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Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer worldwide and the third most frequently diagnosed form of cancer associated with high mortality rates. Recently, targeted drug delivery systems have been under increasing attention owing to advantages such as high therapeutic effectiveness with a significant depletion in adverse events. In this report, we describe the biocompatible and thermoresponsive FA-conjugated PHEA- b -PNIPAAm copolymers as nanocarriers for the delivery of 5-FU. The block copolymers were obtained using RAFT (Reversible Addition-Fragmentation chain Transfer) polymerization and were characterized by methods such as SEC (Size Exclusion Chromatography), NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance), UV-Vis (Ultraviolet-Visible), FT-IR (Fourier Transform Infrared) spectroscopy, and TGA (Thermogravimetric Analysis). Nanoparticles were formed from polymers with and without the drug-5-fluorouracil, which was confirmed using DLS (Dynamic Light Scattering), zeta potential measurements, and TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy) imaging. The cloud points of the polymers were found to be close to the temperature of the human body. Eventually, polymeric carriers were tested as drug delivery systems for the safety, compatibility, and targeting of colorectal cancer cells (CRC). The biological evaluation indicated high compatibility with the representative host cells. Furthermore, it showed that proposed nanosystems might have therapeutic potential as mitigators for 5-FU-induced monocytopenia, cardiotoxicity, and other chemotherapy-associated disorders. Moreover, results show increased cytotoxicity against cancer cells compared to the drug, including a line with a drug resistance phenotype. Additionally, the ability of synthesized carriers to induce apoptosis and necrosis in treated CRC cells has been confirmed. Undoubtedly, the presented aspects of colorectal cancer therapy promise future solutions to overcome the conventional limitations of current treatment regimens for this type of cancer and to improve the quality of life of the patients.

Actinobacterial 2-hydroxyacyl-CoA lyase reversibly catalyzes the thiamine diphosphate-dependent cleavage of 2-hydroxyisobutyryl-CoA to formyl-CoA and acetone. This enzyme has great potential for use in synthetic one-carbon assimilation pathways for sustainable production of chemicals, but lacks details of substrate binding and reaction mechanism for biochemical reengineering. We determined crystal structures of the tetrameric enzyme in the closed conformation with bound substrate, covalent postcleavage intermediate, and products, shedding light on active site architecture and substrate interactions. Together with molecular dynamics simulations of the covalent precleavage complex, the complete catalytic cycle is structurally portrayed, revealing a proton transfer from the substrate acyl Cβ hydroxyl to residue E493 that returns it subsequently to the postcleavage Cα-carbanion intermediate. Kinetic parameters obtained for mutants E493A, E493Q, and E493K confirm the catalytic role of E493 in the WT enzyme. However, the 10- and 50-fold reduction in lyase activity in the E493A and E493Q mutants, respectively, compared with WT suggests that water molecules may contribute to proton transfer. The putative catalytic glutamate is located on a short α-helix close to the active site. This structural feature appears to be conserved in related lyases, such as human 2-hydroxyacyl-CoA lyase 2. Interestingly, a unique feature of the actinobacterial 2-hydroxyacyl-CoA lyase is a large C-terminal lid domain that, together with active site residues L127 and I492, restricts substrate size to ≤C5 2-hydroxyacyl residues. These details about the catalytic mechanism and determinants of substrate specificity pave the ground for designing tailored catalysts for acyloin condensations for one-carbon and short-chain substrates in biotechnological applications., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with the contents of this article., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Curcumin (CUR) is a natural compound that exhibits anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and other biological properties. However, its application as an effective drug is problematic due to its poor oral bioavailability, solubility in water, and poor absorption from the gastrointestinal tract. The aim of this work is to synthesize monocarbonyl analogs of CUR based on the 9-methyl-9-azabicyclo[3.2.1]nonan-3-one (pseudopelletierine, granatanone) scaffold to improve its bioavailability. Granatane is a homologue of tropane, whose structure is present in numerous naturally occurring alkaloids, e.g., l-cocaine and l-scopolamine. In this study, ten new pseudopelletierine-derived monocarbonyl analogs of CUR were successfully synthesized and characterized by spectral methods and X-ray crystallography. Additionally, in vitro test of the cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory properties of the synthesized compounds were performed.

