Search

Small molecules with potent and selective antitumor activity continue to be identified by screening in cellular assays and to be entered into clinical development, and in some cases small molecules are progressed despite the fact that the mechanism of action is unknown. Current examples of drugs with unknown mechanism of action include LY-573636 (Eli Lilly & Co), CHS-828 and SPC-595 (Sunesis Pharmaceutical Co Ltd). Early discovery and the elucidation of structure-activity relationships may be in part facilitated by the fact that the compounds must be relatively soluble and permeable to cells to demonstrate activity, although the challenges of optimizing absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion/pharmacokinetic properties, toxicity and clinical activity remain similar to compounds developed under the 'targeted therapy' paradigm.

Mixed lineage kinase 7 (MLK7) is a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK) that activates the pro-apoptotic signaling pathways p38 and JNK. A library of potential kinase inhibitors was screened, and a series of dihydropyrrolopyrazole quinolines was identified as highly potent inhibitors of MLK7 in vitro catalytic activity. Of this series, an aryl-substituted dihydropyrrolopyrazole quinoline (DHP-2) demonstrated an IC50 of 70 nM for inhibition of pJNK formation in COS-7 cell MLK7/JNK co-transfection assays. In stimulated cells, DHP-2 at 200 nM or MLK7 small interfering RNA completely blocked anisomycin and UV induced but had no effect on interleukin-1beta or tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced p38 and JNK activation. Additionally, the compound blocked anisomycin and UV-induced apoptosis in COS-7 cells. Heart tissue homogenates from MLK7 transgenic mice treated with DHP-2 at 30 mg/kg had reduced JNK and p38 activation with no apparent effect on ERK activation, demonstrating that this compound can be used to block MLK7-driven MAPK pathway activation in vivo. Taken together, these data demonstrate that MLK7 is the MAPKKK required for modulation of the stress-activated MAPKs downstream of anisomycin and UV stimulation and that DHP-2 can be used to block MLK7 pathway activation in cells as well as in vivo.

A single-crystal study of cis,trans-(L-N2S2)MoVOCl (1) doped into cis,trans-(N2S2)MoVIO2 (3) has enabled the g-tensor of 1 and its orientation with respect to the molecular structure to be determined. The EPR parameters (g1, 2.004; g2, 1.960; g3, 1.946; A1, 71.7 x 10(-4) cm(-1); A2, 11.7 x 10(-4) cm(-1); A3, 32.0 x 10(-4) cm(-1)) of cis,trans-(L-N2S2)MoVOCl [L-N2S2H2 = N,N'-dimethyl-N,N'-bis(mercaptophenyl)ethylenediamine] mimic those of the low-pH form of sulfite oxidase and the "very rapid" species of xanthine oxidase. The principal axis that corresponds to g1 is rotated approximately 10 degrees from the Mo[triple bond]O vector, while the principal axis that corresponds to g3 is located in the equatorial plane and approximately 38 degrees from the Mo-Cl vector. Independent theoretical calculations of the g-tensor of 1 were performed using two types of techniques: (1) the spectroscopically parametrized intermediate neglect of differential overlap technique (INDO/S) combined with single-excitation configuration interaction (CIS); (2) a scalar relativistic DFT (BP86 and B3LYP functionals) treatment using the zeroth order regular approximation to relativistic effects (ZORA) in combination with recently developed accurate multicenter mean field spin-orbit operators (RI-SOMF) and the estimation of solvent effects using dielectric continuum theory at the conductor-like screening model (COSMO) level. The excellent agreement between experiment and theory, as well as the high consistency between the INDO/S and BP86/ZORA results, provides a sound basis for analysis of the calculated orientation of the g-tensor for cis,trans-(L-N2S2)MoVO(SCH2Ph) (2), for which single-crystal EPR data are not available but which contains three equatorial sulfur donor atoms, as occurs in sulfite oxidase and xanthine oxidase. The implications of these results for the EPR spectra of the Mo(V) centers of enzymes are discussed.

The anti-proliferative activity of acylated heterocyclic sulfonamides is described in Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-dependent Human Umbilical Vascular Endothelial Cells (VEGF-HUVEC) and in HCT116 tumor cells in a soft agar diffusion assay.

