An efficient chemoenzymic access to optically active myo-inositol polyphosphates

Chemical synthesis and functionalization of clickable glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchors

Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchorage is a common posttranslational modification of eukaryotic proteins. Chemical synthesis of structurally defined GPIs and GPI derivatives is a necessary step toward understanding the properties and functions of these molecules in biological systems. In this work, the synthesis of several functionalized GPI anchors was accomplished using the para-methoxybenzyl (PMB) group for permanent hydroxyl protection, which allowed the incorporation of functionalities that are incompatible with permanent protecting groups traditionally used in carbohydrate synthesis. A flexible convergent-divergent assembly strategy enabled efficient access to a diverse set of target structures, including "clickable" Alkynyl-GPIs 1 and 2 and Azido-GPI 3. For global deprotection, a one-pot reaction was employed to afford the target GPIs in excellent yields (85-97%). Fully deprotected clickable GPIs 2 and 3 were readily conjugated to imaging and affinity probes via Cu(I)-catalyzed and Cu-free strain-promoted [3+2] cycloaddition, respectively, resulting in GPI-Fluor 4 and GPI-Biotin 5.

High affinity binding to profilin by a covalently constrained, soluble mimic of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate micelles

Phosphoinositide (PI) lipids are essential regulators of a wide variety of cellular functions. We present here the preparation of a multivalent analogue of a phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2)) micelle containing only the polar headgroup portion of this lipid. We show that this dendrimer binds to the cytoskeletal protein profilin with an affinity indistinguishable from that of PIP(2), despite the fact that profilin discriminates between PIP(2) and its monomeric hydrolysis product inositol-1,4,5-triphosphate (IP(3)) under physiological conditions. These data demonstrate that the diacylglycerol (DAG) moiety of PIP(2) is not required for high-affinity binding and suggest that profilin uses multivalency as a key means to distinguish between the intact lipid and IP(3). The class of soluble membrane analogues described here is likely to have broad applicability in the study of protein.PI interactions.

Convergent synthesis of an inner core GPI of sperm CD52

An inner core of the GPI anchor of sperm CD52 antigens was synthesized by a highly convergent process using specially modified inositol, glucosamine and phospholipid as key building blocks. This paper also presents a new and efficient procedure to prepare 1,2,6-differentiated derivatives of inositol for GPI syntheses.

A convenient synthesis of D-myo-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (Ins(1,4,5)P3) and L-myo-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (Ins(3,5,6)P3)

An efficient synthesis of an optically active inositol derivative that is a precursor to D-myo-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (Ins(1,4,5)P3, (-)) is described. Crystallization of the diastereomers of (+/-)-1-O-[(+)-menthoxycarbonyl]-6-O-benzyl-2,3:4,5-di-O-isopropyl idene-myo- inositol diastereomers from methanol gives only one diastereomer. Alkaline hydrolysis gives the useful inositol derivative (-)-6-O-benzyl-2,3:4,5-di-O-isopropylidene-myo-inositol. Likewise, crystallization of the diastereomers of (+/-)-3-O-[(-)-menthoxycarbonyl]-4-O-benzyl-1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropyl idene-myo- inositol from methanol gave a pure compound which could be hydrolyzed to give (+)-4-O-benzyl-1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-myo-inositol, a precursor to D-myo-inositol 3,5,6-trisphosphate (Ins(3,5,6)P3,(+)). The ease with which these enantiomerically pure inositol derivatives were isolated may facilitate the synthesis of more complex inositol phosphate derivatives such as D-myo-inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate.

D-myo-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate analogues as useful tools in biochemical studies of intracellular calcium mobilization

Two types of structural variants of D-myo-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate [Ins(1,4,5)P3] were prepared by a chemoenzymatic route. These 6-O-substituted analogues retained the biological activity of Ins(1,4,5)P3, and were able to elicit Ca2+ release from porcine brain microsomes. Moreover, these derivatives allowed the preparation of Ins(1,4,5)P3-based immunogens and affinity matrix which were successfully applied to the preparation and purification of antibodies against Ins(1,4,5)P3. These antibodies displayed discriminative affinity towards Ins(1,4,5)P3, and provide a useful tool to study intracellular Ca2+ mobilization.