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H R Marepalli

Publications and source records attributed to H R Marepalli.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Total syntheses of bengamides B and E.

Total syntheses of the cytotoxic marine natural products bengamides B and E are described. Both bengamides are prepared via amide coupling of a protected polyhydroxylated lactone intermediate 9 with a suitably substituted aminocaprolactam intermediate. Lactone 9 is prepared in five steps from commercially available alpha-D-glucoheptonic gamma-lactone. The key reactions are a selective deprotection of a 1,2-acetonide in the presence of a 1,3-acetonide and an (E)-selective olefination of an unstable aldehyde using a gem-dichromium reagent. The bengamide B lactam intermediate 10 is prepared in seven steps from commercially available (5R)-5-hydroxy-L-lysine (12). The desired S-configuration at the gamma-OH lactam position is established using the Mitsunobu reaction.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Synthesis, biological activity, and conformational analysis of peptidomimetic analogues of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae alpha-factor tridecapeptide.

Biochemical and biophysical investigations on the Saccharomyces cerevisiae alpha-factor indicate that this tridecapeptide mating pheromone (WHWLQLKPGQPMY) might adopt a type II beta-turn in the center of the peptide when it binds to its G protein-coupled receptor. To test this hypothesis we synthesized analogues of alpha-factor incorporating a (R or S)-gamma-lactam conformational constraint [3-(R or S)-amino-2-oxo-1-pyrrolidineacetamido] in place of the Pro-Gly at residues 8 and 9 of the peptide and tested their biological activities and receptor binding. Analogues were purified to >99% homogeneity as evidenced by high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis and characterized by amino acid analysis, mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The restricted alpha-factor analogue WHWLQLK[(R)-gamma-lactam]QP[Nle]Y was more active than its lactam-containing diastereomeric homologue WHWLQLK[(S)-gamma-lactam]QP[Nle]Y and about equally active with the [Nle12]-alpha-factor in growth arrest and FUS1-lacZ gene induction assays. Both lactam analogues competed with tritiated [Nle12]-alpha-factor for binding to the alpha-factor receptor (Ste2p) with the (R)-gamma-lactam-containing peptide having 7-fold higher affinity than the (S)-gamma-lactam-containing homologue. Two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy and modeling analysis gave evidence that the (R)-gamma-analogue is a flexible peptide that assumes a transient gamma-turn structure around the lactam moiety. The results represent the first example of an alpha-factor analogue containing a peptidomimetic constraint that is as active as the native pheromone. The correlation between activity and structure provides further evidence that the biologically active conformation of the molecule contains a turn in the middle of the pheromone. This study provides new insights into the structural basis of alpha-factor activity and adds to the repertoire of conformationally biasing constraints that can be used to maintain and even enhance biological activity in peptide hormones.

Amides↗
PubMed1998

Conformational analysis of cyclic analogues of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae alpha-factor pheromone.

Analogues of the alpha-factor mating pheromone (WHWLQLKPGQPMY) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae in which the side chains of residues 7 and 10 were joined by lactam bonds were studied by nmr and molecular modeling. These investigations were carried out to discern the effect of lactam ring size on conformation and to ascertain whether the side chain i to i + 3 cyclized tetramers [H. R. Marepalli et al. (1996) Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 118, pp. 6531-6539] can be considered as conformation-constraining building blocks when introduced into a long peptide chain. Nuclear Overhauser effect constraints, temperature coefficients, and backbone torsional angles were derived from 1H-nmr spectra measured in DMSO-d6. Modeling studies using the above constraints indicate that the lactam regions of the tridecapeptides assume various combinations of type II beta-turns, gamma-turns, and gamma 1-turns, but never type I beta-turns. These investigations provide evidence that the tetrapeptide building blocks retain their preferred conformations in larger molecules and can be used to control the architecture of regions of such peptides.

Amino Acid Sequence↗