To test the hypothesis that growth and regeneration of the adult retina involves a mechanistic recapitulation of retinal development, the patterns of photoreceptor differentiation were investigated in the developing retina, as well as growing and regenerating adult retina, of a metamorphic vertebrate, the winter flounder. Only one opsin, of type RH2 (a "green" cone opsin), was expressed in premetamorphic (developing) retina, and a corresponding middle-wavelength visual pigment was observed. In premetamorphic retinas there was no evidence for any other cone opsins or pigments, rods, rod opsin expression, or rod visual pigment. In contrast, a rod opsin (RH1) and three cone opsins (SWS2, RH2, and LWS) were expressed in postmetamorphic (adult) retina, and these opsins were consistent with the observed repertoire of visual pigments. During postmetamorphic retinal growth and regeneration, cones were always produced before rods, but the different cone types were apparently produced simultaneously, suggesting that cone differentiation mechanisms might change after metamorphosis. The results support the hypothesis that photoreceptor differentiation during growth and regeneration of the adult retina involves a recapitulation of mechanisms that control the sequence of photoreceptor production during retinal development.

Two closely related diaryl acylsulfonamides were recently reported as potent antitumor agents against a broad spectrum of human tumor xenografts (colon, lung, breast, ovary, and prostate) in nude mice. Especially intriguing was their activity against colorectal cancer xenografts. In this paper, rapid parallel synthesis along with traditional medicinal chemistry techniques were used to quickly delineate the structure-activity relationships of the substitution patterns in both phenyl rings of the acylsufonamide anti-proliferative scaffold. Although the molecular target of the compounds remains unclear, we determined that the vascular endothelial growth factor-dependent human umbilical vein endothelial cells assay in combination with a soft agar disk diffusion assay allowed for optimization of potency in the series. The pharmacokinetic properties and in vivo activity in an HCT116 xenograft model are reported for representative compounds.

The electronic structure of cis,trans-(L-N(2)S(2))MoO(X) (where L-N(2)S(2) = N,N'-dimethyl-N,N'-bis(2-mercaptophenyl)ethylenediamine and X = Cl, SCH(2)C(6)H(5), SC(6)H(4)-OCH(3), or SC(6)H(4)CF(3)) has been probed by electronic absorption, magnetic circular dichroism, and resonance Raman spectroscopies to determine the nature of oxomolybdenum-thiolate bonding in complexes possessing three equatorial sulfur ligands. One of the phenyl mercaptide sulfur donors of the tetradentate L-N(2)S(2) chelating ligand, denoted S(180), coordinates to molybdenum in the equatorial plane such that the OMo-S(180)-C(phenyl) dihedral angle is approximately 180 degrees, resulting in a highly covalent pi-bonding interaction between an S(180) p orbital and the molybdenum d(xy) orbital. This highly covalent bonding scheme is the origin of an intense low-energy S --> Mo d(xy) bonding-to-antibonding LMCT transition (E(max) approximately 16000 cm(-)(1), epsilon approximately 4000 M(-)(1) cm(-)(1)). Spectroscopically calibrated bonding calculations performed at the DFT level of theory reveal that S(180) contributes approximately 22% to the HOMO, which is predominantly a pi antibonding molecular orbital between Mo d(xy) and the S(180) p orbital oriented in the same plane. The second sulfur donor of the L-N(2)S(2) ligand is essentially nonbonding with Mo d(xy) due to an OMo-S-C(phenyl) dihedral angle of approximately 90 degrees. Because the formal Mo d(xy) orbital is the electroactive or redox orbital, these Mo d(xy)-S 3p interactions are important with respect to defining key covalency contributions to the reduction potential in monooxomolybdenum thiolates, including the one- and two-electron reduced forms of sulfite oxidase. Interestingly, the highly covalent Mo-S(180) pi bonding interaction observed in these complexes is analogous to the well-known Cu-S(Cys) pi bond in type 1 blue copper proteins, which display electronic absorption and resonance Raman spectra that are remarkably similar to these monooxomolybdenum thiolate complexes. Finally, the presence of a covalent Mo-S pi interaction oriented orthogonal to the MOO bond is discussed with respect to electron-transfer regeneration in sulfite oxidase and Mo=S(sulfido) bonding in xanthine oxidase.

