Microtubule-targeting agents are among the most powerful drugs used in chemotherapy to treat cancer patients. Pironetin is a natural product that displays promising anticancer properties by binding to and potently inhibiting tubulin assembly into microtubules; however, its molecular mechanism of action remained obscure. Here, we solved the crystal structure of the tubulin-pironetin complex and found that the compound covalently binds to Cys316 of α-tubulin. The structure further revealed that pironetin perturbs the T7 loop and helix H8 of α-tubulin. Since both these elements are essential for establishing longitudinal tubulin contacts in microtubules, this result explains how pironetin inhibits the formation of microtubules. Together, our data define the molecular details of the pironetin binding site on α-tubulin and thus offer a promising basis for the rational design of pironetin variants with improved activity profiles. They further extend our knowledge on strategies evolved by natural products to target and perturb the microtubule cytoskeleton.
Both matched and mismatched diastereoselections have been observed in aldol reactions of the B,B-dicyclohexylboron enolate of a protected L-erythrulose derivative with a range of chiral aldehydes. The stereochemical outcome of reactions with R-methyl aldehydes can be adequately explained within the Felkin-Anh paradigm. In the case of R-oxygenated aldehydes, however, strict adherence to this model does not allow for a satisfactory account of the observed results. In such cases, the Cornforth model provides a much better explanation.
The first total synthesis of the naturally occurring nonenolide, microcarpalide, is described. The key step in the synthesis was the ring-closing metathesis of a dienic ester prepared in turn by coupling an acid and an alcohol stereoselectively synthesized from (S,S)-tartaric acid and (R)-glycidol, respectively. [structure: see text]
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