Synthesis of (25R)-26-hydroxycholesterol

A useful strategy for synthesis of the disaccharide of OSW-1

A flexible, efficient, and practical synthesis route was developed to synthesize an OSW-1 disaccharide. The synthesis took 13 steps from l-arabinose and d-xylose derivatives, and the overall yield was 7.2%. The region preferentially protects various d-xylose hydroxides because the TBS group selectively reacts with this hydroxide at low concentrations due to greater activity at the C-4 hydroxyl of d-xylose. Then, high efficiency selectively protects C-2 hydroxyl and C-3 hydroxyl of d-xylose, respectively. The first high yield of glycosylation on an OSW-1 synthesis disaccharide was achieved by taking sulfide donor 4 with β-PMP anomeric l-arabinose acceptor 12. The cytotoxicity reveals that the analogy has a high IC50 for a variety of cell types. This approach should provide a versatile way to modify OSW-1's disaccharide.

New Function of Cholesterol Oxidation Products Involved in Osteoporosis Pathogenesis

Osteoporosis (OP) is a systemic bone disease characterized by decreased bone strength, microarchitectural changes in bone tissues, and increased risk of fracture. Its occurrence is closely related to various factors such as aging, genetic factors, living habits, and nutritional deficiencies as well as the disturbance of bone homeostasis. The dysregulation of bone metabolism is regarded as one of the key influencing factors causing OP. Cholesterol oxidation products (COPs) are important compounds in the maintenance of bone metabolic homeostasis by participating in several important biological processes such as the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells, bone formation in osteoblasts, and bone resorption in osteoclasts. The effects of specific COPs on mesenchymal stem cells are mainly manifested by promoting osteoblast genesis and inhibiting adipocyte genesis. This review aims to elucidate the biological roles of COPs in OP development, starting from the molecular mechanisms of OP, pointing out opportunities and challenges in current research, and providing new ideas and perspectives for further studies of OP pathogenesis.

A fully reversible 25-hydroxy steroid kinase involved in oxygen-independent cholesterol side-chain oxidation

The degradation of cholesterol and related steroids by microbes follows fundamentally different strategies in aerobic and anaerobic environments. In anaerobic bacteria, the primary C26 of the isoprenoid side chain is hydroxylated without oxygen via a three-step cascade: (i) water-dependent hydroxylation at the tertiary C25, (ii) ATP-dependent dehydration to form a subterminal alkene, and (iii) water-dependent hydroxylation at the primary C26 to form an allylic alcohol. However, the enzymes involved in the ATP-dependent dehydration have remained unknown. Here, we isolated an ATP-dependent 25-hydroxy-steroid kinase (25-HSK) from the anaerobic bacterium Sterolibacterium denitrificans. This highly active enzyme preferentially phosphorylated the tertiary C25 of steroid alcohols, including metabolites of cholesterol and sitosterol degradation or 25-OH-vitamin D₃. Kinetic data were in agreement with a sequential mechanism via a ternary complex. Remarkably, 25-HSK readily catalyzed the formation of γ-(¹⁸O)₂-ATP from ADP and the C25-(¹⁸O)₂-phosphoester. The observed full reversibility of 25-HSK with an equilibrium constant below one can be rationalized by an unusual high phosphoryl transfer potential of tertiary steroid C25-phosphoesters, which is ≈20 kJ mol⁻¹ higher than that of standard sugar phosphoesters and even slightly greater than the β,γ-phosphoanhydride of ATP. In summary, 25-HSK plays an essential role in anaerobic bacterial degradation of zoo- and phytosterols and shows only little similarity to known phosphotransferases.

A patchwork pathway for oxygenase-independent degradation of side chain containing steroids

The denitrifying betaproteobacterium Sterolibacterium denitrificans serves as model organism for studying the oxygen-independent degradation of cholesterol. Here, we demonstrate its capability of degrading various globally abundant side chain containing zoo-, phyto- and mycosterols. We provide the complete genome that empowered an integrated genomics/proteomics/metabolomics approach, accompanied by the characterization of a characteristic enzyme of steroid side chain degradation. The results indicate that individual molybdopterin-containing steroid dehydrogenases are involved in C25-hydroxylations of steroids with different isoprenoid side chains, followed by the unusual conversion to C26-oic acids. Side chain degradation to androsta-1,4-diene-3,17-dione (ADD) via aldolytic C-C bond cleavages involves acyl-CoA synthetases/dehydrogenases specific for the respective 26-, 24- and 22-oic acids/-oyl-CoAs and promiscuous MaoC-like enoyl-CoA hydratases, aldolases and aldehyde dehydrogenases. Degradation of rings A and B depends on gene products uniquely found in anaerobic steroid degraders, which after hydrolytic cleavage of ring A, again involves CoA-ester intermediates. The degradation of the remaining CD rings via hydrolytic cleavage appears to be highly similar in aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Anaerobic cholesterol degradation employs a composite repertoire of more than 40 genes partially known from aerobic degradation in gammaproteobacteria/actinobacteria, supplemented by unique genes that are required to circumvent oxygenase-dependent reactions.

