Synthesis of carbohydrate analogs (positional, configurational, and optical) of n-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine, and their immunoadjuvant activities

Synthesis of Diverse N-Substituted Muramyl Dipeptide Derivatives and Their Use in a Study of Human NOD2 Stimulation Activity

A flexible synthetic strategy toward the preparation of diverse N-substituted muramyl dipeptides (N-substituted MDPs) from different protected monosaccharides is described. The synthetic MDPs include N-acetyl MDP and N-glycolyl MDP, known NOD2 ligands, and this methodology allows for structural variation at six positions, including the muramic acid, peptide, and N-substituted moieties. The capacity of these molecules to activate human NOD2 in the innate immune response was also investigated. It was found that addition of the methyl group at the C1 position of N-glycolyl MDP significantly enhanced the NOD2 stimulating activity.

Design, automated synthesis and immunological evaluation of NOD2-ligand-antigen conjugates

The covalent attachment of an innate immune system stimulating agent to an antigen can provide active vaccine modalities capable of eliciting a potent immune response against the incorporated antigen. Here we describe the design, automated synthesis and immunological evaluation of a set of four muramyl dipeptide-peptide antigen conjugates. Muramyl dipeptide (MDP) represents a well-known ligand for the intracellular NOD2 receptor and our study shows that covalently linking an MDP-moiety to an antigenic peptide can lead to a construct that is capable of stimulating the NOD2 receptor if the ligand is attached at the anomeric center of the muramic acid. The constructs can be processed by dendritic cells (DCs) and the conjugation does not adversely affect the presentation of the incorporated SIINFEKL epitope on MHC-I molecules. However, stimulation of the NOD2 receptor in DCs was not sufficient to provide a strong immunostimulatory signal.

Synthesis of 2-deoxy-4-O-phosphono-3-O-tetradecanoyl-2-[(3R)- and (3S)-3-tetradecanoyloxytetradecanamido]-D-glucose: a diastereoisomeric pair of 4-O-phosphono-D-glucosamine derivatives (GLA-27) related to bacterial lipid A

The diastereoisomeric, 4-O-phosphono-D-glucosamine derivatives named in the title have been synthesized, starting from benzyl 2-amino-2-deoxy-4,6-O-isopropylidene-beta-D-glucopyranoside and (3RS)-3-hydroxytetradecanoic acid.

Comparison of murine B cell clonal expansions by synthetic lipid A and muramyl dipeptide analogs

Direct stimulations of murine B lymphocytes with synthetic lipid A analogs and synthetic muramyl dipeptide (MDP) derivatives were studied using a limiting dilution assay system. Synthetic lipid A analogs, GLA-27 and GLA-40, when conjugated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) had the ability to induce B cell clonal expansion of a single B cell from the spleen or bone-marrow. Their activities were almost the same as those of naturally obtained lipid A, but were lower than that of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Addition of dextran sulfate (DXS) enhanced the effect of lipid A analogs. In contrast, synthetic MDP and its derivatives, although they had many biological and immunological activities in experimental animals, could not stimulate a single B cell to induce clonal expansion regardless of the presence or absence of DXS. These results suggested that lipid A analogs can directly cause the proliferation of B cells, but MDPs can not.

Synthesis and biological activities of N-acetyl-1-thiomuramoyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine and some of its lipophilic derivatives

