Alkanes adopt extended conformations in solution that minimize steric interactions and maximize surface area. Folding can reduce the amount of hydrophobic surface exposed to solvent, but sterically unfavorable gauche interactions result. However, we found that the alkyl chains of two common surfactants in aqueous solution adopt helical conformations when bound within a synthetic receptor. The receptor recognizes the helical alkane better than the extended conformation, even though 2 to 3 kilocalories per mole of strain is introduced. The proper filling of space and burial of hydrophobic surface drive the molecular recognition between the receptor and the coiled alkane.

Peptide macrocycles are found in many biologically active natural products. Their versatility, resistance to proteolysis and ability to traverse membranes has made them desirable molecules. Although technologies exist to synthesize such compounds, the full extent of diversity found among natural macrocycles has yet to be achieved synthetically. Cyanobactins are ribosomal peptide macrocycles encompassing an extraordinarily diverse range of ring sizes, amino acids and chemical modifications. We report the structure, biochemical characterization and initial engineering of the PatG macrocyclase domain of Prochloron sp. from the patellamide pathway that catalyzes the macrocyclization of linear peptides. The enzyme contains insertions in the subtilisin fold to allow it to recognize a three-residue signature, bind substrate in a preorganized and unusual conformation, shield an acyl-enzyme intermediate from water and catalyze peptide bond formation. The ability to macrocyclize a broad range of nonactivated substrates has wide biotechnology applications.

The reversible encapsulation of a series of normal alkane guests in a cylindrical host was studied by NMR methods. For small hydrocarbons such as n-pentane or n-hexane, two guests enter the host, and they move freely within. With n-heptane no encapsulation takes place. For longer alkanes such as n-decane, a single guest enters and the aromatic walls of the host are seen to twist to avoid empty spaces and increase favorable interactions with the hydrocarbon. The best guest (n-undecane) adopts a conformation with minimal gauche interactions. The longest alkane accommodated, n-tetradecane, adopts a helical conformation to fit in the cavity, a shape that maximizes CH/pi interactions with the aromatic walls of the receptor. These reciprocal conformational changes are discussed in terms of optimal host/guest interactions.

We describe here the synthesis and characterization of a molecular receptor that forms kinetically and thermodynamically stable host-guest complexes in water. This cavitand-based host is composed of a preorganized aromatic pocket whose rim is decorated with four negatively charged carboxylate groups. (1)H NMR and isothermal titration calorimetry have been used to characterize the behavior of the resulting complexes in response to changes in pH, buffer identity, and salt concentration and in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles.

The pharmacological exploitation of the galanin receptors as drug targets for treatment of epilepsy, depression, and pain has been hampered by the lack of workable compounds for medicinal chemists from random screening of large chemical libraries. The present work uses the tripeptidomimetic galnon and displays its presumed pharmacophores on a rigid molecular scaffold. The scaffold is related to marine natural products and presents three functional groups near one another in space, in a manner reminiscent of a protein surface. An active compound, Galmic, was identified from a small synthetic library and tested in vitro and in vivo for its affinity and efficacy at galanin receptors. Galmic has micromolar affinity for GalR1 receptors (K i ‫؍‬ 34.2 M) and virtually no affinity for GalR2 receptors. In vitro, Galmic, like galanin, suppresses long-term potentiation in the dentate gyrus; it blocks status epilepticus when injected intrahippocampally or administered i.p. Galmic applied i.p. shows antidepressant-like effects in the forced-swim test, and it is a potent inhibitor of flinching behavior in the inflammatory pain model induced by formalin injection. These data further implicate brain and spinal cord galanin receptors as drug targets and provide an example of a systemically active compound based on a scaffold that mimics protein surfaces.G alanin, a 29-to 30-aa-long neuropeptide, has been shown to affect feeding, cognitive, and sexual behavior and to regulate seizure and pain thresholds when applied intraventricularly (1-3). Galanin actions are mediated through three G proteincoupled receptors present in the brain and the peripheral nervous system (4-6). Transgenic mice overexpressing galanin have much higher seizure thresholds (7), and the galanin receptor 1 (GalR1) Ϫ/Ϫ mice have spontaneous seizures, demonstrating the role of galanin and its receptor in seizure control (8). Despite the wealth of biological information on galanin signaling, no progress has been made in using the galanin-receptor subtypes as drug targets. The lack of progress is largely due to the poor results from random screening at several major pharmaceutical companies (9). More than 4 million compounds were screened, but no workable compounds for medicinal chemical optimization were identified. Both Johnson & Johnson (10) and Schering have published reports of compounds active at high micromolar concentrations that had stability problems, as well as other problems (9). The only nonpeptide galanin receptor ligand available is galnon, a substance intended to display analogs of the three major pharmacophores of galanin, Trp-2, Asn-5, and Tyr-9 (11, 12), on a linear, peptide-like backbone. Galnon is a lowaffinity, nonreceptor-subtype-selective agonist that acts at both GalR1-and GalR2-type receptors (13). Despite its serious shortcomings, galnon, within a year of its synthesis, was shown to affect behavioral symptoms and neurochemical correlates in opiate withdrawal (14), pain (15), and seizure (13) The present work describes the synthesis and ...