Water-soluble diorganyl tellurides of the alkyl aryl or dialkyl type were prepared by treatment of mono-6-tosyl-beta-cyclodextrin with sodium alkanetellurolates or arenetellurolates or sodium telluride. The novel cyclodextrin-derived organotelluriums were evaluated for their capacity to catalyze the reduction of hydrogen peroxide, tert-butyl hydroperoxide, and cumene hydroperoxide in the presence of glutathione, NADPH, and GSSG-reductase (coupled reductase assay). Cyclodextrins 4d and 4e, carrying 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)phenyltelluro and n-butyltelluro groups, respectively, were the most efficient glutathione peroxidase mimics. Reduction of lipophilic cumene hydroperoxide often proceeded 10-20 times faster than reduction of the more hydrophilic hydroperoxides, which cannot bind into the hydrophobic interior of the cyclodextrin. Thus, it seems that the carbohydrate moiety acts as a binding site for the hydroperoxide substrate. The cyclodextrin derivatives were also evaluated for their capacity to inhibit thioredoxin reductase/thioredoxin and cancer cell growth in culture. IC(50) values for inhibition of thioredoxin or thioredoxin/thioredoxin reductase were in the submicromolar range for the best inhibitors (compounds 4d and 5). Two of the compounds (4c and 5) were found to inhibit the growth of MCF-7 cells in culture with IC(50) values in the low micromolar range.

In enzymatic depurination of nucleosides, the 5-OH group of the ribose moiety of the substrate is often shown to contribute substantially to catalysis. The purine-specific nucleoside hydrolase from Trypanosoma vivax (TvNH) fixes the 5-OH group in a gauche,trans orientation about the C4-C5 bond, enabling the 5-oxygen to accept an intramolecular hydrogen bond from the C8-atom of the purine leaving group. High level ab initio quantum chemical calculations indicate that this interaction promotes protonation of the purine at N7. Steady state kinetics comprising engineered substrates confirm that a considerable fraction of the catalytic 5-OH effect can be attributed to leaving group activation.In enzyme-catalyzed ribosyl transfer reactions on nucleosides (e.g. hydrolysis, phosphorolysis), the 5Ј-hydroxyl group of the substrate has often been implicated in catalysis (1-4). Inverse 4Ј-3 H and normal 5Ј-3 H kinetic isotope effects are commonly observed, contrary to the non-enzymatic reactions, and have been invoked to account for a strained conformation of the 5Ј-OH group in the transition state (5). However, care must be taken in the interpretation of these kinetic isotope effects because they may be caused by binding rather then catalysis (6). The present study on the purine-specific nucleoside hydrolase (EC 3.2.2.1) of Trypanosoma vivax (TvNH) 1 aims to elucidate the catalytic role of the 5Ј-OH group, which contributes 5.4 kcal/mol to k cat /K m (1).The putative transition state for enzymatic cleavage of Nglycosidic bonds is generally highly dissociative with substantial lengthening of the scissile bond but no bond formation to the incoming nucleophile (5, 7). The transition state has a high ribo-oxocarbenium character with sp 2 hybridization at C1Ј and a C3Ј-exo pucker. In purine nucleosides, departure of the leaving group is facilitated by protonation at N7 prior to reaching the transition state. In the base aspecific 2 NH of Crithidia fasciculata a histidine residue has been identified as the general acid to accomplish this. However, a remarkable feature of the TvNH enzyme is the apparent lack of an acidic group to protonate the leaving purine. In this enzyme, x-ray crystallography and mutagenic scanning analysis did not reveal a suitable general acid candidate (1). Rather, a tryptophan (Trp-260) was found to be the only catalytic residue in the vicinity of the purine leaving group. A previous study combining quantum chemical calculations, mutagenesis, and presteady state kinetics revealed that an aromatic stacking interaction between Trp-260 and the purine ring contributes to catalysis by raising the basicity of the latter (8). Because enhanced basicity facilitates protonation by solvent, it appears that the TvNH enzyme employs specific, rather than general, acid catalysis.Depurination by TvNH is further catalyzed by interactions with the three hydroxyls of the ribose moiety of the substrate, because the 2Ј-, 3Ј-, and 5Ј-deoxy nucleosides are severely impaired in binding and catalysis (1). The inosine bound in t...

