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Biomedical subjects

Shigeki Matsunaga

Publications and source records attributed to Shigeki Matsunaga.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

L-Kynurenine, an amino acid identified as a sex pheromone in the urine of ovulated female masu salmon.

Many animals employ sex pheromones to find mating partners during their reproductive seasons. However, most sex pheromones of vertebrates remain to be identified. Over the past 20 years, steroids and prostaglandins have been identified as sex pheromones in several fishes. These pheromones are broadly termed "hormonal pheromones" because they or their precursors act as hormones in these fishes. Hitherto, no other type of sex pheromone has been unambiguously identified in teleost fish. Here we report the identification of a "nonhormonal pheromone" in teleost fish. The urine of the reproductively mature female masu salmon (Oncorhynchus masou) contains a male-attracting pheromone. Bioassay-guided fractionation yielded an active compound that was identical to L-kynurenine in spectral and chromatographic properties. L-Kynurenine is a major metabolite of L-tryptophan in vertebrates. This pheromone elicits a male-specific behavior at even picomolar concentrations; its electrophysiological threshold is 10(-14) M. L-Kynurenine is a reasonable substance for female masu salmon to advertise their readiness for mating.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Mixed La-Li heterobimetallic complexes for tertiary nitroaldol resolution.

A kinetic resolution of tertiary nitroaldols derived from simple ketones is described. Mixed BINOL/biphenol La-Li heterobimetallic complexes gave the best selectivity in retro-nitroaldol reactions of racemic tertiary nitroaldols. By using a mixture of La-Li3-(1a)3 complex (LLB 2a) and La-Li3-(1b)3 (LLB* 2b) complex in a ratio of 2/1, chiral tertiary nitroaldols were obtained in 80-97% ee and 30-47% recovery yield.

Alcohols↗
PubMed2006

Sokodosides, steroid glycosides with an isopropyl side chain, from the marine sponge Erylus placenta.

Two novel steroid glycosides, sokodosides A and B (1 and 2, respectively), were isolated from the marine sponge Erylus placenta as growth-inhibitory principles against several strains of yeast and a cancer cell line. Sokodosides possess the novel carbon skeleton as characterized by the presence of a combination of isopropyl side chain and the 4,4-dimethyl steroid nucleus. Sokodoside B has another unique characteristic in the presence of delta(8,14,16) unsaturation. The structures of sokodosides were determined by analysis of spectral data and chemical degradation. The absolute stereochemistry of sokodoside A (1) was determined by the application of the modified Mosher analysis to the aglycon obtained by acid hydrolysis, whereas the absolute stereochemistry of the monosaccharide units in 1 and 2 was determined by chiral GC analyses of the acid hydrolysates.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Design and application of linked-BINOL chiral ligands in bifunctional asymmetric catalysis.

The design and application of linked-BINOLs investigated in our group are reviewed. Linked-BINOLs are a kind of semi-crown ether, thus they are flexible and applicable to metals having various ionic radii (Ga3+, Li+, Zn2+, In3+, La3+, and Y3+). The flexible linker segment, containing a coordinative heteroatom, has a crucial role in the construction of a unique and effective chiral environment that is not accessible from BINOL itself. Applications of linked-BINOLs to an epoxide opening reaction, Michael reactions, a direct aldol reaction, direct Michael reactions of a hydroxyketone, and direct Mannich-type reactions of hydroxyketones and N-acylpyrrole are described.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Bismuth-catalyzed intermolecular hydroamination of 1,3-dienes with carbamates, sulfonamides, and carboxamides.

A Bi(OTf)(3)/Cu(CH(3)CN)(4)PF(6) system efficiently promoted intermolecular 1:1 hydroamination of 1,3-dienes with various carbamates, sulfonamides, and carboxamides to afford allylic amines in good yield (up to 96%). Reaction proceeded with 0.5-10 mol % catalyst loading at 25-100 degrees C (generally at 50 degrees C) in 1,4-dioxane within 24 h. The Bi(OTf)(3)/Cu(CH(3)CN)(4)PF(6) system constitutes a new entry into series of intermolecular hydroamination catalysis. Mechanistic studies and the postulated reaction mechanism are also discussed.

Alkenes↗
PubMed2006

Asteropine A, a sialidase-inhibiting conotoxin-like peptide from the marine sponge Asteropus simplex.

Marine sponges contain structurally intriguing and biologically active peptides of nonribosomal peptide synthase origin, often containing amino acids with novel structures. Here we report the discovery of asteropine A (APA), a cystine knot to be isolated from marine sponges. The solution structure of APA as determined by NMR belongs to the four-loop class of cystine knots similar to those of some conotoxins and spider toxins. However, the highly negatively charged surface of APA is uncommon among other cystine knots. APA competitively inhibits bacterial sialidases, but not a viral sialidase. APA was inactive against all other enzymes tested and did not have any apparent antitumor activity. Our data suggest that APA and other knotting peptides may be important leads for antibacterial and even antiviral drug development.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2006

Amphimedosides, 3-alkylpyridine glycosides from a marine sponge Amphimedon sp.

