Total Synthesis of Ecumicin

Compelling Cyclic Peptide Scaffolds for Antitubercular Action: An Account (2011-21) of the Natural Source

Natural cyclic peptide scaffolds are indispensable in medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, and drug discovery platforms due to their chemical diversity, structural integrity, proteolytic stability and biocompatibility. Historically, their isolation and profound understanding of target engagement have been identified as lead pharmacophore discovery. Natural cyclic peptides are the largest class of pharmacologically active scaffold, in which most show activity against drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Nevertheless, eight recently discovered cyclic peptide scaffolds exhibit promising antitubercular activity among numerous naturally occurring antitubercular peptides, and they are amenable scaffolds to drug development. We examined their biological origin, scaffolds, isolations, chemical synthesis, and reasons for biological actions against Mtb. Understanding these peptide scaffold details will further allow synthetic and medicinal chemists to develop novel peptide therapeutics against tuberculosis-infected deadly diseases. This review emphasizes these cyclic peptides' in vitro and in vivo activity profiles, including their structural and chemical features.

Total and Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of Seongsanamide E

The total and chemoenzymatic synthesis of the depsipeptide natural product seongsanamide E, 3, is described. The synthetic C-terminal N-acetylcysteamine thioester of linear natural product 1 was macrolactonized by the excised recombinant purified seongsanamide thioesterase (Sgd-TE) domain, generating 3. Sgd-TE also effects the ring opening of 3. Chemical synthesis provided 3 through a macrolactamization strategy. This work confirms the biosynthesis of 3 and demonstrates the power of Sgd-TE as a biocatalyst.

Self-assembled dehydropeptide nanocarrier as a delivery system for antitumor drug temozolomide

Stable molecular conformation and intermolecular forces are essential for peptide self-assembly. In this study, one novel dehydropeptide (DDP) monomer (Boc-(Z)C^α,β-ΔPhe-Gly-NHMe, DDP 1) was prepared; its conformation was confirmed to be more stable than the normal peptide 2 by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and X-ray crystal diffraction experiments. DDP 1 was self-assembled to one novel dehydropeptide nanomaterial (DDPN 1). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy results showed that hydrogen bonding was the main driving force of self-assembly. Electron microscope images displayed that the DDPN 1 fibers were longer and more stable than peptide 2 nanomaterials. Results of cell activity and enzyme hydrolysis proved that DDPN 1 had excellent biocompatibility and resistance to the enzymatic hydrolysis of protease K. Therefore, the DDPN 1 was used to load the antitumor drug temozolomide (TMZ). Due to intermolecular hydrogen bonds formed between TMZ and DDPN 1, TMZ-loaded DDPN 1 had a high percent entrapment efficiency (EE) of 83.72 ± 4.30% (n = 8) and a percent drug loading efficiency (LE) of 6.70 ± 0.34% (n = 8), and the half-life of TMZ-loaded DDPN 1 was 2.5-3 times longer than that of TMZ at pH 7. The in vitro cell viability results revealed that TMZ-loaded DDPN 1 exhibited higher antitumor activity (IC₅₀ = 552.1 μM) against U118-MG than that of TMZ (IC₅₀ = 1980.1 μM), possibly because that U118-MG cells uptook more TMZ from TMZ-loaded DDPN 1 than from free TMZ directly. This study is expected to inspire the design of biocompatible nanocarriers applied for anti-enzymatic hydrolysis in drug delivery systems.

Nyuzenamide C, an Antiangiogenic Epoxy Cinnamic Acid-Containing Bicyclic Peptide from a Riverine Streptomyces sp

A new nonribosomal peptide, nyuzenamide C (1), was discovered from riverine sediment-derived Streptomyces sp. DM14. Comprehensive analysis of the spectroscopic data of nyuzenamide C (1) revealed that 1 has a bicyclic backbone composed of six common amino acid residues (Asn, Leu, Pro, Gly, Val, and Thr) and four nonproteinogenic amino acid units, including hydroxyglycine, β-hydroxyphenylalanine, p-hydroxyphenylglycine, and 3,β-dihydroxytyrosine, along with 1,2-epoxypropyl cinnamic acid. The absolute configuration of 1 was proposed by J-based configuration analysis, the advanced Marfey's method, quantum mechanics-based DP4 calculations, and bioinformatic analysis of its nonribosomal peptide synthetase biosynthetic gene cluster. Nyuzenamide C (1) displayed antiangiogenic activity in human umbilical vein endothelial cells and induced quinone reductase in murine Hepa-1c1c7 cells.

