CYG101, established from long term bone-marrow culture. When CYG101 cells were cultured together with Re LPS at concentrations of 2-100μg/ml, the cell proliferation was dose-dependently suppressed. Re LPS hardly or slightly affected the growth of a murine T-cell line, BW5147, pre-B cell lines, 70Z/3 and CYG 8, and a myeloma cell line, X63Ag8. S-form LPS of Escherichia coli and S. typhimurium, Re-mutant LPS of S. minnesota and natural lipid A of E. coil, S. typhimurium and S. minnesota also inhibited the growth of CYG101 cells. However, degraded polysaccharide of S-form LPS of S. typhimurium did not inhibit the cell growth. Synthetic compounds 406, corresponding to a biosynthetic disaccharide lipid A precursor, and 506, corresponding to lipid A of the E. coli type, also inhibited the growth of CYG101 cells. These results suggest that the growth inhibition of cell lines by LPS is selective or specific to the cell line and that the lipid A portion of LPS is involved in this growth inhibition. Double acyl groups of lipid A may not play any role in the inhibition of cell growth.

We report progress in elucidating the structure of nisin, a naturally occurring peptide antibiotic. Nisin contains five rings constrained by lanthionine or methyllanthionine bridges, as well as alpha, beta-unsaturated amino acids. We have determined conformations for two model compounds of ring A and a derivative of ring B through interactive nmr and computer simulation studies. High-resolution nmr techniques provides structural information, which was further refined through molecular dynamics simulations. These methods are being applied to the remaining constrained fragments of the molecule. This conformational information will be employed in an aufbau approach to determining the structure of the entire molecule.

A variety of compounds, synthetic, semisynthetic or bacterial, which corresponds to structural components of endotoxic lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and bacterial cell wall peptidoglycans were studied for their activity to enhance interleukin-1 (IL-1) production of murine peritoneal macrophages and the ability to activate the complement cascade in fresh adult human serum. Not only bacterial LPS and cell walls or peptidoglycans but also their structural components with appropriate size and structure induced IL-1 production by macrophages and activated the human complement cascade, which may lead to the IL-1 production by monocytes/macrophages.

A novel and very accurate method was established for the determination of the optical purity of a peptide by use of the following procedure: (1) hydrolysis of the peptide in deuterium chloride, (2) gas chromatographic separation of each amino acid enantiomer on a chiral phase, and (3) determination of the D/L ratio by mass fragmentography. In this manner, one can estimate the true chiral purity of each amino acid residue with an accuracy of ∼0.2%. The recemization effected during hydrolysis could be eliminated in principle, since the artificially formed DL-amino acids are necessarily labeled at the α-position with deuterium and can thus be distinguished mass spectrometrically from the D- and L-isomer originally present in the peptide. The versatility of the method was proven by analysis of model peptides, as well as by a racemization test in fragment condensation.

Endotoxin caused cytotoxic damages of mouse bone marrow cells and an increase in thromboplastin (Tp) activity of membrane fragments of the cells. Activities of synthetic lipid A analogs were compared with those of natural lipid A. Injection of 50μg of 406 increased cytotoxicity of the cells from 16.1±0.7 (control) to 26.4±1.7%, and the activity was comparable to that of natural lipid A (27.4±1.2%, dye exclusion test). Compounds 404 and 405 also induced cytotoxicity, however, compound 403 had no activity, compounds 503 to 506, which have double acyl groups at C2′ and C3′ positions, increased cytotoxicity. Among these analogs, compound 506 had the highest activity (from control, 16.1±1.9 to 32.6±1.6%). Compound 406 or 506 caused dose-dependent induction of Tp activity in the cells. Tp activity in the cells increased by injection of as little as 6μg of compound 406, 506 or by natural lipid A. Tp activity in the cells induced by compound 406 decreased after incubation with either Concanavalin A or Polymyxin B.These findings indicate that active principle of endotoxin, as to the induction of cytotoxicity and Tp activity in bone marrow cells, is the lipid A portion. Hydroxymyristic acid at C3′ position and two phosphate groups at Cl and C4′ positions were thought to be necessary for the induction of both activities. Present studies further supported our hypothesis that membrane perturbation due to endotoxin would result in the induction of Tp activity.

Six analogs of an antituberculous antibiotic capreomycin were synthesized in order to clarify the structure-activity relationship, especially with regard to the significance of the β-amino group in α,β-diaminopropionic acid residue as well as the position of linkage of the branch residue, β-lysine, to the cyclic peptide moiety. All the synthetic products were found to have the same conformations in solution as those of the natural antibiotics in terms of NMR spectra. It was found from their antibacterial activities that an amino group located at β-position of the α,β-diaminopropionic acid residue adjacent to ureidodehydroalanine residue remarkably strengthens the biological activity, and that the position of a branch does not significantly influence the antibacterial potency.