Synthesis of side-chain oxysterols and their enantiomers through cross-metathesis reactions of Δ22 steroids

A synthetic route that utilizes a cross-metathesis reaction with Δ²² steroids has been developed to prepare sterols with varying C-27 side-chains. Natural sterols containing hydroxyl groups at the 25 and (25R)-26 positions were prepared. Enantiomers of cholesterol and (3β,25R)-26-hydroxycholesterol (27-hydroxycholesterol) trideuterated at C-19 were prepared for future biological studies.

Formation of the steroidal C-25 chiral center via the asymmetric alkylation methodology

A novel approach for the preparation of steroids containing a chiral center at C-25 is reported. The key stereochemistry inducing step was asymmetric alkylation of pseudoephenamine amides of steroidal C-26 acids. The reaction proceeded with high diastereoselectivity (dr > 99 : 1). The developed methodology was successfully applied to the synthesis of (25R)- and (25S)-cholestenoic acids as well as (25R)- and (25S)-26-hydroxy brassinolides.

Inhibitory effect of oxygenated cholestan-3β-ol derivatives on the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

A variety of cholestan-3β-ol derivatives, which are oxygenated at different positions of the steroid ring system, were prepared and tested for their inhibition of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain. Several compounds showed significant antitubercular activities with MIC90 values in the range 4-8 μM and low or non-detectable toxicity against mammalian cells.

Cytochrome P450 125 (CYP125) catalyses C26-hydroxylation to initiate sterol side-chain degradation in Rhodococcus jostii RHA1

The cyp125 gene of Rhodococcus jostii RHA1 was previously found to be highly upregulated during growth on cholesterol and the orthologue in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (rv3545c) has been implicated in pathogenesis. Here we show that cyp125 is essential for R. jostii RHA1 to grow on 3-hydroxysterols such as cholesterol, but not on 3-oxo sterol derivatives, and that CYP125 performs an obligate first step in cholesterol degradation. The involvement of cyp125 in sterol side-chain degradation was confirmed by disrupting the homologous gene in Rhodococcus rhodochrous RG32, a strain that selectively degrades the cholesterol side-chain. The RG32 Omega cyp125 mutant failed to transform the side-chain of cholesterol, but degraded that of 5-cholestene-26-oic acid-3beta-ol, a cholesterol catabolite. Spectral analysis revealed that while purified ferric CYP125(RHA1) was < 10% in the low-spin state, cholesterol (K(D)(app) = 0.20 +/- 0.08 microM), 5 alpha-cholestanol (K(D)(app) = 0.15 +/- 0.03 microM) and 4-cholestene-3-one (K(D)(app) = 0.20 +/- 0.03 microM) further reduced the low spin character of the haem iron consistent with substrate binding. Our data indicate that CYP125 is involved in steroid C26-carboxylic acid formation, catalysing the oxidation of C26 either to the corresponding carboxylic acid or to an intermediate state.

Synthesis and biological activity of the (25R)-cholesten-26-oic acids--ligands for the hormonal receptor DAF-12 in Caenorhabditis elegans

We describe the stereoselective transformation of diosgenin (4a) to (25R)-Delta(4)-dafachronic acid (1a),(25R)-Delta(7)-dafachronic acid (2a), and (25R)-cholestenoic acid (3a), which represent potential ligands forthe hormonal receptor DAF-12 in Caenorhabditis elegans. Key-steps of our synthetic approach are amodified Clemmensen reduction of diosgenin (4a) and a double bond shift from the 5,6- to the 7,8-position. In the 25R-series, the Delta(7)-dafachronic acid 2a exhibits the highest hormonal activity.

Synthesis and evaluation of new 6-hydroximinosteroid analogs as cytotoxic agents

Taking into account the structural requirements for cytotoxicity, several new hydroximinosteroid derivatives have been prepared and evaluated for their cytotoxic activity against A-549, H116, PSN1, and T98G cultured tumor cell lines in order to obtain further information on the potential pharmacophoric core of this type of compound. The influence of the oxygenated position in the A ring, the presence of an additional oxygenated position at C-7 and C-16, and a fluorinated position at C-5 were considered in order to study the structure-activity relationships. The results reveal the importance of oxygenated positions in the A ring (e.g., 4,5-epoxide showed an IC50 value against HCT-116 under micromolar level) for an increase in cytotoxic activity in this type of compound. Furthermore, they showed an important selectivity toward colon tumor line (HCT-116).

