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Three polymorphic phases of xaliproden are evidenced through thermal analysis: Form II has an orthorhombic symmetry, while Forms I and III have monoclinic unit cells. Structural characterizations of xaliproden are carried out by means of single-crystal and synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), as well as high-resolution solid-state 13C cross-polarization at magic angle spinning (CPMAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Diffraction crystallography indicates that the structures of two of the polymorphs are highly similar despite different thermal events observed by thermal analysis. Further X-13C (X = 1H or 19F) CPMAS NMR spectra, recorded under either 1H or double-resonance 1H/19F decoupling, provide evidence for the occurrence of 19F self-decoupling in Form III, indicating that the structural disorder observed in the X-ray diagram is dynamic, with rotation of the CF3 group around the C–C single bond. The results show that polymorphism between xaliproden Forms I and III mostly deals with...

Urate oxidase (EC 1.7.3.3 or UOX) catalyzes the conversion of uric acid using gaseous molecular oxygen to 5-hydroxyisourate and hydrogen peroxide in absence of any cofactor or transition metal. The catalytic mechanism was investigated using X-ray diffraction, electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR), and quantum mechanics calculations. The X-ray structure of the anaerobic enzyme-substrate complex gives credit to substrate activation before the dioxygen fixation in the peroxo hole, where incoming and outgoing reagents (dioxygen, water, and hydrogen peroxide molecules) are handled. ESR spectroscopy establishes the initial monoelectron activation of the substrate without the participation of dioxygen. In addition, both X-ray structure and quantum mechanic calculations promote a conserved base oxidative system as the main structural features in UOX that protonates/deprotonates and activate the substrate into the doublet state now able to satisfy the Wigner's spin selection rule for reaction with molecular oxygen in its triplet ground state.

International audience; We characterize a new class of crystallizing agent for soluble protein crystallization compatible with both pharmaceutical processes and high-resolution structure determination in biocrystallography. Poloxamers are amphiphilic nonionic multiblock polymers used in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Poloxamer P188 (EO75PO31EO75) is generally used as an emulsifier, solubilizer, and dispersing and wetting agent in the preparation of solid dispersions. Here, we divert the surfactant properties of poloxamer P188 at low concentrations into crystallizing properties at high concentrations of poloxamer P188 to crystallize urate oxidase and to control its crystal design.

Urate oxidase catalyzes the transformation of uric acid in 5-hydroxyisourate, an unstable compound which is latter decomposed into allantoïn. Crystallographic data have shown that urate oxidase binds a dianion urate species deprotonated in N3 and N7, while kinetics experiments have highlighted the existence of several intermediates during catalysis. We have employed a quantum mechanical approach to analyze why urate oxidase is selective for one particular dianion and to explore all possible reaction pathways for the oxidation of one uric acid species by molecular dioxygen in presence of water. Our results indicate the urate dianion deprotonated in N3 and N7 is among all urate species that can coexist in solution it is the compound which will lose the most easiestly one electron in presence of molecular dioxygen. In addition, the transformation of this dianion in 5-hydroxyisourate is thermodynamically the most favorable reaction. Finally, several reaction pathways can be drawn, each starting with the spontaneous transfer of one electron from the urate dianion to molecular dioxygen. During that period, the existence of a 5-hydroperoxyisourate intermediate, which has been proposed elsewhere, does not seem mandatory.

The synthesis of a 28-residue peptide isolated from Ecballium elaterium of the Cucurbitaceae family which strongly inhibits trypsin activities (Ka = 8.10(-11)M), using BOP as the coupling reagent in a solid phase procedure is presented. This micro protein contains three disulfide bridges in its sequence and was obtained after oxidation of the six half-cystine residues either by air or with the use of carboethoxysulfenyl chloride. After purification by semi-preparative HPLC, the synthetic product was shown by trypsin inhibition tests to be identical with the trypsin inhibitor EETI II isolated from Ecballium elaterium.

