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Oleyl 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-α-D-glucopyranoside (1) was previously shown to exhibit antimitotic activity on glioma (C6) and melanoma (A375) cell lines. Preliminary studies about its mechanism of action using (1)H MAS NMR suggested that 1 may be altering the metabolism of lipids. We have now studied the effect of 1 on the fatty acid, sphingolipid and ganglioside content in a line of carcinomic human alveolar epithelial cells (A549) using UPLC-MS. Oleic acid and NB-DNJ were used as positive controls for inhibition of fatty acid and ganglioside synthesis, respectively. Compound 1 (10 μM) was more efficient than oleic acid in reducing fatty acid levels of A549 cells, producing a decrease in the range of 40-15%, depending on the acyl chain length and the number of insaturations. In addition, glycoside 1 caused a reduction on ganglioside content of A549 tumor cell line and accumulation of lactosylceramide, the common metabolic precursor for ganglioside biosynthesis. Alteration of ganglioside metabolism was also observed with two galactosylated derivatives of 1, which caused a more pronounced increase in lactosylceramide levels. Compound 1 at higher concentrations (above 30 μM) produced drastic alterations in glycosphingolipid metabolism, leading to cell metabolic profiles very different from those obtained at 10 μM. These biochemical changes were ascribed to activation of endoplasmic reticulum stress pathways.

The chemoenzymatic synthesis of a collection of pyrrolidine-type iminosugars generated by the aldol addition of dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) to C-alpha-substituted N-Cbz-2-aminoaldehydes derivatives, catalyzed by DHAP aldolases is reported. L-fuculose-1-phosphate aldolase (FucA) and L-rhamnulose-1-phosphate aldolase (RhuA) from E. coli were used as biocatalysts to generate configurational diversity on the iminosugars. Alkyl linear substitutions at C-alpha were well tolerated by FucA catalyst (i.e., 40-70 % conversions to aldol adduct), whereas no product was observed with C-alpha-alkyl branched substitutions, except for dimethyl and benzyl substitutions (20 %). RhuA was the most versatile biocatalyst: C-alpha-alkyl linear groups gave the highest conversions to aldol adducts (60-99 %), while the C-alpha-alkyl branched ones gave moderate to good conversions (50-80 %), with the exception of dimethyl and benzyl substituents (20 %). FucA was the most stereoselective biocatalyst (90-100 % anti (3R,4R) adduct). RhuA was highly stereoselective with (S)-N-Cbz-2-aminoaldehydes (90-100 % syn (i.e., 3R,4S) adduct), whereas those with R configuration gave mixtures of anti/syn adducts. For iPr and iBu substituents, RhuA furnished the anti adduct (i.e., FucA stereochemistry) with high stereoselectivity. Molecular models of aldol products with iPr and iBu substituents and as complexes with the RhuA active site suggest that the anti adducts could be kinetically preferred, while the syn adducts would be the equilibrium products. The polyhydroxylated pyrrolidines generated were tested as inhibitors against seven glycosidases. Among them, good inhibitors of alpha-L-fucosidase (IC50=1-20 microM), moderate of alpha-L-rhamnosidase (IC50=7-150 microM), and weak of alpha-D-mannosidase (IC50=80-400 microM) were identified. The apparent inhibition constant values (Ki) were calculated for the most relevant inhibitors and computational docking studies were performed to understand both their binding capacity and the mode of interaction with the glycosidases.

Libraries of N-substituted aminocyclitol derivatives of the scyllo and racemic chiro series by means of parallel solution-phase methodology with the help of robotic technology are described. Chemical diversity has been introduced by reaction of selected scaffolds with a set of aldehydes, acyl chlorides, sulfonyl chlorides, chloroformates, and amines to afford the corresponding amines, amides, sulfonamides, carbamates and ureas, respectively. The optimized methodology has proven excellent, in terms of overall purities of the resulting libraries, for the production of amides. Sulfonamides and carbamates have been obtained in slightly lower purities, while amines afforded modest results. Selected library members have been evaluated as inhibitors of recombinant glucocerebrosidase with K(i) values ranging in the low micromolar scale for the most active members.

A series of 13 aminocyclitol derivatives belonging to two different families is described. Their configuration is governed by the regio- and stereocontrolled epoxide opening of a suitably protected conduritol-B epoxide. Studies on several glycosyl processing enzymes indicate that some of them are good inhibitors of glucosylceramide hydrolase. A rationale to account for preliminary structure-activity relationships is provided.