Marine myxobacteria (Enhygromyxa, Plesiocystis, Pseudoenhygromyxa, Haliangium) are phylogenetically distant from their terrestrial counterparts. Salimabromide is the first natural product from the Plesiocystis/Enhygromyxa clade of obligatory marine myxobacteria. Salimabromide has a new tetracyclic carbon skeleton, comprising a brominated benzene ring, a furano lactone residue, and a cyclohexane ring, bridged by a seven-membered cyclic moiety. The absolute configuration was deduced from experimental and calculated CD data. Salimabromide revealed antibiotic activity towards Arthrobacter cristallopoietes.
The stereochemical determination of the potent antifungal agents leupyrrin A1 and B1 and the total synthesis of leupyrrin A1 are reported. The relative and absolute configuration was determined by a combination of high field NMR studies, molecular modeling, and chemical derivatization. The expedient total synthesis involves a one-pot sequential Zr-mediated oxidative diyne-cyclization/regioselective opening sequence for preparation of the unique dihydrofuran ring, a highly stereoselective one-pot approach to the butyrolactone, a challenging sp(2)-sp(3) Suzuki coupling and a high-yielding Shiina macrolactonization.
Vacuolar ATPases are a potential therapeutic target because of their involvement in a variety of severe diseases such as osteoporosis or cancer. Archazolide A (1) and related analogs have been previously identified as selective inhibitors of V-ATPases with potency down to the subnanomolar range. Herein we report on the determination of the ligand binding mode by a combination of molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, and biochemical experiments, resulting in a sound model for the inhibitory mechanism of this class of putative anticancer agents. The binding site of archazolides was confirmed to be located in the equatorial region of the membrane-embedded V(O)-rotor, as recently proposed on the basis of site-directed mutagenesis. Quantification of the bioactivity of a series of archazolide derivatives, together with the docking-derived binding mode of archazolides to the V-ATPase, revealed favorable ligand profiles, which can guide the development of a simplified archazolide analog with potential therapeutic relevance.
A highly convergent synthesis of the central dimeric core of the potent antibiotic macrolide rhizopodin is reported. Notable features of the highly concise route include an effective preparation of the key C8-C22 building block based on an iridium-catalyzed Krische allylation and a chemoselective cross-coupling approach toward the macrocycle involving a highly advantageous Heck reaction for macrocyclization.
An efficient protocol for the highly regioselective opening of aliphatic zirconacyclopentadienes is reported. The one-pot process involves a zirconocene-mediated cyclization of 1,6-diynes and highly selective cleavage of the metallacycles with NBS and enables a concise synthesis of the tetrahydrofuran-core of the leupyrrins.
The natural products rhizopodin and bistramide belong to an elite class of highly potent actin binding agents. They show powerful antiproliferative activities against a range of tumor cell lines, with IC50 values in the low-nanomolar range. At the molecular level they disrupt the actin cytoskeleton by binding specifically to a few critical sites of G-actin, resulting in actin filament stabilization. The important biological properties of rhizopodin and bistramide, coupled with their unique and intriguing molecular architectures, render them attractive compounds for further development. However, this is severely hampered by the structural complexity of these metabolites. We initiated an interdisciplinary approach at the interface between molecular modeling, organic synthesis, and chemical biology to support further biological applications. We also wanted to expand structure-activity relationship studies with the goal of accessing simplified analogues with potent biological properties. We report computational analyses of actin-inhibitor interactions involving molecular docking, validated on known actin binding ligands, that show a close match between the crystal and modeled structures. Based on these results, the ligand shape was simplified, and more readily accessible rhizopodin-bistramide mimetics were designed. A flexible and modular strategy was applied for the synthesis of these compounds, enabling diverse access to dramatically simplified rhizopodin-bistramide hybrids. This novel analogue class was analyzed for its antiproliferative and actin binding properties.
Leupyrrins are highly potent antifungal agents. As tructure-activity-relationship study of natural and synthetic derivatives is reported which reveals importanti nsights into the biological relevance of several structural subunits leading to the discovery of highly potent but drastically simplified leupylogs that incorporate as table and readily availablea romatic side chain. For their synthesis ac oncise strategy is described that enablesashort and versatile access.
What prompted you to investigate this topic? Leupyrrins exhibit very potent antifungal activities, antiproliferative, and anti-HIV properties. They efficiently inhibit DNA, RNA, and protein syntheses without disrupting other cellular systems. Nevertheless, its biological target as well as its pharmacophore is unknown yet. After the elucidation of the full stereochemistry of these complex macrodiolides and the total synthesis of leupyrrin A 1 and B 1 it was our intention to explore the molecular processes behind these fascinating secondary metabolites. An improved knowledge of the detailed mechanisms will help to evaluate practical applications in basic research, medicine, and agriculture.
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