The coupling reagent (benzotriazol-1-yloxy)tris-(dimethylamino)phosphonium (BOP) hexafluorophosphate was tested in the synthesis of luliberin (LH-RH) with inexpensive classically protected Boc-amino acids, in slight excess, and benzhydryl amino resin, without any other additive. The good solubility of this reagent and its by-products is of particular interest for automated peptide synthesis. [D-His2]LH-RH was also synthesized and compared with LH-RH by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. As shown by the biological tests and the high performance liquid chromatography study, unprotected pyroGlu and Boc-His can be used without any significant racemization but Boc-His(Boc) was found to be preferable since it gave no detectable racemization and no by-products. The difficult isolation of the minority D-derivative from the crude preparation of LH-RH was resolved by a recycling procedure in reversed phase HPLC.

The [Tyr47, Nle53] preprorenin (47-60) peptide methyl ester, a tetradecapeptide related to the human renin prosegment, has been synthesized using a three-segment coupling strategy. Selective deprotection of the segments before coupling allowed an easy removal of the final tetradecapeptide side chain-protecting groups by acidolysis and an easy purification. Antibodies raised against this peptide bound the plasmatic inactive renin.

The syntheses of pseudo-tetrapeptides Boc-Trp-psi (CH2-NH)-Met-Asp-Phe-NH2 21 and Boc-Trp-Met-psi (CH2-NH)-Asp-Phe-NH2 20, representing the C-terminal tetrapeptide sequence of gastrin, in which amide bonds were replaced by CH2-NH bond, are described, as well as the syntheses of pseudo-peptide analogues Boc-Trp-psi (CH2-NH)-Nle-Asp-Phe-NH2 16, Boc-Trp-Nle-psi (CH2-NH)-Asp-Phe-NH2 11, and Boc-Trp-Nle-Asp-psi (CH2-NH)-Phe-NH2 5, in which the methionyl residue was replaced by a norleucyl residue. Pseudo-peptides 16 and 21, in which the amide bond between Trp and Met (or Nle) was substituted by a CH2-NH bond, stimulated gastric acid secretion in the rat in vivo. Pseudo-peptides 11 and 20, where the amide bond between Met (or Nle) and Asp was replaced by a CH2-NH bond, did not exhibit any activity on acid secretion in the rat in vivo but were potent inhibitors of pentagastrin-induced acid secretion. Peptides 11, 16, 20 and 21 all recognize the gastrin receptor on a mucosal cell preparation. Pseudo-peptide 5, in which the amide bond between Asp and Phe was replaced by a CH2-NH bond, was a less potent inhibitor of pentagastin-induced acid secretion and had a weaker affinity than the other pseudo-peptides.

We propose here a biotinyl-aminohexanoyl-[Ala1, Phe(4N3)8]angiotensin II analog as a radioiodinatable and photoactivatable probe for covalent labeling, detection and isolation of angiotensin receptors. A combination of solid phase and minimum-protection segment-coupling strategy using hexafluorophosphate of (benzotriazol-1-yloxy)tris(dimethylamino)phosphonium (BOP) as a coupling reagent is proposed for the synthesis of this probe. Optimized yields were obtained by HPLC monitoring of all reactions. A complete n.m.r. study suggests an extended conformation of this molecule, allowing a simultaneous recognition of receptor and avidin. The probe binds with high affinity (Kd = 2 nM) to angiotensin II receptors from rat liver membranes.

UV–visible spectra of uric acid as a function of pH have been studied and compared with experimental data. Different quantum methodologies have been employed: CIS–ZINDO, CIS–HF and TD-DFT. Solvent effects were modeled using the COSMO model. To account for the change in maximum absorbance along a variation of pH, different forms of uric acid have been taken into account: uric acid represented the major species at low pH, urate monoanions represented the major components of urate solution at pH 7, and urate dianions represented the major components of urate solution at pH above 10. Our computational results show CIS–ZINDO and CIS–HF quantum methods do not reproduce well experimental absorption spectra whatever the pH. In contrast, TD-DFT in conjunction with the COSMO continuum model gives very good agreement with experimental data and strongly indicates at medium and high pH uric acid solution is composed of a mixing of the different possible existing species. At neutral pH, uric acid exists as a mixture of a major monoanion component and a minor monoanion component, while at high pH, several dianion species seem to coexist.

