Avoidance of apoptosis is critical for the development and sustained growth of tumours. The pro-survival protein myeloid cell leukemia 1 (MCL1) is overexpressed in many cancers, but the development of small molecules targeting this protein that are amenable for clinical testing has been challenging. Here we describe S63845, a small molecule that specifically binds with high affinity to the BH3-binding groove of MCL1. Our mechanistic studies demonstrate that S63845 potently kills MCL1-dependent cancer cells, including multiple myeloma, leukaemia and lymphoma cells, by activating the BAX/BAK-dependent mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. In vivo, S63845 shows potent anti-tumour activity with an acceptable safety margin as a single agent in several cancers. Moreover, MCL1 inhibition, either alone or in combination with other anti-cancer drugs, proved effective against several solid cancer-derived cell lines. These results point towards MCL1 as a target for the treatment of a wide range of tumours.

The structures of the complexes UO(2)F(n)(H(2)O)(5-n)(2-n), n = 3-5, have been studied by EXAFS. All have pentagonal bipyramid geometry with U-F of and U-H(2)O distances equal to 2.26 and 2.48 A, respectively. On the other hand the complex UO(2)(OH)(4)(2-) has a square bipyramid geometry both in the solid state and in solution. The structures of hydroxide and fluoride complexes have also been investigated with wave function based and DFT methods in order to explore the possible reasons for the observed structural differences. These studies include models that describe the solvent by using a discrete second coordination sphere, a model with a spherical, or shape-adapted cavity in a conductor-like polarizable continuum medium (CPCM), or a combination of the two. Solvent effects were shown to give the main contribution to the observed structure variations between the uranium(VI) tetrahydroxide and the tetrafluoride complexes. Without a solvent model both UO(2)(OH)(4)(H(2)O)(2-) and UO(2)F(4)(H(2)O)(2-) have the same square bipyramid geometry, with the water molecule located at a distance of more than 4 A from uranium and with a charge distribution that is very near identical in the two complexes. Of the models tested, only the CPCM ones are able to describe the experimentally observed square and pentagonal bipyramid geometry in the tetrahydroxide and tetrafluoride complexes. The geometry and the relative energy of different isomers of UO(2)F(3)(H(2)O)(2-) are very similar, indicating that they are present in comparable amounts in solution. All calculated bond distances are in good agreement with the experimental observations, provided that a proper model of the solvent is used.

The mechanisms for the exchange of water between [UO(2)(H(2)O)(5)](2+), [UO(2)(oxalate)(2)(H(2)O)](2)(-)(,) and water solvent along dissociative (D), associative (A) and interchange (I) pathways have been investigated with quantum chemical methods. The choice of exchange mechanism is based on the computed activation energy and the geometry of the identified transition states and intermediates. These quantities were calculated both in the gas phase and with a polarizable continuum model for the solvent. There is a significant and predictable difference between the activation energy of the gas phase and solvent models: the energy barrier for the D-mechanism increases in the solvent as compared to the gas phase, while it decreases for the A- and I-mechanisms. The calculated activation energy, Delta U(++), for the water exchange in [UO(2)(H(2)O)(5)](2+) is 74, 19, and 21 kJ/mol, respectively, for the D-, A-, and I-mechanisms in the solvent, as compared to the experimental value Delta H(++) = 26 +/- 1 kJ/mol. This indicates that the D-mechanism for this system can be ruled out. The energy barrier between the intermediates and the transition states is small, indicating a lifetime for the intermediate approximately 10(-10) s, making it very difficult to distinguish between the A- and I-mechanisms experimentally. There is no direct experimental information on the rate and mechanism of water exchange in [UO(2)(oxalate)(2)(H(2)O)](2-) containing two bidentate oxalate ions. The activation energy and the geometry of transition states and intermediates along the D-, A-, and I-pathways were calculated both in the gas phase and in a water solvent model, using a single-point MP2 calculation with the gas phase geometry. The activation energy, Delta U(++), in the solvent for the D-, A-, and I-mechanisms is 56, 12, and 53 kJ/mol, respectively. This indicates that the water exchange follows an associative reaction mechanism. The geometry of the A- and I-transition states for both [UO(2)(H(2)O)(5)](2+) and [UO(2)(oxalate)(2)(H(2)O)](2-) indicates that the entering/leaving water molecules are located outside the plane formed by the spectator ligands.