Biological activities and syntheses of steroidal saponins: the shark-repelling pavoninins

Steroidal saponins are complex compounds that have a steroid attached to a carbohydrate moiety. They are natural surfactants and detergents and exhibit a number of biological effects. Steroidal saponins have shown membrane-permeabilizing, hypocholesterolemic, immunostimulant, and anticancer properties. They have also been found to affect the growth, food intake and reproductive capabilities of animals. Furthermore, they have been shown to act as antiviral and antifungal agents. They have been isolated from many plants and some animals, especially sea cucumbers and starfish. Fish belonging to the species Pardachirus pavoninus excrete a mixture of six steroidal N-acetylglucosaminides, pavoninins 1-6, with shark-repelling properties. We report syntheses of the C-15alpha pavoninin-4 by both direct synthesis from diosgenin and by remote functionalization. A general solution for the glycosylation of hindered alcohols was developed using glycosyl fluorides as good glycosyl donors. The syntheses of two C-16beta structural analogs of OSW-1 are described.

Synthesis of the Aglycone of the Shark Repellent Pavoninin-4 Using Remote Functionalization

[reaction: see text] The aglycone of shark repellent pavoninin-4, (25R)-5alpha-cholestan-3alpha,15alpha,26-triol 26-acetate 1a, was synthesized from (25R)-cholest-5-en-3beta,26-diol 4 (26-hydroxycholesterol) in eight steps in 18% overall yield. Breslow's remote functionalization strategy was used as a key step to introduce the C-15alpha alcohol on a steroid D ring. An efficient synthesis of the 26-hydroxycholesterol from the 16beta hydroxyl steroid, (25R)-cholest-5-ene-3beta,16beta,26-triol (3a), is also reported.

Clemmensen reduction of diosgenin and kryptogenin: synthesis of [16,16,22,22,23,23-(2)H(6)]-(25R)-26-hydroxycholesterol

A new experimental protocol has been established for the Clemmensen reduction of diosgenin and kryptogenin with the aim to prepare deuterated isotopomers of (25R)-26-hydroxycholesterol. Uncontrolled deuteration has been achieved from diosgenin, whereas [16,16,22,22,23,23-(2)H(6)]-(25R)-26-hydroxycholesterol (1) can be synthesized from kryptogenin.

Isolation and synthesis of shark-repelling saponins

Saponins are complex compounds that are composed of a saccharide attached to a steroid or triterpene. They are natural surfactants, or detergents. Several important biological effects have been ascribed to saponins. They have been isolated from a great number of terrestrial plants. In the animal kingdom they are found in most sea cucumbers and starfish, whereas they are found only rarely in alcyonarians, gorgonians, sponges, and as shark-repelling compounds in fish. The present review deals with the isolation and some syntheses of the shark-repelling saponins mosesins-1 to -5 and pavoninins-1 to -6 obtained from the fish species Pardachirus.

α-Hydroxylation at C-15 and C-16 in Cholesterol: Synthesis of (25R)-5α-Cholesta-3β,15α,26-triol and (25R)-5α-Cholesta-3β,16α,26-triol from Diosgenin

[reaction: see text] (25R)-5alpha-cholesta-3beta,16alpha,26-triol 7b and (25R)-5alpha-cholesta-3beta,15alpha,26-triol 10b were synthesized, via (25R)-5alpha-cholesta-3beta,16beta,26-triol 5a, from diosgenin 3 in 52% yield over six steps and 47% yield over eight steps, respectively. An efficient method for inversion of a C-16beta hydroxyl to the C-16alpha position and a short method for transposition of a C-16beta hydroxyl to the C-15alpha position via the unexpected beta-reduction of a C-15 ketone in a steroid are reported.

Studies toward the synthesis of the shark repellent pavoninin-5

Sharks are the most dangerous predators of people in the sea, resulting in people being mauled and killed each year. A shark repellent could help to diminish this danger. The aglycone of the shark repellent pavoninin-5, (25R)-cholest-5-en-3beta,15alpha,26-triol (5a), was synthesized from diosgenin (9). Removing mercury from the Clemmensen reduction of 9 gave a higher yield of (25R)-cholest-5-en-3beta,16beta,26-triol, 10a, and was also more environmentally friendly. Attempted methods for the transposition of the C-16beta hydroxyl to the 15alpha position are described. A successful method for this transposition via the 15alpha-hydroxy-16-ketone, 8a, using the Barton deoxygenation reaction on the 16-alcohol 14b, is reported.