Inhibitors of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) have been the object of research interests for many years because of their potential as anti-cancer agents. Research in this field is aimed at improving the specificity and safety of known proteasome inhibitors. Unfortunately, in vitro conditions do not reflect the processes taking place in the human body. Recent reports indicate that the components of human plasma affect the course of many signaling pathways, proteasome activity and the effectiveness of synthetic cytostatic drugs. Therefore, it is believed that the key issue is to determine the effects of components of the human diet, including effects of chemically active polyphenols on the ubiquitin-proteasome system activity in both physiological and pathological (cancerous) states. The following article summarizes the current knowledge on the direct and indirect synergistic and antagonistic effects between polyphenolic compounds present in the human diet and the efficiency of protein degradation via the UPS., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The title compounds, C21H22BrNO2, are isomeric 8-benzyl-2-[(4-bromophenyl)(hydroxy)methyl]-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3-ones. Compound (I), the (±)-exo,syn-(1RS,2SR,5SR,9SR) isomer, crystallizes in the hexagonal space group R-3, while compounds (II) [the (+)-exo,anti-(1R,2S,5S,9R) isomer] and (III) [the (±)-exo,anti-(1RS,2SR,5SR,9RS) isomer] crystallize in the orthorhombic space groups P212121 and Pna21, respectively. The absolute configuration was determined for enantiomerically pure (II). For the noncentrosymmetric crystal of (III), its absolute structure was established. In the crystal structures of (I) and (II), an intramolecular hydrogen bond is formed between the hydroxy group and the heterocyclic N atom. In the crystal structure of racemic (III), hydrogen-bonded chains of molecules are formed via intermolecular O-H...O interactions. Additionally, face-to-edge π-π interactions are present in the crystal structures of (I) and (II). In all three structures, the piperidinone rings adopt chair conformations and the N-benzyl substituents occupy the equatorial positions.

In the crystal structure of the racemic title compound, C(22)H(25)NO(2), solved and refined against sychrotron diffraction data, the hy-droxy group and the carbonyl O atom participate in the formation of O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds between pairs of enanti-omers related by a crystallographic centre of symmetry.

The crystal of the title compound, C(21)H(23)NO(2), was chosen from a conglomerate formed by a racemic mixture. An intra-molecular hydrogen bond is formed between hy-droxy group and heterocyclic N atom of the aza-bicyclo-[3.2.1]octan-3-one system. The crystal structure is stabilized by C-H⋯O inter-actions between aliphatic C-H groups and the carbonyl O atom. For the title chiral crystal, the highly redundant and accurate diffraction data set collected with low energy copper radiation gave a Flack parameter of 0.12 (18) for anomalous scattering effects originating from O atoms.

The relative configurations of tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS) ethers of all four diastereomers of the aldols of tropinone (8-methyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3-one), as well as of granatanone (9-methyl-9-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonan-3-one), were determined from NMR data, and from the observed interconversion of the diastereomers (exo,anti to endo,syn and exo,syn to endo,anti). The exo forms invert to endo isomers in the presence of silica gel. The relative configuration of a new isomer of tropinone aldol accessible synthetically through the direct solventless reaction of tropinone and benzaldehyde in the presence of water was determined as exo,syn by comparison of NMR data of the aldol isomers, in particular vicinal coupling constants and shifts corresponding to the side-chain CH group, with data of related TBDMS derivatives and confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.

The preparation and application of new solid supports with chiral linkers, analogues of SAMP hydrazine on solid-phase, are described. The supports were used for immobilization of ketones (diethylketone, cyclohexanone, 4- tert-butylcyclohexanone), and diastereoselective alkylation of formed chiral ketone hydrazones. The enantiomeric purities of cleaved alpha-alkylated chiral ketones ranged from 10 to 73%. The use of chiral lithium amides for metalation of hydrazones of t-butylcyclohexanone increased the enantiomeric excess of the alkylated product by 25-47%.

The syntheses of the host-selective phytotoxin destruxin B [cyclo(betaAla-Hmp-Pro-Ile-MeVal-MeAla), Hmp = (2R)-2-hydroxy-4-methylpentanoic acid], and the closely related natural analogues homodestruxin B (MeVal-->MeIle), desmethyldestruxin B (MeVal-->Val), hydroxydestruxin B (Hmp-->Dhmp, Dhmp = (2R)-2,4-dihydroxy-4-methylpentanoic acid), and hydroxyhomodestruxin B (MeVal-->MeIle, Hmp-->Dhmp) are described. In each case, the MeAla-betaAla linkage was formed by cyclization and the precursor linear hexadepsipeptides were formed by condensing two three-residue fragments. Radiolabeled samples of destruxin B, homodestruxin B, and hydroxydestruxin B were prepared by coupling [3-(14)C]-beta-alanine to the appropriate pentadepsipeptide followed by cyclization. A noteworthy feature of the synthesis involves the novel use of a Boc-hydrazide protecting group on dipeptides with a C-terminal N-methylalanine residue to inhibit the otherwise facile dioxopiperazine formation during peptide coupling.