International audience; The high diastereoselectivity of the hydrogenation of artemisinate by diazene to form dihydroartemisinate (diastereoselective ratio, dr, 97:3) necessary for efficient production of artemisin has been rationalized by state-of-the-art DFT calculations and identification of the noncovalent interactions by coupled ELF/NCI analysis. Remarkably, a single conformer of artemisinate is responsible for the high diastereoselectivity of the reaction. NMR studies confirm the preference for a single conformation that is found to be identical to that predicted by the calculations. The calculations and ELF/NCI analyses show that the hydrogenation of the exocyclic activated C═C double bond has a low energy barrier and that the lowest transition state and the preferred conformation of free artemisinate develop the same network of weak noncovalent interactions between the electron donor groups (oxygen and exocyclic C═C double bond) and CH bonds of the cis-decalene group of the artemisinate, which rationalize the high diastereoselectivity unusual for a strongly exothermic reaction.

Trypsin inhibitor EETI II, possessing six cysteines engaged in three disulfide bridges, shares a common structural motif with other proteins of different origins and functions. To understand the principles that govern folding of this largely distributed basic scaffold, mainly composed of a small triple-stranded β-sheet, we have studied different stages in the folding of EETI II. The conformational properties of a synthetic analogue of EETI II possessing only one native (15–27) disulfide bridge were investigated with the combined use of1H NMR and molecular modelling. Although two native-like reverse turns were observed, formation of β-sheet could not be evidenced in the one disulfide analogue, while the motif has been shown to be present in a folding intermediate with two native disulfide bridges (9–21 and 15–27). These results suggest that the structural motif requires stabilisation by two disulfide bridges.

Optically pure N-α-Fmoc-amino acid-N-carboxyanhydrides (Fmoc-AA-NCAs, Fmoc=9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl) are proposed as precolumn reagents for the chiral analysis of asymmetric amines including α-amino acid alkyl esters. Separation of diastereomers arising from racemic amines is better achieved by liquid-solid adsorption chromatography on silica than by reversed-phase techniques. The sample preparation is easily performed while the properties of the Fmoc group allows high sensitivity by fluorescent detection. In this mode, picomolar limits of enantiomeric excess are detected.

A peptide, corresponding to the entire sequence of the squash trypsin inhibitor EETI II (Ecballium elaterium trypsin inhibitor) in which the six cysteines, engaged in three disulphide bridges in native EETI II, have been replaced by six serines, has been synthesised. CD, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and 1H-NMR studies of this peptide revealed that some secondary structures present in native EETI II are still populated in the absence of disulphide bonds. Native-like secondary structures were observed for segments 10-15 (helix), 16-19 and 22-25 (reverse turns) but no native tertiary interaction was detected. However, a non-native local interaction between the aromatic ring of Phe26 and the amide group of Gly28 was observed. It is hypothesised that the 10-15, 16-19 and 22-25 native-like local conformations could play a major role in the early folding of EETI II.

We describe a practical method to produce pure enantiomers of non-proteinogenic α-amino acids by pronase-catalyzed hydrolysis of their methyl esters. Each of the two pure enantiomers was obtained in high yield, while the reaction conditions were optimized with a view to large scale production. Part of this work was devoted to conceiving an analytical procedure especially designed to monitor the steric course of enzymatic reactions. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

BackgroundRasburicase (Fasturtec® or Elitek®, Sanofi-Aventis), the recombinant form of urate oxidase from Aspergillus flavus, is a therapeutic enzyme used to prevent or decrease the high levels of uric acid in blood that can occur as a result of chemotherapy. It is produced by Sanofi-Aventis and currently purified via several standard steps of chromatography. This work explores the feasibility of replacing one or more chromatography steps in the downstream process by a crystallization step. It compares the efficacy of two crystallization techniques that have proven successful on pure urate oxidase, testing them on impure urate oxidase solutions.Methodology/principal findingsHere we investigate the possibility of purifying urate oxidase directly by crystallization from the fermentation broth. Based on attractive interaction potentials which are known to drive urate oxidase crystallization, two crystallization routes are compared: a) by increased polymer concentration, which induces a depletion attraction and b) by decreased salt concentration, which induces attractive interactions via a salting-in effect. We observe that adding polymer, a very efficient way to crystallize pure urate oxidase through the depletion effect, is not an efficient way to grow crystals from impure solution. On the other hand, we show that dialysis, which decreases salt concentration through its strong salting-in effect, makes purification of urate oxidase from the fermentation broth possible.ConclusionsThe aim of this study is to compare purification efficacy of two crystallization methods. Our findings show that crystallization of urate oxidase from the fermentation broth provides purity comparable to what can be achieved with one chromatography step. This suggests that, in the case of urate oxidase, crystallization could be implemented not only for polishing or concentration during the last steps of purification, but also as an initial capture step, with minimal changes to the current process.

