Enzyme inhibition by iminosugars: Analysis and insight into the glycosidase–iminosugar dependency of pH

Mechanistic Insights into Dibasic Iminosugars as pH-Selective Pharmacological Chaperones to Stabilize Human α-Galactosidase

The use of pharmacological chaperones (PCs) to stabilize specific enzymes and impart a therapeutic benefit is an emerging strategy in drug discovery. However, designing molecules that can bind optimally to their targets at physiological pH remains a major challenge. Our previous study found that dibasic polyhydroxylated pyrrolidine 5 exhibited superior pH-selective inhibitory activity and chaperoning activity for human α-galactosidase A (α-Gal A) compared with its monobasic parent molecule, 4. To further investigate the role of different C-2 moieties on the pH-selectivity and protecting effects of these compounds, we designed and synthesized a library of monobasic and dibasic iminosugars, screened them for α-Gal A-stabilizing activity using thermal shift and heat-induced denaturation assays, and characterized the mechanistic basis for this stabilization using X-ray crystallography and binding assays. We noted that the dibasic iminosugars 5 and 20 protect α-Gal A from denaturation and inactivation at lower concentrations than monobasic or other N-substituted derivatives; a finding attributed to the nitrogen on the C-2 methylene of 5 and 20, which forms the bifurcated salt bridges (BSBs) with two carboxyl residues, E203 and D231. Additionally, the formation of BSBs at pH 7.0 and the electrostatic repulsion between the vicinal ammonium cations of dibasic iminosugars at pH 4.5 are responsible for their pH-selective binding to α-Gal A. Moreover, compounds 5 and 20 demonstrated promising results in improving enzyme replacement therapy and exhibited significant chaperoning effects in Fabry cells. These findings suggest amino-iminosugars 5 and 20 as useful models to demonstrate how an additional exocyclic amino group can improve their pH-selectivity and protecting effects, providing new insights for the design of pH-selective PCs.

Imino- and Azasugar Protonation Inside Human Acid β-Glucosidase, the Enzyme that is Defective in Gaucher Disease

Gaucher disease is caused by mutations in human acid β-glucosidase or glucocerebrosidase (GCase), the enzyme responsible for hydrolysis of glucosyl ceramide in the lysosomes. Imino- and azasugars such as 1-deoxynojirimycin and isofagomine are strong inhibitors of the enzyme and are of interest in pharmacological chaperone therapy of the disease. Despite several crystal structures of the enzyme with the imino- and azasugars bound in the active site having been resolved, the actual acid-base chemistry of the binding is not known. In this study we show, using photoinduced electron transfer (PET), that 1-deoxynojirimycin and isofagomine derivatives are protonated by human acid β-glucosidase when bound, even if they are completely unprotonated outside the enzyme. While isofagomine derivative protonation to some degree was foreshadowed by earlier crystal structures, 1-deoxynojirimycin derivatives were not believed to act as basic amines in the enzyme.

Negative Impacts of Biochars on Urease Activity: High pH, Heavy Metals, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, or Free Radicals?

Although biochars show promise for soil remediation, their negative impacts have not been systematically assessed. This study investigated the effects of corn cob biochars on urease-mediated urea hydrolysis and attempted to determine the mechanisms underlying those effects. The results showed that biochars inhibited urease activity (indicated by the NH₄⁺ generation). Released heavy metals and polyaromatic hydrocarbons explained the 20% inhibition of urease activity in biochar supernatants (200 °C) but could not explain the 70% inhibition in particle systems (400 °C). The levels of protein carbonyl and nitrotyrosine, common oxidative damagers of urease, were high in particle systems but very low in biochar supernatants. The electron paramagnetic resonance signal intensity reached its highest level in the 400 °C biochar and decreased in the 500 °C biochar, possibly due to the decomposition of organic molecules. The observed inhibition of urease activity may be the result of oxidative reactions with free radicals on the biochar surface or oxidative reactions with reactive oxygen species promoted by free radicals. We suggest that these potential hazards be evaluated further to gauge the relevance of these findings to field conditions and to assist in the development of safe and sustainable application schemes for biochars.

N-Benzyl Substitution of Polyhydroxypyrrolidines: The Way to Selective Inhibitors of Golgi α-Mannosidase II

Inhibition of the biosynthesis of complex N-glycans in the Golgi apparatus influences progress of tumor growth and metastasis. Golgi α-mannosidase II (GMII) has become a therapeutic target for drugs with anticancer activities. One critical task for successful application of GMII drugs in medical treatments is to decrease their unwanted co-inhibition of lysosomal α-mannosidase (LMan), a weakness of all known potent GMII inhibitors. A series of novel N-substituted polyhydroxypyrrolidines was synthesized and tested with modeled GH38 α-mannosidases from Drosophila melanogaster (GMIIb and LManII). The most potent structures inhibited GMIIb (K_i =50-76 μm, as determined by enzyme assays) with a significant selectivity index of IC₅₀ (LManII)/IC₅₀ (GMIIb) >100. These compounds also showed inhibitory activities in in vitro assays with cancer cell lines (leukemia, IC₅₀ =92-200 μm) and low cytotoxic activities in normal fibroblast cell lines (IC₅₀ >200 μm). In addition, they did not show any significant inhibitory activity toward GH47 Aspergillus saitoiα1,2-mannosidase. An appropriate stereo configuration of hydroxymethyl and benzyl functional groups on the pyrrolidine ring of the inhibitor may lead to an inhibitor with the required selectivity for the active site of a target α-mannosidase.