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii can use their flagella for two distinct types of movement: swimming through liquid or gliding on a solid substrate. Cells switching from swimming to gliding motility undergo a reversible flagellar quiescence. This phenomenon appears to involve the outer dynein arms, since mutants having altered outer arm beta and gamma dyneins (sup-pf-1 and sup-pf-2) show a diminished ability to quiesce. Sup-pf-1 and sup-pf-2 were originally isolated as gain-of-function mutations that suppress the flagellar paralysis resulting from radial spoke or central pair defects. Defective quiescence is also a gain-of-function phenomenon, as cells completely lacking outer arm heavy chains show a normal quiescence phenotype. These data suggest that regulation of outer arm dynein activity is essential for flagellar quiescence and furthermore that regulation of quiescence involves a signal transduction pathway that shares elements with the radial spoke/central pair system., (Copyright 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

The cofactor content of in vivo, as-isolated, and reconstituted forms of recombinant Escherichia coli biotin synthase (BioB) has been investigated using the combination of UV-visible absorption, resonance Raman, and Mössbauer spectroscopies along with parallel analytical and activity assays. In contrast to the recent report that E. coli BioB is a pyridoxal phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme with intrinsic cysteine desulfurase activity (Ollagnier-deChoudens, S., Mulliez, E., Hewitson, K. S., and Fontecave, M. (2002) Biochemistry 41, 9145-9152), no evidence for PLP binding or for PLP-induced cysteine desulfurase or biotin synthase activity was observed with any of the forms of BioB investigated in this work. The results confirm that BioB contains two distinct Fe-S cluster binding sites. One site accommodates a [2Fe-2S](2+) cluster with partial noncysteinyl ligation that can only be reconstituted in vitro in the presence of O(2). The other site accommodates a [4Fe-4S](2+,+) cluster that binds S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) at a unique Fe site of the [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster and undergoes O(2)-induced degradation via a distinct type of [2Fe-2S](2+) cluster intermediate. In vivo Mössbauer studies show that recombinant BioB in anaerobically grown cells is expressed exclusively in an inactive form containing only the as-isolated [2Fe-2S](2+) cluster and demonstrate that the [2Fe-2S](2+) cluster is not a consequence of overexpressing the recombinant enzyme under aerobic growth conditions. Overall the results clarify the confusion in the literature concerning the Fe-S cluster composition and the in vitro reconstitution and O(2)-induced cluster transformations that are possible for recombinant BioB. In addition, they provide a firm foundation for assessing cluster transformations that occur during turnover and the catalytic competence of the [2Fe-2S](2+) cluster as the immediate S-donor for biotin biosynthesis.

Biotin synthase (BioB) converts dethiobiotin into biotin by inserting a sulfur atom between C6 and C9 of dethiobiotin in an S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-dependent reaction. The as-purified recombinant BioB from Escherichia coli is a homodimeric molecule containing one [2Fe-2S](2+) cluster per monomer. It is inactive in vitro without the addition of exogenous Fe. Anaerobic reconstitution of the as-purified [2Fe-2S]-containing BioB with Fe(2+) and S(2)(-) produces a form of BioB that contains approximately one [2Fe-2S](2+) and one [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster per monomer ([2Fe-2S]/[4Fe-4S] BioB). In the absence of added Fe, the [2Fe-2S]/[4Fe-4S] BioB is active and can produce up to approximately 0.7 equiv of biotin per monomer. To better define the roles of the Fe-S clusters in the BioB reaction, Mössbauer and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy have been used to monitor the states of the Fe-S clusters during the conversion of dethiobiotin to biotin. The results show that the [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster is stable during the reaction and present in the SAM-bound form, supporting the current consensus that the functional role of the [4Fe-4S] cluster is to bind SAM and facilitate the reductive cleavage of SAM to generate the catalytically essential 5'-deoxyadenosyl radical. The results also demonstrate that approximately (2)/(3) of the [2Fe-2S] clusters are degraded by the end of the turnover experiment (24 h at 25 degrees C). A transient species with spectroscopic properties consistent with a [2Fe-2S](+) cluster is observed during turnover, suggesting that the degradation of the [2Fe-2S](2+) cluster is initiated by reduction of the cluster. This observed degradation of the [2Fe-2S] cluster during biotin formation is consistent with the proposed sacrificial S-donating function of the [2Fe-2S] cluster put forth by Jarrett and co-workers (Ugulava et al. (2001) Biochemistry 40, 8352-8358). Interestingly, degradation of the [2Fe-2S](2+) cluster was found not to parallel biotin formation. The initial decay rate of the [2Fe-2S](2+) cluster is about 1 order of magnitude faster than the initial formation rate of biotin, indicating that if the [2Fe-2S] cluster is the immediate S donor for biotin synthesis, insertion of S into dethiobiotin would not be the rate-limiting step. Alternatively, the [2Fe-2S] cluster may not be the immediate S donor. Instead, degradation of the [2Fe-2S] cluster may generate a protein-bound polysulfide or persulfide that serves as the immediate S donor for biotin production.