The three disulfide Ecballium elaterium trypsin inhibitor II (EETI II) reduction with dithiothreitol (DTT) and reoxidation of the fully reduced derivative have been examined. A common stable intermediate has been observed for both processes. Isolation and sequencing of carboxymethylated material showed that the intermediate lacks the [2-19] bridge. The NMR study showed a very strong structural conservation as compared to the native EETI II, suggesting that the bridges are the [9-21] and [15-27] native ones. The differences occurred in sections 2-7 (containing the free cysteine 2 and the Arg 4-Ile 5 active site) and 19-21 (containing the second free cysteine). Distance geometry calculations and restrained molecular dynamics refinements were also in favor of a [9-21, 15-27] arrangement and resulted in a well-conserved (7-28) segment.

Urate oxidase (EC 1.7.3.3 or UOX) catalyzes the conversion of uric acid using gaseous molecular oxygen to 5-hydroxyisourate and hydrogen peroxide in absence of any cofactor or transition metal. The catalytic mechanism was investigated using X-ray diffraction, electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR), and quantum mechanics calculations. The X-ray structure of the anaerobic enzyme-substrate complex gives credit to substrate activation before the dioxygen fixation in the peroxo hole, where incoming and outgoing reagents (dioxygen, water, and hydrogen peroxide molecules) are handled. ESR spectroscopy establishes the initial monoelectron activation of the substrate without the participation of dioxygen. In addition, both X-ray structure and quantum mechanic calculations promote a conserved base oxidative system as the main structural features in UOX that protonates/deprotonates and activate the substrate into the doublet state now able to satisfy the Wigner's spin selection rule for reaction with molecular oxygen in its triplet ground state.

Diesters of L-α-amino dicarboxylic acids were specifically hydrolysed by promise at their a carboxylic group while the corresponding D-enantiomers remained unchanged. This enabled easy obtention of side chain benzyl esters of L-α-amino dicarboxylic acids starting from both optically active and raceme dibenzyl ester derivatives.

The main product of N-methylated amino acid coupling, when oxybenzotriazole is present in the reagent (BOP, PyBOP, HBPyU) or as an additive (DCC/HOBt), is the weakly reactive benzotriazolyl ester. On the other hand, the corresponding new halogenated reagents PyBroP, PyCloP and PyClU give very good results and can be recommended.

Urate oxidase (uricase; EC 1.7.3.3; UOX) fromAspergillus flavuscatalyzes the oxidation of uric acid in the presence of molecular oxygen to 5-hydroxyisourate in the degradation cascade of purines; intriguingly, catalysis proceeds using neither a metal ion (Fe, Cuetc.) nor a redox cofactor. UOX is a tetrameric enzyme with four active sites located at the interface of two subunits; its structure was refined at atomic resolution (1 Å) using new crystal data in the presence of xanthine and at near-atomic resolution (1.3–1.7 Å) in complexes with the natural substrate (urate) and two inhibitors: 8-nitroxanthine and 8-thiouric acid. Three new features of the structural and mechanistic behaviour of the enzyme were addressed. Firstly, the high resolution of the UOX–xanthine structure allowed the solution of an old structural problem at a contact zone within the tetramer; secondly, the protonation state of the substrate was determined from both a halochromic inhibitor complex (UOX–8-nitroxanthine) and from the H-atom distribution in the active site, using the structures of the UOX–xanthine and the UOX–uric acid complexes; and thirdly, it was possible to extend the general base system, characterized by the conserved catalytic triad Thr–Lys–His, to a large water network that is able to buffer and shuttle protons back and forth between the substrate and the peroxo hole along the reaction pathway.

Diesters of L-α-amino dicarboxylic acids were specifically hydrolysed by promise at their a carboxylic group while the corresponding D-enantiomers remained unchanged. This enabled easy obtention of side chain benzyl esters of L-α-amino dicarboxylic acids starting from both optically active and raceme dibenzyl ester derivatives.

