The reactions of Ln(NO(3))(3) (Ln = La, Er) with 1,4-phenylendiacetic acid (H(2)PDA) under hydrothermal conditions produce isostructural lanthanide coordination polymers with the empirical formula [Ln(2)(PDA)(3)(H(2)O)] x 2H(2)O. The extended structure of [Ln(2)(PDA)(3)(H(2)O)] x 2H(2)O consists of Ln-COO triple helices cross-linked through the [bond]CH(2)C(6)H(4)CH(2)[bond] spacers of the PDA anions, showing 1D open channels along the crystallographic c axis that accommodate the guest and coordinated water molecules. Evacuation of [Er(2)(PDA)(3)(H(2)O)] x 2H(2)O at room temperature and at 200 degrees C, respectively, generates [Er(2)(PDA)(3)(H(2)O)] and [Er(2)(PDA)(3)], both of which give powder X-ray diffraction patterns consistent with that of [Er(2)(PDA)(3)(H(2)O)] x 2H(2)O. The porosity of [Er(2)(PDA)(3)(H(2)O)] and [Er(2)(PDA)(3)] is further demonstrated by their ability to adsorb water vapor to form [Er(2)(PDA)(3)(H(2)O)] x 2H(2)O quantitatively. Thermogravimetric analyses show that [Er(2)(PDA)(3)] remains stable up to 450 degrees C. The effective pore window size in [Er(2)(PDA)(3)] is estimated at 3.4 A. Gas adsorption measurements indicate that [Er(2)(PDA)(3)] adsorbs CO(2) into its pores and shows nonporous behavior toward Ar or N(2). There is a general correlation between the pore size and the kinetic diameters of the adsorbates (CO(2) = 3.3 A, Ar = 3.40 A, and N(2) = 3.64 A). That the adsorption favors CO(2) over Ar is unprecedented and may arise from the combined differentiations on size and on host-guest interactions.

Glycopeptides are extremely useful for basic research and clinical applications, but access to structurally-defined glycopeptides is limited by the difficulties in synthesizing this class of compounds. In this study, we demonstrate that many common peptide coupling conditions used to prepare O-linked glycopeptides result in substantial amounts of epimerization at the alpha position. In fact, epimerization resulted in up to 80% of the non-natural epimer, indicating that it can be the major product in some reactions. Through a series of mechanistic studies, we demonstrate that the enhanced epimerization relative to non-glycosylated amino acids is due to a combination of factors, including a faster rate of epimerization, an energetic preference for the unnatural epimer over the natural epimer, and a slower overall rate of peptide coupling. In addition, we demonstrate that use of 2,4,6-trimethylpyridine (TMP) as the base in peptide couplings produces glycopeptides with high efficiency and low epimerization. The information and improved reaction conditions will facilitate the preparation of glycopeptides as therapeutic compounds and vaccine antigens.

The antiproliferative factor (APF) involved in interstitial cystitis is a glycosylated nonapeptide (TVPAAVVVA) containing a sialylated core α-O-disaccharide linked to the N-terminal threonine. The chemical structure of APF was deduced using spectroscopic techniques and confirmed using total synthesis. The synthetic APF provided a platform to study amino acid modifications and their effect on APF activity, based on which a structure-activity relationship (SAR) for APF activity was previously proposed. However, this SAR model could not explain the change in activity associated with minor alterations in the peptide sequence. Presented is computational analysis of 14 APF derivatives to identify structural trends from which a more detailed SAR is obtained. The APF activity is found to be dictated by the close interplay between carbohydrate-peptide and peptide-peptide interactions. The former involves hydrogen bond and hydrophobic interactions and the latter is dominated by hydrophobic interactions. The highly flexible hydrophobic peptide adopts collapsed conformations separated by low energy barriers. APF activity correlates with hydrophobic clustering associated with amino acids 4A, 6V and 8V. Peptide conformations are highly sensitive to single point mutations, which explain the experimental trends. The presented SAR will act as a guide for lead optimization of more potent APF analogues of potential therapeutic utility.

Isolated protein motifs that are involved in interactions with their binding partners can be used to inhibit these interactions. However, peptides corresponding to protein fragments tend to have no defined secondary or tertiary structures in the absence of scaffolding by the rest of protein molecule. This results in low potency of corresponding inhibitors. NMR and CD spectroscopy studies of lipopeptide inhibitors of the Hedgehog pathway revealed that membrane anchoring allows the cell membrane to function as a scaffold facilitating folding of short peptides. In addition, lipidation enhances cell permeability and increases the local concentration of the compounds near the membrane thus facilitating potent inhibition. General applicability of this rational approach was further confirmed by generation of selective antagonists of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor with GI50 values in the nanomolar range. Lipopeptides corresponding to protein fragments were found to serve as potent and selective inhibitors of a number of non-druggable molecular targets.

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Antiproliferative factor (APF), a sialylated glycopeptide secreted by explanted bladder epithelial cells from interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS) patients, and its unsialylated analogue (as-APF) significantly decrease proliferation of bladder epithelial cells and/or certain carcinoma cell lines in vitro. We recently reported a structure-activity relationship profile for the peptide portion of as-APF and revealed that truncation of the C-terminal alanine did not significantly affect antiproliferative activity. To better understand the structural basis for the maintenance of activity of this truncated eight amino acid as-APF (as-APF8), we synthesized several amino acid-substituted derivatives and studied their ability to inhibit bladder epithelial cell proliferation in vitro as well as their solution conformations by CD and NMR spectroscopy. While single amino acid changes to as-APF8 often strongly reduced activity, full potency was retained when the trivaline tail was replaced with three alanines. The Ala(6-8) derivative 9 is the simplest, fully potent APF analogue synthesized to date.

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The higher order structure (HOS) of biotherapeutics is a critical quality attribute that can be evaluated by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy at atomic resolution. NMR spectral mapping of HOS can be used to establish HOS consistency of a biologic across manufacturing changes or to compare a biosimilar to an innovator reference product. A previous inter-laboratory study performed using filgrastim drug products demonstrated that two-dimensional (2D)-NMR 1HN-15NH heteronuclear correlation spectroscopy is a highly robust and precise method for mapping the HOS of biologic drugs at natural abundance using high sensitivity NMR ‘cold probes.’ Here, the applicability of the 2D-NMR method to fingerprint the HOS of filgrastim products is demonstrated using lower sensitivity, room temperature NMR probes. Combined chemical shift deviation and principal component analysis are used to illustrate the performance and inter-laboratory precision of the 2D-NMR method when implemented on room temperature probes.