ERAP1 is an endoplasmic reticulum-resident zinc aminopeptidase that plays an important role in the immune system by trimming peptides for loading onto major histocompatibility complex proteins. Here, we report discovery of the first inhibitors selective for ERAP1 over its paralogues ERAP2 and IRAP. Compound 1 (N-(N-(2-(1H-indol-3-yl)­ethyl)­carbamimidoyl)-2,5-difluorobenzenesulfonamide) and compound 2 (1-(1-(4-acetylpiperazine-1-carbonyl)­cyclohexyl)-3-(p-tolyl)­urea) are competitive inhibitors of ERAP1 aminopeptidase activity. Compound 3 (4-methoxy-3-(N-(2-(piperidin-1-yl)-5-(trifluoromethyl)­phenyl)­sulfamoyl)­benzoic acid) allosterically activates ERAP1’s hydrolysis of fluorogenic and chromogenic amino acid substrates but competitively inhibits its activity toward a nonamer peptide representative of physiological substrates. Compounds 2 and 3 inhibit antigen presentation in a cellular assay. Compound 3 displays higher potency for an ERAP1 variant associated with increased risk of autoimmune disease. These inhibitors provide mechanistic insights into the determinants of specificity for ERAP1, ERAP2, and IRAP and offer a new therapeutic approach of specifically inhibiting ERAP1 activity in vivo.

Screening of small molecule libraries is an important aspect of probe and drug discovery science. Numerous authors have suggested that bioactive natural products are attractive starting points for such libraries, due to their structural complexity and sp3-rich character. Here, we describe the construction of a screening library based on representative members of four families of biologically active alkaloids (Stemonaceae, the structurally related cyclindricine and lepadiformine families, lupin, and Amaryllidaceae). In each case, scaffolds were based on structures of the naturally occurring compounds or a close derivative. Scaffold preparation was pursued following the development of appropriate enabling chemical methods. Diversification provided 686 new compounds suitable for screening. The libraries thus prepared had structural characteristics, including sp3 content, comparable to a basis set of representative natural products and were highly rule-of-five compliant.

Peroxynitrite is a highly reactive oxidant derived from superoxide and nitric oxide. In normal vertebrate physiology, some phagocytes deploy this oxidant as a cytotoxin against foreign pathogens. To provide a new approach for detection of endogenous cellular peroxynitrite, we synthesized fluorescent sensors targeted to membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The very high surface area of these membranes, approximately 30 times greater than the cellular plasma membrane, was envisioned as a vast intracellular platform for the display of sensors to transient reactive species. By linking an ER-targeted profluorophore to reactive phenols, sensors were designed to be cleaved by peroxynitrite and release a highly fluorescent ER-associated rhodol. Studies of kinetics in aqueous buffer revealed a linear free energy relationship where electron-donating substituents accelerate this reaction. However, in living cells, the efficiency of detection of endogenous cellular peroxynitrite was directly proportional to association with ER membranes. By incorporating a 2,6-dimethylphenol to accelerate the reaction and enhance this subcellular targeting, endogenous peroxynitrite in living RAW 264.7 macrophage cells could be readily detected after addition of antibody-opsonized tentagel microspheres, without additional stimulation, a process undetectable with other known fluorescent sensors. This approach provides uniquely sensitive tools for studies of transient reactive species in living mammalian cells.

We detail a heterobifunctional, 7-aminocoumarin photocleavable (PC) linker with unique properties to covalently attach Abs to surfaces and subsequently release them with visible light (400–450 nm).

The enteropathogenic and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli NleB proteins as well as the Salmonella enterica SseK proteins are type III secretion system effectors that function as glycosyltransferase enzymes to post-translationally modify host substrates on arginine residues. This modification is unusual because it occurs on the guanidinium groups of arginines, which are poor nucleophiles, and is distinct from the activity of the mammalian O-linked N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase. We conducted high-throughput screening assays to identify small molecules that inhibit NleB/SseK activity. Two compounds, 100066N and 102644N, both significantly inhibited NleB1, SseK1, and SseK2 activities. Addition of these compounds to cultured mammalian cells was sufficient to inhibit NleB1 glycosylation of the tumor necrosis factor receptor type 1-associated DEATH domain protein. These compounds were also capable of inhibiting Salmonella enterica strain ATCC 14028 replication in mouse macrophage-like cells. Neither inhibitor was significantly toxic to mammalian cells, nor showed in vitro cross-reactivity with the mammalian O-linked N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase. These compounds or derivatives generated from medicinal chemistry refinements may have utility as a potential alternative therapeutic strategy to antibiotics or as reagents to further the study of bacterial glycosyltransferases.

A strategy for exo and enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine imines to 2-acryloyl-3-pyrazolidinone is described. The corresponding cycloadducts are isolated with high diastereoselectivities (up to >96:4 exo/endo) and enantioselectivities (up to 98% ee).

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The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of eukaryotic cells plays critical roles in the processing of secreted and transmembrane proteins. Defects in these functions are associated with a wide range of pathologies. To image this organelle, cells are often treated with fluorescent ER-Tracker dyes. Although these compounds are selective, existing red fluorescent probes of the ER are costly glibenclamide derivatives that inhibit ER-associated sulphonylurea receptors. To provide simpler and more cost-effective red fluorescent probes of the ER, we synthesized amino analogues of the fluorophore resorufin. By varying the polarity of linked substituents, we identified hexyl resorufamine (HRA) as a novel hydrophobic (cLogD (pH 7.4) = 3.8) red fluorescent (Ex. 565 nm; Em. 614 nm in ethanol) molecular probe. HRA is exceptionally bright in organic solvents (quantum yield = 0.70), it exclusively localizes to the ER of living HeLa cells as imaged by confocal microscopy, it is effective at concentrations as low as 100 nM, and it is non-toxic under these conditions. To examine its utility, we used HRA to facilitate visualization of small molecule-mediated release of a GFP-GPI fusion protein from the ER into the secretory pathway. HRA represents a potent, selective, and cost-effective probe for imaging and labeling the ER.