The main product of N-methylated amino acid coupling, when oxybenzotriazole is present in the reagent (BOP, PyBOP, HBPyU) or as an additive (DCC/HOBt), is the weakly reactive benzotriazolyl ester. On the other hand, the corresponding new halogenated reagents PyBroP, PyCloP and PyClU give very good results and can be recommended.

Optical resolution of β-(1-naphthyl)alanine and β-(2-naphthyl)alanine have been efficiently carried out through enzymatic hydrolysis of their methyl ester and/or N-acetyl ester derivatives by immobilized enzymes. Difficulties related to the lipophilic character of these amino acids were overcome by using emulsions of n-butyl acetate–water as reaction medium. The use of an automatic recirculating apparatus allowed reproducible and repetitive use of the immobilized biocatalysts.

Background Urate oxidase (EC 1.7.3.3 or UOX) catalyzes the conversion of uric acid and gaseous molecular oxygen to 5-hydroxyisourate and hydrogen peroxide, in the absence of cofactor or particular metal cation. The functional enzyme is a homo-tetramer with four active sites located at dimeric interfaces. Results The catalytic mechanism was investigated through a ternary complex formed between the enzyme, uric acid, and cyanide that stabilizes an intermediate state of the reaction. When uric acid is replaced by a competitive inhibitor, no complex with cyanide is formed. Conclusion The X-ray structure of this compulsory ternary complex led to a number of mechanistic evidences that support a sequential mechanism in which the two reagents, dioxygen and a water molecule, process through a common site located 3.3 Å above the mean plane of the ligand. This site is built by the side chains of Asn 254, and Thr 57, two conserved residues belonging to two different subunits of the homo-tetramer. The absence of a ternary complex between the enzyme, a competitive inhibitor, and cyanide suggests that cyanide inhibits the hydroxylation step of the reaction, after the initial formation of a hydroperoxyde type intermediate.

The localization of dioxygen sites in oxygen-binding proteins is a nontrivial experimental task and is often suggested through indirect methods such as using xenon or halide anions as oxygen probes. In this study, a straightforward method based on x-ray crystallography under high pressure of pure oxygen has been developed. An application is given on urate oxidase (UOX), a cofactorless enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of uric acid to 5-hydroxyisourate in the presence of dioxygen. UOX crystals in complex with a competitive inhibitor of its natural substrate are submitted to an increasing pressure of 1.0, 2.5, or 4.0MPa of gaseous oxygen. The results clearly show that dioxygen binds within the active site at a location where a water molecule is usually observed but does not bind in the already characterized specific hydrophobic pocket of xenon. Moreover, crystallizing UOX in the presence of a large excess of chloride (NaCl) shows that one chloride ion goes at the same location as the oxygen. The dioxygen hydrophilic environment (an asparagine, a histidine, and a threonine residues), its absence within the xenon binding site, and its location identical to a water molecule or a chloride ion suggest that the dioxygen site is mainly polar. The implication of the dioxygen location on the mechanism is discussed with respect to the experimentally suggested transient intermediates during the reaction cascade.

In this paper, solubility and interactions in solution of the recombinant urate oxidase from Aspergillus flavus, rasburicase, are studied both in the absence and in the presence of salt at a pH close to the pI. An intense salting-in effect is demonstrated first by an increased solubility when various salts are added. Thus, merely adding salt does not induce rasburicase crystallization. Second virial coefficient measurements also confirm this effect by exhibiting repulsive interactions over a large range of salt concentrations. Therefore, the salting-in effect enables the stabilization of rasburicase solution at high concentrations. Moreover, it enables crystals of improved size and habit to be grown when polymer is added to a solution of rasburicase concentrated with salt, or when salt is removed from it. We also show, with the example of high pressure macromolecular crystallography, that salt enables the stabilization of the desired polymorph under the highly concentrated polyethylene glycol conditions required by this technique.