Cyclic guanidino amino acid, capreomycidine, is a component of antituberculous peptides, capreomycin and tuberactinomycin N and O. Its epimer was also found in protease inhibitors, chymostatin and elastatinal. A new synthetic approach to DL-capreomycidine via β-hydroxyornithine was studied for the purpose of total synthesis of capreomycidine and epicapreomycidine of natural forms or its hydroxy derivative, tuberactidine.

Total syntheses of [Ala3, Ala4]-, [Ala3]-, and [Ala4]-tuberactinomycin O corresponding to deoxy analogs of natural antibiotic tuberactinomycin O were achieved for the purpose of elucidation of relationship between chemical structure and biological activity. Cyclization of the pentapeptide intermediates at two different positions was investigated. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of the synthetic analogs against Mycobacterium or Corynebacterium indicated that both hydroxy groups of two serine residues of tuberactinomycins are not required for antibacterial activity, nor participated to drug-resistancy of bacilli. These analogs were found to have the same conformations in solution as those of natural antibiotic from the results of NMR, ORD, and CD measurements.

A new amino acid, galantinic acid, was found as one of the constituent amino acids in a peptide antibiotic galantin I. The structure of galantinic acid was determined to be (2S,4S,5S)-5-amino-2-carboxymethyl-4-hydroxytetrahydropyran on the basis of NMR and CD studies.

threo-3-Methyl-D-cysteine as a moiety of β-methyllanthionine in the peptide antibiotic nisin was synthesized stereospecifically. The reaction of (2R,3R)-3-methyl-2-aziridinecarboxylic acid derivative prepared from D-threonine with thiobenzoic acid gave the β-mercapto α-amino acid derivative of the same configuration as the starting material. A stereochemistry of the product was retained as a result of double inversion mechanism through the reactions. Thus, we could prepare threo-3-methyl-D-cysteine, i.e., (2S,3S)-2-amino-3-mercaptobutanoic acid which is required for the synthetic study of nisin.

4-Azidobutyryl esters formed from hydroxyl compounds and 4-azidobutyryl chloride were shown to be cleaved via reduction to 4-aminobutyrate followed by intramolecular O→N-acyl migrations to regenerate the free hydroxyl groups. High susceptibility of azide group to reduction enables the selective removal of this acyl group leaving many other functional groups unchanged.

Chemical syntheses are described of polyacylated β(1→6) glucosamine disaccharide 1,4′-bis(phosphate), which corresponds to the proposed structure of E. coli lipid A, and of its dephospho derivatives. The synthetic bisphosphate proved to be identical with the corresponding natural specimen. The chemical structure of lipid A was thus established.

Seven acyl derivatives of N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine, which had previously been shown to be a minimum structure required for the immunoadjuvant activity, were synthesized in order to evaluate the significance of lipophilicity on the adjuvant activity and on the possible antitumor effect. Among them, are included 6-O-docosanoyl, stearoyl, lauroyl, octanoyl, butyryl, acetyl, and 4,6-di-O-acetyl derivatives. Some of these compounds were found to serve an improvement in the administration method to living body.

Synthesis of threo-3-methyl-D-cysteine, a moiety of β-methyllanthionine as a component of the peptide antibiotics nisin and subtilin, was achieved via (2R,3R)-1-t-butoxycarbonyl-3-methyl-2-aziridinecarboxamide derived from D-threonine. An addition of thioacetic acid or thiobenzoic acid to the aziridinecarboxamide gave S-acyl-β-mercapto-α-amino acid amide derivatives which were hydrolyzed directly or after the preformation of disulfide bond to afford the desired amino acid.

For the purpose of the verification of an expectation that the structural analogs of D-alanyl-D-alanine which participates in the biosynthesis of cell wall peptides might inhibit the growth of microorganisms, alanyl-1-aminoethanesulfonic acid was synthesized by the mixed anhydride method. Four diastereomers were separated and their absolute configurations were deduced on the basis of X-ray analysis. None of these dipeptide analogs and their benzyloxycarbonyl or t-butoxycarbonyl derivatives showed appreciable activity against E. coli.

As a basic study in the synthetic approach to immunoactive cell wall peptidoglycan whose backbone is a β(1–4)-linked saccharide of alternating glucosamine and muramic acid, methods for the direct condensation of these sugar components were studied and O-(N-acetyl-β-muramyl)-(1→4)-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and O-(N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminyl)-(1→4)-N-acetylmuramic acid were synthesized. In the synthesis of the latter disaccharide, previous formation of an ester bond between the carboxyl group of muramic acid and the 6-hydroxyl group of glucosamine proved to facilitate the glycoside bond fromation between these sugar moieties.