Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A Loffet.
Allyl and allyloxycarbonyl groups are used for the side-chain protection of amino acids. The protecting groups may be selectively cleaved using the reagent HSnBu3 under palladium catalysis. The preparation of Boc and Fmoc series of protected amino acids is described.
Ten phenylthiohydantoin (PTH) amino acids possessing allyl (Al) or allyloxycarbonyl (Aloc) side-chain-protecting groups have been characterized by high-performance liquid chromatography for use in Edman degradation sequence analysis. Optimized separation of side-chain-protected and -unprotected PTH amino acids was achieved on a C-18 reversed-phase column with a two-step gradient spanning 32 min. Five of the side-chain-protected amino acids [Cys(Al), Cys(Aloc), Lys(Aloc), Thr(Aloc), Tyr(Al)] were completely stable to the conditions of PTH derivatization, four [Asp(OAl), Arg(Aloc)2, Glu(OAl), Ser(Aloc)] were partially deprotected during PTH derivatization, and one [His(Aloc)] was completely deprotected during PTH derivatization. All allyl-based derivatives were well resolved from their side-chain-unprotected counterparts. Studies on the stability to piperidine treatment showed Asp(OAl), Cys(Al), Glu(OAl), Lys(Aloc), Thr(Aloc), and Tyr(Al), and possibly Arg(Aloc)2 and Ser(Aloc), to be suitable for peptide synthesis by 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc)-based chemistry. Edman degradation of Al and Aloc side-chain-protected Conus geographus Lys9-alpha-conotoxin GI synthesized on 4-methylbenzhydrylamine-copoly(styrene-1%-DVB)-resin demonstrated the usefulness of these derivatives for solid-phase preview sequence analysis.
The steady-state kinetic parameters of the tripeptides D-Val-Leu-Lys-, Ala-Phe-Lys-, and < Glu-Phe-Lys- in which the free carboxyl group was substituted with p-nitroaniline (substrate) or chloromethane (inhibitor), towards the serine proteinases plasmin (EC 3.4.21.7), thrombin (EC 3.4.21.5), urokinase, factor Xa, and trypsin (EC 3.4.21.4) were investigated. The p-nitroanilide derives were found to be very good substrates for plasmin, 2.5--40-times less efficient towards trypsin and very poor (100--10 000-times less efficient) substrates for thrombin, factor Xa and urokinase. The chloromethyl ketone derivatives were comparably efficient inhibitors of plasmin and trypsin and in general very poor (100--10 000-times weaker) inhibitors of thrombin, factor Xa and urokinase. D-Val-Leu-Lys-pNA however was a very poor substrate but D-Val-Leu-Lys-CH2Cl a very efficient inhibitor for thrombin. The variability in susceptibility of the substrates towards the enzymes was due to differences in their Michaelis constant, in their deacylation rate constant or both. the variable efficiency of the inhibitors was mostly due to differences in their dissociation constant and much less to differences in their alkylation rate constant. Only a poor correlation (r = 0.25) was found between the efficiency of the p-nitroanilides as substrate and their homologous chloromethyl ketones as inhibitor. The most notable discrepancy was observed with the D-Val-Leu-Lys derivatives towards thrombin.
Serine is one of the enzyme residues with which benzylpenicillin collides as a result of its binding to the Streptomyces strain-R61 DD-carboxypeptidase-transpeptidase enzyme. Nucleophilic attack occurs on C(7) of the bound antibiotic molecule with formation of a benzylpenicilloyl-serine ester linkage, i.e. formation of the benzylpenicilloyl-enzyme EI complex. To reject the bound penicilloyl moiety and consequently to recover its initial activities, the strain-R61 enzyme has developed two possible mechanisms. Pathway A is a direct attack of the serine ester linkage by an exogenous nucleophile, resulting in the transfer of the benzylpenicilloyl moiety to this nucleophile. In pathway B, the benzylpenicilloyl moiety is first fragmented by C(5)-C(6) cleavage and the enzyme-bound phenylacetylglycyl residue thus produced is in turn transferred to the nucleophile. Pathway B occurs with water, glycylglycine and other amino compounds. Both pathways A and B occur with glycerol, other ROH nucleophiles and neutral hydroxylamine. The nucleophilic attacks are enzyme-catalysed.
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N-Urethane-protected N-carboxyanhydrides (UNCAs) are very reactive amino acid derivatives. They have been successfully used in peptide synthesis, in both solution and solid phase. We have demonstrated that UNCAs are interesting starting materials for the synthesis of various amino acid derivatives. Chemoselective reduction of UNCAs with sodium borohydride led the corresponding N-protected beta amino alcohols. Reaction of UNCAs with Meldrum's acid, followed by cyclisation, yielded enantiomerically pure tetramic acid derivatives. Diastereoselective reduction of tetramic acid derivatives produced [4S,5S)-N-alkoxycarbonyl-4-hydroxy-5-alkylpyrrolidin-2-ones derived from amino acids, which after hydrolysis yielded statine and statine analogues. Tetramic acid derivatives could also be obtained by reaction of UNCAs with benzyl ethyl malonate in the presence of sodium hydride to yield gamma-N-benzyloxycarbonylamino-beta-oxodicarboxyl esters followed by hydrogenolytic deprotection and decarboxylation. UNCAs also reacted with phosphoranes to produce the ketophosphorane in excellent yields. Subsequent oxidation with oxone or with [bis(acetoxy)-iodo]-benzene produced vicinal tricarbonyl derivatives. These reactions usually proceeded smoothly and with high yields.
The efficiency of energy transfer between a fluorescent donor, L-tyrosine, and a fluorescent acceptor, L-tryptophan, has been determined in R'-L-Trp-L-Ala-L-Tyr-R", R-L-Trp-L-Ala-L-Ala-L-Tyr-R", and R'-L-Trp-Gly-L-Ala-L-Tyr-R" in ethanol solution. The protecting groups R' and R" were respectively tert-butyloxycarbonyl and methyl ester. A conformational theoretical analysis of molecules studied has been performed in parallel on the basis of semiempirical conformational potential energy function. In the theoretical models all the side chains have been represented by a methyl group. From the distribution of distances between chromophores obtained theoretically, transfer efficiencies have been computed assuming a random orientation of the chromophores (k-2 equals 2/3). The comparison of calculated efficiencies with the values determined experimentally for the same value of k-2 has been used as a check for the theoretical model. Both experimental and theoretical studies have been shown that the glycyl residue procudes a reduction of dimensions when it replaces in a tetrapeptide a residue with a beta-carbon atom such as the L-alanyl residue. However, only a qualitative agreement between experimental and theoretical values of the efficiencies has been obtained.
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