Potent Bactericidal Antimycobacterials Targeting the Chaperone ClpC1 Based on the Depsipeptide Natural Products Ecumicin and Ohmyungsamycin A

Ohmyungsamycin A and ecumicin are structurally related cyclic depsipeptide natural products that possess activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB). Herein, we describe the design and synthesis of a library of analogues of these two natural products using an efficient solid-phase synthesis and late-stage macrolactamization strategy. Lead analogues possessed potent activity against Mtb in vitro (minimum inhibitory concentration 125-500 nM) and were shown to inhibit protein degradation by the mycobacterial ClpC1-ClpP1P2 protease with an associated enhancement of ClpC1 ATPase activity. The most promising analogue from the series exhibited rapid bactericidal killing activity against Mtb, capable of sterilizing cultures after 7 days, and retained bactericidal activity against hypoxic non-replicating Mtb. This natural product analogue was also active in an in vivo zebrafish model of infection.

Automated Quantification of Hydroxyl Reactivities: Prediction of Glycosylation Reactions

The stereoselectivity and yield in glycosylation reactions are paramount but unpredictable. We have developed a database of acceptor nucleophilic constants (Aka) to quantify the nucleophilicity of hydroxyl groups in glycosylation influenced by the steric, electronic and structural effects, providing a connection between experiments and computer algorithms. The subtle reactivity differences among the hydroxyl groups on various carbohydrate molecules can be defined by Aka, which is easily accessible by a simple and convenient automation system to assure high reproducibility and accuracy. A diverse range of glycosylation donors and acceptors with well-defined reactivity and promoters were organized and processed by the designed software program "GlycoComputer" for prediction of glycosylation reactions without involving sophisticated computational processing. The importance of Aka was further verified by random forest algorithm, and the applicability was tested by the synthesis of a Lewis A skeleton to show that the stereoselectivity and yield can be accurately estimated.

Photo-induced radical thiol-ene chemistry: a versatile toolbox for peptide-based drug design

While the global market for peptide/protein-based therapeutics is witnessing significant growth, the development of peptide drugs remains challenging due to their low oral bioavailability, poor membrane permeability, and reduced metabolic stability. However, a toolbox of chemical approaches has been explored for peptide modification to overcome these obstacles. In recent years, there has been a revival of interest in photoinduced radical thiol-ene chemistry as a powerful tool for the construction of therapeutic peptides.

Total Synthesis and Antimycobacterial Activity of Ohmyungsamycin A, Deoxyecumicin, and Ecumicin

The ohmyungsamycin and ecumicin natural product families are structurally related cyclic depsipeptides that display potent antimycobacterial activity. Herein the total syntheses of ohmyungsamycin A, deoxyecumicin, and ecumicin are reported, together with the direct biological comparison of members of these natural product families against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the etiological agent of tuberculosis (TB). The synthesis of each of the natural products employed a solid-phase strategy to assemble the linear peptide precursor, involving a key on-resin esterification and an optional on-resin dimethylation step, before a final solution-phase macrolactamization between the non-proteinogenic N-methyl-4-methoxy-l-tryptophan amino acid and a bulky N-methyl-l-valine residue. The synthetic natural products possessed potent antimycobacterial activity against Mtb with MIC₉₀ 's ranging from 110-360 nm and retained activity against Mtb in Mtb-infected macrophages. Deoxyecumicin also exhibited rapid bactericidal killing against Mtb, sterilizing cultures after 21 days.

Strategies in anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug discovery based on phenotypic screening

The rise of multi- and extensively drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) strains and co-infection with human immunodeficiency virus has escalated the need for new anti-M. tb drugs. Numerous challenges associated with the M. tb, in particular slow growth and pathogenicity level 3, discouraged use of this organism in past primary screening efforts. From current knowledge of the physiology and drug susceptibility of mycobacteria in general and M. tb specifically, it can be assumed that many potentially useful drug leads were missed by failing to screen directly against this pathogen. This review discusses recent high-throughput phenotypic screening strategies for anti-M. tb drug discovery. Emphasis is placed on prioritization of hits, including their extensive biological and chemical profiling, as well as the development status of promising drug candidates discovered with phenotypic screening.