Five 3-alkylpyridine alkaloids, amphimedosides A-E (1-5), have been isolated from a marine sponge Amphimedon sp. The structures of 1-5 have been determined by analysis of NMR and FABMS data and chiral GC analyses of the acid hyrolyzates. In particular, the site of glycosylation in 1 was confirmed by the 1H-15N HMBC experiment, and the location of the double bond in 5 was assigned on the basis of tandem FABMS data. Amphimedosides are the first examples of beta-D-glucosylated 3-alkylpyridine alkaloids and exhibited cytotoxic activities comparable with those of the nonglycosylated congeners.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Induction of a ribotoxic stress response that stimulates stress-activated protein kinases by 13-deoxytedanolide, an antitumor marine macrolide.

13-Deoxytedanolide is a structurally unique macrolide with strong antitumor activity isolated from a marine sponge. Recently, we showed that 13-deoxytedanolide bound to the large subunit of the yeast ribosome and inhibited polypeptide elongation in vitro, but the mechanism by which it exerts antitumor activity is still unknown. Here we show that 13-deoxytedanolide strongly induces plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) promoter-derived gene expression. 13-Deoxytedanolide, unlike TGF-beta, did not cause apparent nuclear translocation of Smad2/3, but it relocalized the temperature-sensitive mutant of mouse p53 (p53Val153) from the cytoplasm to the nucleus at a nonpermissive temperature, suggesting that 13-deoxytedanolide inhibits protein synthesis. Indeed, the drug inhibited in vivo protein synthesis at low nanomolar concentrations and strongly activated stress-activated protein kinases such as p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and Jun NH2-terminal protein kinase (JNK). Anisomycin, a well-known inducer of ribotoxic stress that activates both p38 and JNK, also activated PAI-1 gene expression, while other protein synthesis inhibitors that do not activate the kinases failed to do so. PAI-1 gene expression by 13-deoxytedanolide and anisomycin was blocked by SB202190, a specific inhibitor of p38, and SP600125, an inhibitor of both p38 and JNK. 13-Deoxytedanolide and anisomycin caused activation of apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1, MKK3/MKK6, and SEK1/MKK4, the regulatory kinases upstream of p38 and JNK. These results suggest that 13-deoxytedanolide, like anisomycin, triggers a ribotoxic stress response that activates stress-activated protein kinase cascades, thereby inducing PAI-1 gene expression and apoptosis.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Development of novel fluorescent probe 3-perylene diphenylphosphine for determination of lipid hydroperoxide with fluorescent image analysis.

A novel fluorescent probe 3-perylene diphenylphosphine (3-PeDPP) was synthesized for the direct analysis of lipid hydroperoxides. The structure of 3-PeDPP was identified by the spectroscopic data, FAB-MS, (1)H NMR, and (13)C NMR. The reactivities of 3-PeDPP with lipid hydroperoxides were investigated in chloroform/MeOH homogeneous solutions and PC liposome model systems oxidized by either 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinopropane)dihydrochloride and photosensitized oxidation. The fluorescence intensity derived from 3-perylene diphenylphosphineoxide (3-PeDPPO) increased proportionally with amount of hydroperoxides produced in homogeneous solutions and liposome model systems. 3-PeDPP was easily incorporated into mouse myeloma SP2 cells and thin tissue section for dynamic membrane lipid peroxidation studies. Linear correlations between fluorescence intensity and amount of hydroperoxides in the cell membrane and tissue sections were obtained. The fluorescence intensity from 2-dimensional image analysis was also well correlated with lipid hydroperoxide level in these models. Thus, the novel probe 3-PeDPP is useful for the direct determination of lipid hydroperoxides in biological materials.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Axinelloside A, an unprecedented highly sulfated lipopolysaccharide inhibiting telomerase, from the marine sponge, Axinella infundibula.

Axinelloside A was isolated from the lipophilic extract of the Japanese marine sponge Axinella infundibula as a strong human telomerase inhibitor (IC(50) 2.0 microg/mL). It has the molecular weight of 4780.4 as the monoisotopic mass of the 19 sodium salt. The chemical structure was elucidated mainly by spectroscopic methods (2D NMR and MS). Axinelloside A consists of twelve sugars, e.g., a scyllo-inositol, a D-arabinose, 5 D-galactoses, and 5 L-fucoses, together with an (R)-3-hydroxy-octadecanoic acid, 3 (E)-2-hexadecenoic acids, and 19 sulfates.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Lewis acid-Lewis acid heterobimetallic cooperative catalysis: mechanistic studies and application in enantioselective aza-Michael reaction.

The full details of a catalytic asymmetric aza-Michael reaction of methoxylamine promoted by rare earth-alkali metal heterobimetallic complexes are described, demonstrating the effectiveness of Lewis acid-Lewis acid cooperative catalysis. First, enones were used as substrates, and the 1,4-adducts were obtained in good yield (57-98%) and high ee (81-96%). Catalyst loading was successfully reduced to 0.3-3 mol % with enones. To broaden the substrate scope of the reaction to carboxylic acid derivatives, alpha,beta-unsaturated N-acylpyrroles were used as monodentate, carboxylic acid derivatives. With beta-alkyl-substituted N-acylpyrroles, the reaction proceeded smoothly and the products were obtained in high yield and good ee. Transformation of the 1,4-adducts from enones and alpha,beta-unsaturated N-acylpyrroles afforded corresponding chiral aziridines and beta-amino acids. Detailed mechanistic studies, including kinetics, NMR analysis, nonlinear effects, and rare earth metal effects, are also described. The Lewis acid-Lewis acid cooperative mechanism, including the substrate coordination mode, is discussed in detail.

Aza Compounds↗