Optically active syn- or anti-beta-substituted-alpha-amino acid derivatives are prepared in 94 to >/=99% ee and 66-98% ds by reaction of the Schiff base acetate of glycine tert-butyl ester with chiral, nonracemic B-alkyl-9-BBN derivatives in the presence of the Cinchona alkaloid, cinchonidine (CdOH) or cinchonine (CnOH), base, and lithium chloride.

The combination of resonance Raman, electron paramagnetic resonance and Mössbauer spectroscopies has been used to investigate the effect of S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM) on the spectroscopic properties of the [4Fe-4S]2+ cluster in biotin synthase. The results indicate that SAM interacts directly at a unique iron site of the [4Fe-4S]2+ cluster in BioB and support the hypothesis of a common inner-sphere mechanism for the reductive cleavage of SAM in the radical SAM family of Fe-S enzymes.

The Tamao oxidation of alkoxysilanes was investigated computationally to determine the role of fluoride, a key additive, in this reaction. A sequence of fluoride equilibria as well as possible transition states, mediated by basic and neutral peroxide, respectively, were examined, and a potential energy surface was calculated which was consistent with the typical synthetic methods required for the conversion of alkoxysilanes to alcohols.

A library of benzofurans was prepared by solid-phase synthesis methods, and several analogues were identified as potent ligands for the estrogen receptors ER-alpha and ER-beta, with some compounds having selectivity for ER-alpha. Analogues designed to more closely mimic Raloxifene were less effective. Certain benzofurans were effective in a bone pit assay, but were characterized as agonists in a MCF-7 breast tumor cell proliferation assay.

EPR and Mössbauer spectroscopies have been used to determine the type and properties of the iron-sulfur clusters present in homologously expressed recombinant Escherichia coli BioB in whole cells prior to purification. Difference EPR spectra of samples of whole cells from a strain over-expressing E. coli BioB and a strain containing the same plasmid but without the bioB insertion showed an axial S=1/2 resonance that was attributed to the [2Fe-2S](+) cluster of the E. coli iron-sulfur cluster assembly 2Fe ferredoxin, based on principal g-values, linewidths and relaxation behavior. Comparison of the Mössbauer spectra of whole cells with and without the bioB insertion revealed that the E. coli cells with over-expressed BioB contain an additional species that exhibits a spectrum identical to that of the [2Fe-2S](2+) cluster in purified recombinant BioB. The concentration of this [2Fe-2S](2+) species in the whole cell sample was quantified using a Mössbauer standard and found to be approximately 260 microM, which was comparable to the BioB protein concentration estimated for the cell paste. The results demonstrate that the [2Fe-2S](2+) cluster found in purified samples of recombinant BioB is not an artifact of the protein purification procedure, and indicate that recombinant BioB is over-expressed in an inactive form during aerobic growth.

Several mechanisms for the peroxide oxidation of organosilanes to alcohols are compared by quantum chemical calculations, including solvation with the PCM method. Without doubt, the reaction proceeds via anionic, pentacoordinate silicate species, but a profound difference is found between in vacuo and solvated reaction profiles, as expected. In the solvents investigated (CH(2)Cl(2) and MeOH), the most favorable mechanism is addition of peroxide anion to a fluorosilane (starting material or formed in situ), followed by a concerted migration and dissociation of hydroxide anion. In the gas phase, and possibly in very nonpolar solvents, concerted addition-migration of H(2)O(2) to a pentacoordinate fluorosilicate is also plausible.