No abstract

This study consists of two parts: The first part comprised an experimental determination of the kinetic parameters for the exchange of water between UO2(H2O)5(2+) and bulk water, including an ab initio study at the SCF and MP2 levels of the geometry of UO2(H2O)5(2+), UO2(H2O)4(2+), and UO2(H2O)6(2+) and the thermodynamics of their reactions with water. In the second part we made an experimental study of the rate of water exchange in uranyl complexes and investigated how this might depend on inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bond interactions. The experimental studies, made by using 17O NMR, with Tb3+ as a chemical shift reagent, gave the following kinetic parameters at 25 degrees C: kex = (1.30 +/- 0.05) x 10(6) s(-1); deltaH(not equal to) = 26.1 +/- 1.4 kJ/mol; deltaS(not equal to) = -40 +/- 5J J/(K mol). Additional mechanistic indicators were obtained from the known coordination geometry of U(VI) complexes with unidentate ligands and from the theoretical calculations. A survey of the literature shows that there are no known isolated complexes of UO2(2+) with unidentate ligands which have a coordination number larger than 5. This was corroborated by quantum chemical calculations which showed that the energy gains by binding an additional water to UO2(H2O)4(2+) and UO2(H2O)5(2+) are 29.8 and -2.4 kcal/mol, respectively. A comparison of the change in deltaU for the reactions UO2(H2O)5(2+)--> UO2(H2O)4(2+) + H2O and UO2(H2O)5(2+) + H2O --> UO2(H2O)6(2+) indicates that the thermodynamics favors the second (associative) reaction in gas phase at 0 K, while the thermodynamics of water transfer between the first and second coordination spheres, UO2(H2O)5(2+) --> UO2(H2O)4(H2O)2+ and UO2(H2O)5(H2O)2+ --> UO2(H2O)6(2+), favors the first (dissociative) reaction. The energy difference between the associative and dissociative reactions is small, and solvation has to be included in ab initio models in order to allow quantitative comparisons between experimental data and theory. Theoretical calculations of the activation energy were not possible because of the excessive computing time required. On the basis of theoretical and experimental studies, we suggest that the water exchange in UO2(H2O)5(2+) follows a dissociative interchange mechanism. The rates of exchange of water in UO2(oxalate)F(H2O)2- (and UO2(oxalate)F2(H2O)2- studied previously) are much slower than in the aqua ion, kex = 1.6 x 10(4) s(-1), an effect which we assign to hydrogen bonding involving coordinated water and fluoride. The kinetic parameters for the exchange of water in UO2(H2O)52+ and quenching of photo excited *UO2(H2O)5(2+) are very near the same, indicating similar mechanisms.

The structure of dioxouranium(VI) as a function of pH at different (CHIn strong alkaline solutions [>1 M (CH

ELN mutations may cause severe aortic disease in patients with cutis laxa. Thus regular cardiac monitoring is necessary in this disease to avert fatal aortic rupture.

Structural isomers of [UO(2)(oxalate)(3)](4-), [UO(2)(oxalate)F(3)](3-), [UO(2)(oxalate)(2)F](3-), and [UO(2)(oxalate)(2)(H(2)O)](2-) have been studied by using EXAFS and quantum chemical ab initio methods. Theoretical structures and their relative energies were determined in the gas phase and in water using the CPCM model. The most stable isomers according to the quantum chemical calculations have geometries consistent with the EXAFS data, and the difference between measured and calculated bond distances is generally less than 0.05 A. The complex [UO(2)(oxalate)(3)](4-) contains two oxalate ligands forming five-membered chelate rings, while the third is bonded end-on to a single carboxylate oxygen. The most stable isomer of the other two complexes also contains the same type of chelate-bonded oxalate ligands. The activation energy for ring opening in [UO(2)(oxalate)F(3)](3-), deltaU++ = 63 kJ/mol, is in fair agreement with the experimental activation enthalpy, deltaH++ = 45 +/- 5 kJ/mol, for different [UO(2)(picolinate)F(3)](2-) complexes, indicating similar ring-opening mechanisms. No direct experimental information is available on intramolecular exchange in [UO(3)(oxalate)(3)](4-). The theoretical results indicate that it takes place via the tris-chelated intermediate with an activation energy of deltaU++ = 38 kJ/mol; the other pathways involve multiple steps and have much higher activation energies. The geometries and energies of dioxouranium(VI) complexes in the gas phase and solvent models differ slightly, with differences in bond distance and energy of typically less than 0.06 A and 10 kJ/mol, respectively. However, there might be a significant difference in the distance between uranium and the leaving/entering group in the transition state, resulting in a systematic error when the gas-phase geometry is used to estimate the activation energy in solution. This systematic error is about 10 kJ/mol and tends to cancel when comparing different pathways.