Synthesis of a Dimer of β-(1,4)-l-Arabinosyl-(2S,4R)-4-hydroxyproline Inspired by Art v 1, the Major Allergen of Mugwort

Chemical synthesis and functional evaluation of glycopeptides and glycoproteins containing rare glycosyl amino acid linkages

Covering: 1987 to 2023Naturally existing glycoproteins through post-translational protein glycosylation are highly heterogeneous, which not only impedes the structure-function studies, but also hinders the development of their potential medical usage. Chemical synthesis represents one of the most powerful tools to provide the structurally well-defined glycoforms. Being the key step of glycoprotein synthesis, glycosylation usually takes place at serine, threonine, and asparagine residues, leading to the predominant formation of the O- and N-glycans, respectively. However, other amino acid residues containing oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and nucleophilic carbon atoms have also been found to be glycosylated. These diverse glycoprotein linkages, occurring from microorganisms to plants and animals, play also pivotal biological roles, such as in cell-cell recognition and communication. The availability of these homogenous rare glycopeptides and glycoproteins can help decipher the glyco-code for developing therapeutic agents. This review highlights the chemical approaches for assembly of the functional glycopeptides and glycoproteins bearing these "rare" carbohydrate-amino acid linkages between saccharide and canonical amino acid residues and their derivatives.

Regioselective and Stereospecific β-Arabinofuranosylation by Boron-Mediated Aglycon Delivery

Regio- and stereoselective formation of the 1,2-cis-furanosidic linkage has been in great demand for efficient synthesis of biologically active natural glycosides. In this study, we developed a regioselective and β-stereospecific d-/l-arabinofuranosylation promoted by a boronic acid catalyst under mild conditions. The glycosylations proceeded smoothly for a variety of diols, triols, and unprotected sugar acceptors to give the corresponding β-arabinofuranosides (β-Arbf) in high yields with complete β-stereoselectivity and high regioselectivity. The regioselectivity was completely reversed depending on the optical isomerism of the donor used and was predictable a priori using predictive models. Mechanistic studies based on DFT calculations revealed that the present glycosylation occurs through a highly dissociative concerted SN i mechanism. The usefulness of the glycosylation method was demonstrated by the chemical synthesis of trisaccharide structures of arabinogalactan fragments.

Synthesis of naturally occurring β-l-arabinofuranosyl-l-arabinofuranoside structures towards the substrate specificity evaluation of β-l-arabinofuranosidase

Methyl β-l-arabinofuranosyl-(1 → 2)-, -(1 → 3)-, and -(1 → 5)-α-l-arabinofuranosides have been stereoselectively synthesized through 2-naphthylmethyl ether-mediated intramolecular aglycon delivery (NAP-IAD), whose β-linkages were confirmed by NMR analysis on the ³J_H1-H2 coupling constant and ¹³C chemical shift of C1. The NAP-IAD approach was simply extended for the synthesis of trisaccharide motifs possessing β-l-arabinofuranosyl-(1 → 5)-l-arabinofuranosyl non-reducing terminal structure with the branched β-l-arabinofuranosyl-(1 → 5)-[α-l-arabinofuranosyl-(1 → 3)]-α-l-arabinofuranosyl and the liner β-l-arabinofuranosyl-(1 → 5)-β-l-arabinofuranosyl-(1 → 5)-β-l-arabinofuranosyl structures in olive arabinan and dinoflagellate polyethers, respectively. The results on the substrate specificity of a bifidobacterial β-l-arabinofuranosidase HypBA1 using the regioisomers indicated that HypBA1 could hydrolyze all three linkages however behaved clearly less active to β-(1 → 5)-linked disaccharide than other two regioisomers including the proposed natural degradation product, β-(1 → 2)-linked one from plant extracellular matrix such as extensin. On the other hand, Xanthomonas XeHypBA1 was found to hydrolyze all three disaccharides as the substrate with higher specificity to β-(1 → 2)-linkage than bifidobacterial HypBA1.

β-L-Arabinofuranosylation Conducted by 5-O-(2-pyridinecarbonyl)-L-arabinofuranosyl Trichloroacetimidate

We describe a β-L-arabinofuranosylation method by employing the 5-O-(2-pyridinecarbonyl)-L-arabinofuranosyl trichloroacetimidate 10 as a donor. This approach allows a wide range of acceptor substrates, especially amino acid acceptors, to be used. Stereoselective synthesis of β-(1,4)-L-arabinofuranosyl-(2S, 4R)-4-hydroxy-L-proline (β-L-Araf-L-Hyp₄) and its dimer is achieved readily by this method. Both the stereoselectivities and yields of the reactions are excellent. To demonstrate the utility of this methodology, the preparation of a trisaccharide in a one-pot manner was carried out.

Arabinosylation Modulates the Growth-Regulating Activity of the Peptide Hormone CLE40a from Soybean

Small post-translationally modified peptide hormones mediate crucial developmental and regulatory processes in plants. CLAVATA/ENDOSPERM-SURROUNDING REGION (CLE) genes are found throughout the plant kingdom and encode for 12-13 amino acid peptides that must often undergo post-translational proline hydroxylation and glycosylation with O-β1,2-triarabinose moieties before they become functional. Apart from a few recent examples, a detailed understanding of the structure and function of most CLE hormones is yet to be uncovered. This is mainly owing to difficulties in isolating mature homogeneously modified CLE peptides from natural plant sources. In this study, we describe the efficient synthesis of a synthetic Araf3Hyp glycosylamino acid building block that was used to access a hitherto uninvestigated CLE hormone from soybean called GmCLE40a. Through the development and implementation of a novel in vivo root growth assay, we show that the synthetic triarabinosylated glycopeptide suppresses primary root growth in this important crop species.

Preparation of p-nitrophenyl β-l-arabinofuranoside as a substrate of β-l-arabinofuranosidase

Synthesis of p-nitrophenyl β-l-arabinofuranoside 1 as the substrate for novel β-l-arabinofuranosidase has been achieved by using both our inter- and intra-molecular glycosylation methodologies. Although the intermolecular glycosylation with l-Araf donors 3 and 4 resulted in a mixture of both α- and β-isomers, NAP ether-mediated IAD with 3 and 6 afforded the desired β-l-arabinofuranoside stereospecifically which was confirmed by NMR analysis on the (3)JH1-H2 coupling constant and (13)C chemical shift of C1. As expected, 1 has been revealed to be an efficient substrate in the biological study of a novel β-arabinofuranosidase such as HypBA1 with higher apparent affinity compared with other reported substrates.

Glycosylation studies on conformationally restricted 3,5-O-(di-tert-butylsilylene)-D-galactofuranosyl trichloroacetimidate donors for 1,2-cis α-D-galactofuranosylation

Conformationally restricted 3,5-O-di-tert-butylsilylene-D-galactofuranosyl trichloroacetimidate donors were synthesized from allyl α-D-galactofuranoside for the construction of 1,2-cis α-D-galactofuranosyl linkages. Glycosylation reactions were performed with several acceptors, including D-galactono-1,4-lactone, D-rhamnopyranosyl, and D-mannopyranosyl derivatives. The influence of the temperature and the reaction solvents was evaluated, as well as the 6-O-substitution pattern of the donor. The higher α-selectivities were obtained at -78 °C in diethyl ether as solvent. 6-O-Acetyl substitution on constrained donor increased the α-selectivity compared to the 6-O-benzyl substitution. Almost no selectivities were observed in the non-participating solvent CH(2)Cl(2). In contrast, ethereal solvents enhanced the α-selectivity suggesting a participating effect in the reaction intermediate.