Microproteins with proteinase inhibitory activity, 28 to 30 amino acids long, with 3 disulfide bridges have been isolated from Ecballium elaterium seeds. A peptide (EETI II) was isolated and behaved as a powerful trypsin inhibitor (Kd = 10(-11) to 10(-12) M). It was sequenced, chemically synthesized and the 3-D structure determined by 2-D 1H NMR. The information gained in the process enabled us to synthesize modified derivatives with inhibitory activity towards pancreatic elastase, chymotrypsin and human leucocyte elastase (Kd = 10(-7) to 10(-9) respectively). The most striking characteristic that appeared during the synthetic approach was the unfailing ability of the 28 amino acid peptides to refold and correctly close the 3 disulfide bridges, giving in each case an active compound. These disulfide bridges are assembled in a particular knotted structure, shared by few other bioactive peptides and called the 'knottin' structure. Molecular modeling of the peptide and a comparison with the other active molecules with similar topology allowed the synthesis of a chimaeric peptide, bearing 1 active site against a seryl-protease (trypsin), and 1 against a metallo-protease (carboxypeptidase A). The bis-headed peptide was able to inhibit both enzymes separately and concomitantly.

Autolysis of porcine pepsin at pH 4 affords a derivative possessing intrinsic proteolytic activity. This derivative was isolated by alumina pseudo-affinity chromatography and gel-filtration and was found to result from the tight association of two identical molecules, 135 amino acids long, emerging from the N-terminal domain of pepsin. This finding emphasizes a similarity with the only aspartyl-proteases known to act as dimers, the retroviral proteases.

PyBOP® (benzotriazolyloxy-tris[pyrrolidino]-phosphonium hexafluorophosphate), an analog of BOP where dimethylamino groups are replaced with pyrrolidino, is the only analog exhibiting equivalent properties in peptide bond formation. It can be used instead of BOP for the sake of safety.

BroP (bromo tris(dimethylamino) phosphonium hexafluorophosphate) is a particularly suitable reagent for coupling N-methylated amino acids. It is stable and gives very high yields in short reaction times. Dipeptides are obtained without appreciable epimerization.

Crystallization and preliminary neutron diffraction measurements of rasburicase, a recombinant urate oxidase enzyme expressed by a genetically modified Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain, complexed with a purine-type inhibitor (8-azaxanthin) are reported. Neutron Laue diffraction data were collected to 2.1 angstrom resolution using the LADI instrument from a crystal (grown in D2O) with volume 1.8 mm(3). The aim of this neutron diffraction study is to determine the protonation states of the inhibitor and residues within the active site. This will lead to improved comprehension of the enzymatic mechanism of this important enzyme, which is used as a protein drug to reduce toxic uric acid accumulation during chemotherapy. This paper illustrates the high quality of the neutron diffraction data collected, which are suitable for high- resolution structural analysis. In comparison with other neutron protein crystallography studies to date in which a hydrogenated protein has been used, the volume of the crystal was relatively small and yet the data still extend to high resolution. Furthermore, urate oxidase has one of the largest primitive unit- cell volumes (space group I222, unit-cell parameters a = 80, b = 96, c = 106 angstrom) and molecular weights (135 kDa for the homotetramer) so far successfully studied with neutrons.

Urate oxidase from Aspergillus flavus catalyzes the degradation of uric acid to [S]-allantoin through 5-hydroxyisourate as a metastable intermediate. The second degradation step is thought either catalyzed by another specific enzyme, or spontaneous. The structure of the enzyme was known at high resolution by X-ray diffraction of I222 crystals complexed with a purine-type inhibitor (8-azaxanthin). Analyzing the X-ray structure of urate oxidase treated with an excess of urate, the natural substrate, shows unexpectedly that the active site recaptures [S]-allantoin from the racemic end product of a second degradation step.

