Although palladium catalysts are powerful reagents in organic synthesis, hazardous palladium is often found in reaction products even after purifications. Thus, the detection of palladium is an important process in the production of fine chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. We have developed a highly sensitive fluorescent sensor that is capable of detecting 1 ng of palladium quantitatively with the naked eye. Using this method, we were able to selectively detect palladium contamination in aspirin tablets (10 ppm Pd in 1 mg aspirin; mixed in the laboratory for this study), on the surface of flasks previously exposed to palladium, and in rocks containing palladium.

To characterize the differences between second trimester Down syndrome (DS) and euploid fetuses, we used Affymetrix microarrays to compare gene expression in uncultured amniotic fluid supernatant samples. Functional pathway analysis highlighted the importance of oxidative stress, ion transport, and G protein signaling in the DS fetuses. Further evidence supporting these results was derived by correlating the observed gene expression patterns to those of small molecule drugs via the Connectivity Map. Our results suggest that there are secondary adverse consequences of DS evident in the second trimester, leading to testable hypotheses about possible antenatal therapy for DS.antenatal therapy ͉ Connectivity Map ͉ gene expression ͉ prenatal diagnosis ͉ trisomy 21

FR901464 is a potent anticancer natural product that lowers the mRNA levels of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. In this article, we report a convergent enantioselective synthesis of FR901464, which was accomplished in 13 linear steps. Central to the synthetic approach was the diene-ene cross olefin metathesis reaction to generate the C6-C7 olefin without the use of protecting groups as the final step. Additional key reactions include a Zr/Ag-promoted alkynylation to set the C4 stereocenter, a mild and chemoselective Red-Al reduction, a reagent-controlled stereoselective Mislow-Evans-type [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement to install the C5 stereocenter, a Carreira asymmetric alkynylation to generate the C4′ stereocenter, and a highly efficient ring-closing metathesis-allylic oxidation sequence to form an unsaturated lactone. The decomposition pathways of FR901464's right fragment were studied under physiologically relevant conditions. Facile epoxide opening by -elimination gave two enones, one of which could undergo dehydration via its hemiketal to form a furan. To prevent this decomposition pathway, a right fragment was rationally designed and synthesized. This analogue was 12 times more stable than the right fragment of the natural product. Using this more stable right fragment analogue, an FR901464 analogue, meayamycin, was prepared in 13 linear steps. The inhibitions of human breast cancer MCF-7 cell proliferation by synthetic FR901464 and meayamycin were studied, and the GI 50 values for these compounds were determined to be 1.1 nM and 10 pM, respectively. Thus, meayamycin is among the most potent anticancer small molecules that do not bind to either DNA or microtubule.

No abstract

Influenza A virus is a human pathogen whose genome is comprised of eight viral RNA segments that replicate in the nucleus. Two viral mRNAs are alternatively spliced. The unspliced M1 mRNA is translated into the matrix M1 protein while the ion channel M2 protein is generated after alternative splicing. These proteins are critical mediators of viral trafficking and budding. We show that influenza virus utilizes nuclear speckles to promote post-transcriptional splicing of its M1 mRNA. We assign previously unknown roles for the viral NS1 protein and cellular factors to an intranuclear trafficking pathway that targets the viral M1 mRNA to nuclear speckles, mediates splicing at these nuclear bodies, and exports the spliced M2 mRNA from the nucleus. Since nuclear speckles are storage sites for splicing factors, which leave these sites to splice cellular pre-mRNAs at transcribing genes, we reveal a functional subversion of nuclear speckles to promote viral gene expression.

The results showed that shape changes of the sheet during thermoforming tend to concentrically and almost uniformly expand from the center and that it is important to center the sheet and the model when positioning the model in the forming unit.

FR901464 is a natural product isolated from a bacterium source that activates a reporter gene, inhibits pre-mRNA splicing, and shows antitumor activity. We previously reported the development of a more potent analogue, meayamycin, through the total synthesis of FR901464. Herein, we report detailed structure-activity relationships of FR901464 that revealed the significance of the epoxide, carbon atoms in the left tetrahydropyran ring, the Z-geometry of the side chain, the 1,3-diene moiety, the C-4 hydroxy group, and the C2"-carbonyl group. Importantly, the methyl group of the acetyl substituent was found to be inessential, leading to a new potent analogue. Additionally, partially based on in vivo data, we synthesized and evaluated potentially more metabolically stable analogues for their antiproliferative activity. These structural insights into FR901464 may contribute to the simplification of the natural product for further drug development.

Endogenous protein kinase inhibitors are essential for a wide range of physiological functions. These endogenous inhibitors may mimic peptide substrates as in the case of the heat-stable protein kinase inhibitor (PKI), or they may mimic nucleotide triphosphates. Natural product inhibitors, endogenous to the unique organisms producing them, can be potent exogenous inhibitors against foreign protein kinases. Balanol is a natural product inhibitor exhibiting low nanomolar K i values against serine and threonine specific kinases, while being ineffective against protein tyrosine kinases. To elucidate balanol's specific inhibitory effects and provide a basis for understanding inhibition-regulated biological processes, a 2.1 Å resolution crystal structure of balanol in complex with cAMP-dependent protein kinase (cAPK) was determined. The structure reveals conserved binding regions and displays extensive complementary interactions between balanol and conserved cAPK residues. This report describes the structure of a protein kinase crystallized with a natural ATP mimetic in the absence of metal ions and peptide inhibitor.Protein kinases, of which the human genome is predicted to encode several thousand, reversibly phosphorylate diverse molecular targets and are critical enzymes in the initiation, regulation, and abrogation of both normal and abnormal cellular functions (reviewed in refs 1-6). These often exquisitely specific kinases play essential roles in apoptosis, cell proliferation, gene expression, glycogen metabolism, immune response, neurotransmission, oncogenesis, and secondary messenger signal transduction (7-18). This biological pervasiveness underscores the importance of more explicitly characterizing kinase activation and inhibition. Additionally, there is significant therapeutic value in achieving selective pharmacological control of members of this important class of enzymes, since unregulated or otherwise defective protein kinase activities to date have been implicated in asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disorders, central nervous system (CNS) 1 diseases, diabetes, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections, inflammation, psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis (19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24).To more explicitly characterize protein kinase activation and inhibition, cAMP-dependent protein kinase, the most completely characterized and mechanistically simplest protein kinase (25, reviewed in refs 26-31), is a logical singular choice for biochemical and structural research focusing on cellular phosphorylation events at the molecular level. The inactive cAPK holoenzyme consists of two regulatory (R) and two catalytic (C) subunits that dissociate in response to elevated levels of intracellular cAMP. The triply phosphorylated, active C subunit then phosphorylates serine or threonine residues of peptide substrates containing the consensus sequence Arg-Arg-X-Ser[Thr]-Hyd, where X is variable and Hyd is any hydrophobic residue (3,14,32,33). The C subunit of cAPK shares with other kinase family members a conserved cat...