N-Acetyl-1-thiomuramoyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine and some lipophilic analogs were synthesized from benzyl 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-4,6-O-isopropylidene-3-O-[D-1-(methoxycarbonyl)ethyl ]- alpha-D-glucopyranoside (1). O-Debenzoylation of 2, derived from 1 by oxidation, gave 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-4,6-O-isopropylidene-3-O-[D-1-(methoxycarbonyl)ethyl ]-D-glucopyranose (3). Condensation of the alkoxy-tris(dimethylamino)phosphonium chloride (4), formed from 3 by the action of carbon tetrachloride and tris(dimethylamino)phosphine, with potassium thioacetate afforded 2-acetamido-1-S-acetyl-2-deoxy-4,6-O-isopropylidene-3-O-[ D-1-(methoxycarbonyl)ethyl]-1-thio-beta-D-glucopyranose (8). Coupling of the acid 9, obtained from 8 by hydrolysis and subsequent S-acetylation, with the methyl ester of L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine gave N-[2-O-(2-acetamido-1-S-acetyl-2,3-dideoxy-4,6-O- isopropylidene-1-thio-beta-D-glucopyranose-3-yl)-D-lactoyl]-L-alan yl-D- isoglutamine methyl ester (10), which was converted, via O-deisopropylidenation, S-deacetylation, and de-esterification, into the N-acetyl-1-thiomuramoyl dipeptide. Condensation of 11 (derived from 10 by S-deacetylation) and of 12 (obtained from 10 by S-deacetylation and de-esterification) with various acyl chlorides yielded the corresponding 1-S-acyl-N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine derivatives, which were converted into the desired, lipophilic 1-thiomuramoyl dipeptides by cleavage of the isopropylidene group. Condensation of 11 with the alkyl bromides yielded the 1-S-alkyl derivatives, which were also converted, via O-deisopropylidenation and de-esterification, into the corresponding 1-S-alkylmuramoyl dipeptides. The biological activities were examined in guinea-pigs and mice.

Synthesis and immunoadjuvant activities of the repeating, disaccharide-dipeptide unit of the bacterial, cell-wall peptidoglycan and of some carbohydrate analogs

The repeating disaccharide-dipeptide units of the bacterial, cell-wall peptidoglycan, one being O-(N-acetyl-beta-muramoyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine)-(1 leads to 4)-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucose, and the other, O-(2-acetamido-2-deoxy-beta-D-glucosyl)-(1 leads to 4)-N-acetyl-muramoyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine, have been synthesized. Some carbohydrate analogs, such as O-(N-acetyl-beta-muramoyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine)-(1 leads to 4)-N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine, O-beta-D-glucosyl-(1 leads to 4)-N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine, and O-(6-acetamido-6-deoxy-beta-D-glucosyl)-(1 leads to 4)-N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine, were also synthesized. Their immunoadjuvant activities were examined in guinea-pigs.

Synthesis and biological activity of O-N-acetyl-beta-muramoyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine)-(1 leads to 6)-2-acylamino-2-deoxy-D-glucoses

Benzoylation of benzyl 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-4,6-O-isopropylidene-alpha-D-glucopyranoside, benzyl 2-deoxy-2-(DL-3-hydroxytetradecanoylamino)-4,6-O-isopropylidene-alpha-D-glucopyranoside, and benzyl 2-deoxy-4,6-O-isopropylidene-2-octadecanoylamino-beta-D-glucopyranoside, with subsequent hydrolysis of the 4,6-O-isopropylidene group, gave the corresponding 3-O-benzoyl derivatives (4, 5, and 7). Hydrogenation of benzyl 2-acetamido-4,6-di-O-acetyl-2-deoxy-3-O-[D-1-(methoxycarbonyl)ethyl]-alpha-D-glucopyranoside, followed by chlorination, gave a product that was treated with mercuric actate to yield 2-acetamido-1,4,6-tri-O-acetyl-2-deoxy-3-O-[D-1-(methoxy-carbonyl)ethyl]-beta-D -glucopyranose (11). Treatment of 11 with ferric chloride afforded the oxazoline derivative, which was condensed with 4, 5, and 7 to give the (1 goes to 6)-beta-linked disaccharide derivative 13, 15, and 17. Hydrolysis of the methyl ester group in the compounds derived from 13, 15, and 17 by 4-O-acetylation gave the corresponding free acids, which were coupled with L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine benzyl ester, to yield the dipeptide derivatives 19-21 in excellent yields. Hydrolysis of 19-21, followed by hydrogenation, gave the respective O-(N-acetyl-beta-muramoyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine)-(1 goes to 6)-2-acylamino-2-deoxy-D-glucoses in good yields. The immuno-adjuvant activity of these compounds was examined in guinea-pigs.