International audience; Urate oxidase from Aspergillus flavus (uricase or Uox; EC 1.7.3.3) is a 135 kDa homotetramer with a subunit consisting of 301 amino acids. It catalyses the first step of the degradation of uric acid into allantoin. The structure of the extracted enzyme complexed with a purine-type inhibitor (8-aza-xanthin) had been solved from high-resolution X-ray diffraction of I222 crystals. Expression of the recombinant enzyme in Saccharomyces cerevisiae followed by a new purification procedure allowed the crystallization of both unliganded and liganded enzymes utilizing the same conditions but in various crystal forms. Here, four different crystal forms of Uox are analyzed. The diversity of the Uox crystal forms appears to depend strongly on the chemicals used as inhibitors. In the presence of uracil and 5,6-diaminouracil crystals usually belong to the trigonal space group P3(1)21, the asymmetric unit (AU) of which contains one tetramer of Uox (four subunits). Chemical oxidation of 5,6-diaminouracil within the protein may occur, leading to the canonical (I222) packing with one subunit per AU. Coexistence of two crystal forms, P2(1) with two tetramers per AU and I222, was found in the same crystallization drop containing another inhibitor, guanine. Finally, a fourth form, P2(1)2(1)2 with one tetramer per AU, resulted fortuitously in the presence of cymelarsan, an additive. Of all the reported forms, the I222 crystal forms present by far the best X-ray diffraction resolution (similar to1.6 Angstrom resolution compared with 2.3-3.2 Angstrom for the other forms). The various structures and contacts in all crystalline lattices are compared. The backbones are essentially conserved except for the region near the active site. Its location at the dimer interface is thus likely to be at the origin of the crystal contact changes as a response to the various bound inhibitors.

[566002-33-6] C12H22F6N6OP2 (MW 442.29) InChI = 1S/C12H22N6OP.F6P/c1-15(2)20(16(3)4,17(5)6)19-18-12-10-8-7-9-11(12)13-14-18;1-7(2,3,4,5)6/h7-10H,1-6H3;/q+1;-1 InChIKey = MGEVGECQZUIPSV-UHFFFAOYSA-N (peptide coupling agent providing high yield and low racemization levels;1 promotes peptide cyclization19 and other lactamization,23 especially β-lactam formation;24 used to effect various amidification reactions25-29 and selective esterification;31 reagent for nucleotidic coupling32) Alternate Name: BOP; Castro's reagent. Physical Data: mp 138 °C (dec.). Solubility: insol in H2O; sol THF, CH2Cl2, MeCN, acetone, DMF, NMP, DMSO. Form Supplied in: white solid; commercially available. Purity 97–98%. Analysis of Reagent Purity: 1H NMR (acetone-d6): 3.0 (d, 18H, JH–P = 10 Hz, NMe2), 7.9 (m, 4H, arom.). 31P NMR (CH2Cl2): + 43.7 (s, P+), −144.2 (septet, PF6−). IR (KBr): 1010 (P–N), 840, 770, 560 (PF6−). Preparative Methods: BOP reagent was initially obtained2a by reaction of Hexamethylphosphorous Triamide (tris (dimethylamino)phosphine, TDAP) with CCl4 in the presence of HOBt (1-Hydroxybenzotriazole) followed by precipitation of the phosphonium salt by anion exchange with aqueous KPF6 solution. It was then prepared2b,c by reaction of cheaper (Me2N)3PO (HMPA) with COCl2 (phosgene) to generate the chlorophosphonium chloride intermediate, with treatment of the latter with HOBt and base, and precipitation as below. COCl2 was further replaced by POCl3.2d,e Triphosgene can also be employed and a resin-bound version of BOP is known. The crude final product can, if necessary, be purified by recrystallization from a mixture of acetone– ether or CH2Cl2 (DCM)–ether. Handling, Storage, and Precautions: irritant and harmful. Light sensitive. Incompatibility: strong oxidizing agents. Avoid breathing dust; avoid contact with eyes, skin, and clothing. Keep container closed and store in the dark. Refrigerate. Although BOP is widely used, it is important to stress that the carcinogenic HMPA is a side product and the reagent must be handled with caution. All operations should be carried out in a fume hood.

High-resolution X-ray structures of the complexes of Aspergillus flavus urate oxidase (Uox) with three inhibitors, 8-azaxanthin (AZA), 9-methyl uric acid (MUA) and oxonic acid (OXC), were determined in an orthorhombic space group (I222). In addition, the ligand-free enzyme was also crystallized in a monoclinic form (P2(1)) and its structure determined. Higher accuracy in the three new enzyme-inhibitor complex structures (Uox-AZA, Uox-MUA and Uox-OXC) with respect to the previously determined structure of Uox-AZA (PDB code 1uox) leads to a reversed position of the inhibitor in the active site of the enzyme. The corrected anchoring of the substrate (uric acid) allows an improvement in the understanding of the enzymatic mechanism of urate oxidase.