Determination of protonation states of iminosugar-enzyme complexes using photoinduced electron transfer

A series of N-alkylated analogues of 1-deoxynojirimycin containing a fluorescent 10-chloro-9-anthracene group in the N-alkyl substituent were prepared. The anthracene group acted as a reporting group for protonation at the nitrogen in the iminosugar because an unprotonated amine was found to quench fluorescence by photoinduced electron transfer. The new compounds were found to inhibit β-glucosidase from Phanerochaete chrysosporium and α-glucosidase from Aspergillus niger, with Ki values in the low micro- to nanomolar range. Fluorescence and inhibition versus pH studies of the β-glucosidase-iminosugar complexes revealed that the amino group in the inhibitor is unprotonated when bound, while one of the active site carboxylates is protonated.

Allylic Azide Rearrangement in Tandem with Huisgen Cycloaddition for Stereoselective Annulation: Synthesis of C-Glycosyl Iminosugars

Allylic azide rearrangement is used in tandem with intramolecular azide-alkene cycloaddition to give a triazoline that when subsequently decomposed in the presence of a nucleophile gives piperidines. The tandem reaction gives two stereocenters that are generated with high control. The formation of the piperidines required the presence of innate conformational constraint. The applicability of the annulation reaction is demonstrated by the synthesis of iminosugars. A proposal is included to account for the observed stereoselectivity, which is influenced by the precursor structure.

5-Fluoro derivatives of 4-epi-isofagomine as D-galactosidase inhibitors and potential pharmacological chaperones for GM1-gangliosidosis as well as Fabry's disease

Electrophilic fluorination of an exocyclic methoxymethylene enol ether derived from N-tert-butyloxycarbonyl-1,5-dideoxy-1,5-imino-3,4-O-isopropylidene-D-erythro-pent-2-ulose (11) provided the 5-fluoro derivative of the powerful β-galactosidase inhibitor 4-epi-isofagomine (8). This structural alteration, in combination with N-alkylation, led to considerably improved α-galactosidase selectivity. New compounds may serve as leads en route to new pharmacological chaperones for Fabry's disease.

Simple Indolizidine and Quinolizidine Alkaloids

This review of simple indolizidine and quinolizidine alkaloids (i.e., those in which the parent bicyclic systems are in general not embedded in polycyclic arrays) is an update of the previous coverage in Volume 55 of this series (2001). The present survey covers the literature from mid-1999 to the end of 2013; and in addition to aspects of the isolation, characterization, and biological activity of the alkaloids, much emphasis is placed on their total synthesis. A brief introduction to the topic is followed by an overview of relevant alkaloids from fungal and microbial sources, among them slaframine, cyclizidine, Steptomyces metabolites, and the pantocins. The important iminosugar alkaloids lentiginosine, steviamine, swainsonine, castanospermine, and related hydroxyindolizidines are dealt with in the subsequent section. The fourth and fifth sections cover metabolites from terrestrial plants. Pertinent plant alkaloids bearing alkyl, functionalized alkyl or alkenyl substituents include dendroprimine, anibamine, simple alkaloids belonging to the genera Prosopis, Elaeocarpus, Lycopodium, and Poranthera, and bicyclic alkaloids of the lupin family. Plant alkaloids bearing aryl or heteroaryl substituents include ipalbidine and analogs, secophenanthroindolizidine and secophenanthroquinolizidine alkaloids (among them septicine, julandine, and analogs), ficuseptine, lasubines, and other simple quinolizidines of the Lythraceae, the simple furyl-substituted Nuphar alkaloids, and a mixed quinolizidine-quinazoline alkaloid. The penultimate section of the review deals with the sizable group of simple indolizidine and quinolizidine alkaloids isolated from, or detected in, ants, mites, and terrestrial amphibians, and includes an overview of the "dietary hypothesis" for the origin of the amphibian metabolites. The final section surveys relevant alkaloids from marine sources, and includes clathryimines and analogs, stellettamides, the clavepictines and pictamine, and bis(quinolizidine) alkaloids.

A fluorescence study of isofagomine protonation in β-glucosidase

N-(10-Chloro-9-anthracenemethyl)isofagomine 5 inhibits β-glucosidase strongly yet the nitrogen atom plays little role in binding.

Stereoselectively fluorinated N-heterocycles: a brief survey

The stereoselective incorporation of fluorine atoms into N-heterocycles can lead to dramatic changes in the molecules’ physical and chemical properties. These changes can be rationally exploited for the benefit of diverse fields such as medicinal chemistry and organocatalysis. This brief review will examine some of the effects that fluorine substitution can have in N-heterocycles, including changes to the molecules’ stability, their conformational behaviour, their hydrogen bonding ability, and their basicity. Finally, some methods for the synthesis of stereoselectively fluorinated N-heterocycles will also be reviewed.