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A new series of NS3/4A protease boronic acid inhibitors is described. The compounds show good biochemical potency and cellular activity. The peptidomimetic inhibitors were evaluated against proteases from different HCV genotypes and clinically relevant NS3/4A mutants. Compound 28 displayed subnanomolar to single digit nanomolar potencies in the enzymatic assays and an EC50 of 25 nM in the replicon cell-based assay.

The synthesis and biochemical evaluation of novel cyanothiazolidine inhibitors of dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) is described. Their main structural feature is a constrained bicyclic core that prevents the intramolecular formation of inactive cyclic species. The inhibitors show good to moderate biochemical potency against DPP4 and display distinct selectivity profiles towards DPP7, DPP8 and DPP9 depending on their substitution.

Preliminary findings related to the base induced cyclization and spontaneous epimerization leading to stereochemically defined bicyclic thiazolidine γ-lactam systems are reported.

A series of oxamyl dipeptides were optimized for pan caspase inhibition, anti-apoptotic cellular activity and in vivo efficacy. This structure-activity relationship study focused on the P4 oxamides and warhead moieties. Primarily on the basis of in vitro data, inhibitors were selected for study in a murine model of alpha-Fas-induced liver injury. IDN-6556 (1) was further profiled in additional in vivo models and pharmacokinetic studies. This first-in-class caspase inhibitor is now the subject of two Phase II clinical trials, evaluating its safety and efficacy for use in liver disease.

The primary- and secondary-side oxime derivatives of β-cyclodextrin have been prepared as hydrolysis reagents. The secondary-side derivative has been converted to the first secondary-side keto-cyclodextrin.

all-trans-Retinoic acid is known to bind to the retinoic acid receptors (RARs) resulting in an increase in their transcriptional activity. In contrast, recently identified 9-cis-retinoic acid (9-cis-RA), which is an additional endogenous RA isomer, is capable of binding to both RARs and retinoid X receptors (RXRs). These distinct properties have raised questions as to the biological role governed by these two retinoic acid isomers and the set of target genes that they regulate. Herein, we report the synthesis of high specific activity [3H]-9-cis-RA and its application to study the ligand-binding properties of the various retinoid receptor subtypes. We examined the binding properties of RARs and RXRs for a series of synthetic retinoids and compared the ligand-binding properties of these arotinoid analogs with their ability to regulate gene expression via the retinoid receptors in a cotransfection assay. The utilization of the [3H]-9-cis-RA competitive binding assay and the cotransfection assay has made it possible to rapidly identify important structural features of retinoids leading to increased selectivity for either the RAR or RXR receptor subtypes.

A series of 2 H -pyrano[3,2- g ]quinolin-2-ones was prepared and tested for the ability to modulate the transcriptional activity of the human androgen receptor (hAR). The parent compound, 4-(trifluoromethyl)-2 H -pyrano[3,2- g ]quinolin-2-one displayed moderate interaction with hAR, but substituted analogues were potent hAR modulators in vitro as mesaured by an hAR cotransfection assay in CV-1 cells and bound to hAR with high affinity in a whole cell assay. Several analogues were able to activate hAR-mediated gene transcription more potently and efficaciously than dihydrotestosterone.

Dipeptide-based inhibitors with C-substituted (alkyl or aminoalkyl) alpha-amino acids in the P2 position and boro-norleucine (boro-Nle) in the P1 position were synthesized. Relative to boro-proline, boro-Nle as a P1 residue was shown able to significantly dial out DPP4, FAP, DPP8, and DPP9 activity. Dab-boro-Nle (4g) proved to be the most selective and potent DPP7 inhibitor with a DPP7 IC50 value of 480 pM.

Characterization and functional annotation of the large number of proteins predicted from genome sequencing projects poses a major scientific challenge. Whereas several proteomics techniques have been developed to quantify the abundance of proteins, these methods provide little information regarding protein function. Here, we present a gel-free platform that permits ultrasensitive, quantitative, and high-resolution analyses of protein activities in proteomes, including highly problematic samples such as undiluted plasma. We demonstrate the value of this platform for the discovery of both disease-related enzyme activities and specific inhibitors that target these proteins.

A series of 2 H -pyrano[3,2- g ]quinolin-2-ones was prepared and tested for the ability to modulate the transcriptional activity of the human androgen receptor (hAR). The parent compound, 4-(trifluoromethyl)-2 H -pyrano[3,2- g ]quinolin-2-one displayed moderate interaction with hAR, but substituted analogues were potent hAR modulators in vitro as mesaured by an hAR cotransfection assay in CV-1 cells and bound to hAR with high affinity in a whole cell assay. Several analogues were able to activate hAR-mediated gene transcription more potently and efficaciously than dihydrotestosterone.

A series of nonsteroidal human progesterone receptor (hPR) antagonists based on conformationally-restricted analogues of a 6-aryl-1,2-dihydro-2,2,4-trimethylquinoline pharmacophore were synthesized and evaluated for their ability to bind to the human progesterone receptor and inhibit progesterone-stimulated reporter gene expression in mammalian cells.