The three iodothyronine selenodeiodinases catalyze the initiation and termination of thyroid hormone effects in vertebrates. Structural analyses of these proteins have been hindered by their integral membrane nature and the inefficient eukaryotic-specific pathway for selenoprotein synthesis. Hydrophobic cluster analysis used in combination with Position-specific Iterated BLAST reveals that their extramembrane portion belongs to the thioredoxin-fold superfamily for which experimental structure information exists. Moreover, a large deiodinase region imbedded in the thioredoxin fold shares strong similarities with the active site of iduronidase, a member of the clan GH-A-fold of glycoside hydrolases. This model can explain a number of results from previous mutagenesis analyses and permits new verifiable insights into the structural and functional properties of these enzymes.

[55985-85-8] C21H20Br3O2P (MW 574.93) InChI = 1S/C21H19O2P.Br3/c22-21(23)16-17-24(18-10-4-1-5-11-18,19-12-6-2-7-13-19)20-14-8-3-9-15-20;1-3-2/h1-15H,16-17H2;/q;-1/p+1 InChIKey = YYZOBYLMPAYJGX-UHFFFAOYSA-O (bromine transfer agent for selective α-bromination of ketones1 and ketone acetals2 in the presence of double bonds,1-3 activated aromatic rings,2 esters1 or another free enolic position1, 4) Alternate Name: 2-carboxyethyltriphenylphosphonium tribromide. Physical Data: mp 139–41 °C. Solubility: sol THF (25 g/100 mL), dichloromethane; insol alcohol. Form Supplied in: orange solid; not widely available; purity ≥98%. Analysis of Reagent Purity: identification in phosphonium salt mixtures by TLC/SIMS.5 Preparative Methods: Ph3P (26.2 g, 0.1 mol), acrylic acid (7.2 g, 0.1 mol) and 49% HBr (50 mL) were stirred at rt until a homogeneous solution was obtained, then heated at 95–100 °C for 10 min, whereupon the mixture was cooled and glacial HOAc (240 mL) was added; bromine (9.8 mL) was added slowly with stirring to this mixture at 0 °C; after 0.5 h, the product was filtered and recrystallized from MeCN to give the perbromide (52.5 g, 91%);1 a two step procedure involving bromination of the isolated intermediate monobromide can also be used. Handling, Storage, and Precautions: irritant and moisture sensitive solid; store in a dry place. This reagent should be handled in a fume hood.

A low molecular weight protease inhibitor peptide found in ovaries of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria (SGPI-2), was purified from plasma of the same locust and sequenced. It was named SGCI. It was found active towards chymotrypsin and human leukocyte elastase. SGCI was synthesized using a solid-phase procedure and the sequence of its reactive site for chymotrypsin was determined. Compared with an inhibitor purified earlier from another locust species, the total sequence of SGCI showed 88% identity. In particular, the sequence of the reactive site of these inhibitors was identical. Our search for a closely related peptide in an insect species far removed from locusts, the lepidopteran Spodoptera littoralis, was unfruitful but a different chymotrypsin inhibitor, belonging to the Kazal family, was found whose mass is greater than that of SGCI (20 vs 3.6 kDa). Its N-terminal sequence shares 80% identity with that of a chymotrypsin inhibitor purified earlier from the haemolymph of another lepidopteran. Conservation of the amino acid sequence in the reactive site seems to be an exception among protease inhibitors.

The gene coding for urate oxidase, an enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of uric acid to allantoin, is inactivated in humans. Consequently, urate oxidase is used as a protein drug to overcome severe disorders induced by uric acid accumulation. The structure of the active homotetrameric enzyme reveals the existence of a small architectural domain that we call T-fold (for tunnelling-fold) domain. It assembles to form a perfect unusual dimeric alpha 8 beta 16 barrel. Urate oxidase may be the archetype of an expanding new family of tunnel-shaped proteins that now has three members; tetrahydropterin synthase, GTP cyclohydrolase I and urate oxidase. The structure of the active site of urate oxidase around the 8-azaxanthine inhibitor reveals an original mechanism of oxidation that does not require any ions or prosthetic groups.