Thioredoxin (Trx) expression is increased in several human primary cancers and the Trx/Trx reductase (TrxR) system therefore provides an attractive target for cancer drug development. Novel organotellurium antioxidants, especially a primitive analog of vitamin E (compound 1d) and compounds 7, 9 and 10--all carrying highly functionalized 4-(dialkylamino)phenyltelluro groups to secure high antioxidative capacity--were found to inhibit TrxR with IC50 values in the low micromolar range. Whereas antioxidant 1d also inhibited the growth of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells in culture at a similar level (IC50 = 1.8 microM), the other TrxR inhibitors were inactive in concentrations below about 10 M.

3-Acyl-indole derivative 1 was identified as a novel dengue virus (DENV) inhibitor from a DENV serotype 2 (DENV-2) phenotypic antiviral screen. Extensive SAR studies led to the discovery of new derivatives with improved DENV-2 potency as well as activity in nanomolar to micromolar range against the other DENV serotypes. In addition to the potency, physicochemical properties and metabolic stability in rat and human microsomes were improved during the optimization process. Chiral separation of the racemic mixtures showed a clear preference for one of the two enantiomers. Furthermore, rat pharmacokinetics of two compounds will be discussed in more detail, demonstrating the potential of this new series of pan-serotype-DENV inhibitors.

A key enzyme within the purine salvage pathway of parasites, nucleoside hydrolase, is proposed as a good target for new antiparasitic drugs. We have developed N-arylmethyl-iminoribitol derivatives as a novel class of inhibitors against a purine specific nucleoside hydrolase from Trypanosoma vivax. Several of our inhibitors exhibited low nanomolar activity, with 1,4-dideoxy-1,4-imino-N-(8-quinolinyl)methyl-d-ribitol (UAMC-00115, K(i) 10.8nM), N-(9-deaza-adenin-9-yl)methyl-1,4-dideoxy-1,4-imino-d-ribitol (K(i) 4.1nM), and N-(9-deazahypoxanthin-9-yl)methyl-1,4-dideoxy-1,4-imino-d-ribitol (K(i) 4.4nM) being the three most active compounds. Docking studies of the most active inhibitors revealed several important interactions with the enzyme. Among these interactions are aromatic stacking of the nucleobase mimic with two Trp-residues, and hydrogen bonds between the hydroxyl groups of the inhibitors and amino acid residues in the active site. During the course of these docking studies we also identified a strong interaction between the Asp40 residue from the enzyme and the inhibitor. This is an interaction which has not previously been considered as being important.

Research in the area of simutaneously targeting more than one G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) has increased in recent times. By exploiting the cross talk between the beta2-adrenergic (beta2AR) and adenosine A1 receptors (A1AR) on adenylate cyclase activity, we synthesized a series of bivalent agonists for both GPCRs to generate responses from more than one receptor. We have demonstrated a relationship between the various beta2-adrenergic and A1 adenosine bivalent parameters of linker and bifunctionality by using data that are drawn from in vitro assays. The hexyl-linked 12e (K(i), 311 nM) and butyl-linked 12c ( K(i), 863 nM) bivalent compounds displayed reasonable binding affinities for the beta2AR when compared with the control (-)isoproterenol (K(i), 136 nM), and both compounds also exhibited a persuasive bifunctional trend for both receptors at various drug concentrations. The bivalent compound 12e was also found to have significant EC50 potency (6 nM) at the beta2AR in DDT cells.

Thioredoxin (Trx) expression is increased in several human primary cancers associated with aggressive tumor growth and decreased patient survival, and the Trx/Trx reductase (TrxR) system therefore provides an attractive target for cancer drug development. Various gold(III) compounds with none, one, two or three carbon-gold bonds were evaluated for their capacity to inhibit TrxR and the growth of MCF-7 cancer cells in vitro. Compounds with up to two carbon-gold bonds were often potent inhibitors of TrxR with IC50 values as low as 2 nmol/l. In the presence of Trx and insulin the inhibiting capacity was much lower. However, the inhibitory concentrations of the compounds did not correlate with the ability to kill cells. Out of the organometallics tested, only compound 8 with two carbon-gold bonds was able to inhibit colony formation by MCF-7 breast cancer cells at low micromolar concentrations (IC50=1.6 micromol/l). Unfortunately, the compound did not show any anti-tumor activity against MCF-7 breast cancer and HT-29 colon cancer xenografts in scid mice.

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