Impairment of the catalytic activity of Escherichia coli ribonucleic acid polymerase by a unique reaction of 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan

New electron-donor and -acceptor architectures from benzofurazans and sym-triaminobenzenes: intermediates, products and an unusual nitro group shift

New all-conjugated C-C coupling products bearing both an electron-poor and an electron-rich aromatic moiety have been obtained from the reaction between sym-triaminobenzene derivatives and a series of isomeric chloro-nitrobenzofurazans. The reactions occur under mild reaction conditions, and in some cases a different behaviour depending on the presence, or not, of triethylamine was observed. From 1,3,5-tris(N-morpholinyl)benzene and 5-chloro-4-nitrobenzofurazan in the presence of triethylamine an unexpected product derived from the shift of the nitro group from C-4 to C-5 of the electrophile and bearing the nucleophile at position 4 was obtained. Moreover, from the coupling between 1,3,5-tris(N-pyrrolidinyl)benzene and 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan a highly stable Wheland intermediate was isolated.

Effects of 4-nitro- and 4-sulpho-7-substituted benzofurazans on nucleic acid and protein synthesis of a malignant fibrosarcoma cell line in combination with mild hyperthermia

The inhibitory effects of substituted nitro- and sulphobenzofurazans on DNA, RNA and protein synthesis were compared in a new malignant fibrosarcoma cell line at 37 degrees C and 41 degrees C. The effects of these drugs with and without mild hyperthermia were evaluated by determining the % inhibition of incorporation of 3H-precursors into DNA, RNA and protein. None of the sulphobenzofurazan derivatives (Sbf) were effective inhibitors of nucleic acid and protein synthesis at 37 degrees C nor did they enhance the inhibitory effect of hyperthermia alone. The nitrobenzofurazan derivatives (Nbf) at concentrations 10% that used for the Sbf derivatives strongly inhibited biopolymer synthesis in a dose related manner; 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan (Nbf-Cl) being the most potent inhibitor. Hyperthermia amplified the effect of all the Nbf compounds tested on RNA and protein synthesis but did not further affect DNA synthesis. This selective synergistic effect was most pronounced when the lowest concentrations of Nbf compounds were studied. The synergism however, did not follow a uniform pattern. 6-Mercaptopurine and 6-(1-methyl-4-nitro-5-imidazoyl)thiopurine (Azathioprine) (100 microM) had marginal effects on nucleic acid and protein synthesis when the cells were exposed to these two thiopurines for 1 h at both 37 degrees C and 41 degrees C and they had only a moderate inhibitory effect after exposure for 15 h.

Selective arylation of cysteine-237 of rabbit muscle aldolase with 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan

At pH 7.0 and 25 degrees C, NBF-Cl (4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan) reacts rapidly with rabbit muscle aldolase (D-fructose-1,6-bisphosphate D-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate-lyase, EC 4.1.2.13) to yield a product with an absorption maximum at 402 nm, which is shifted to 422 nm upon acid denaturation. The reaction involves arylation of a single cysteine residue per subunit of tetrameric aldolase, as shown by the molar absorptivity of NBF-aldolase and by titration of sulfhydryl groups of the enzyme with 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid), DTNB. The site of arylation appears to be Cys-237, which is the cysteine residue that reacts most rapidly with DTNB. The site of arylation appears to be Cys-237, which is the cysteine residue that reacts most rapidly with DTNB, and which is not essential for aldolase activity. Arylation of the enzyme is 13-20-times more rapid than that of model compounds. The relatively high rate of arylation is not due to medium effects, to an anomalously low pKa of Cys-237, or to the presence of a binding site for NBF-Cl, and is tentatively assigned to acid-base catalysis by other functional groups in the vicinity of the reactive sulfhydryl group. The NBF-Cl reaction provides the most efficient means of titrating Cys-237 residues in rabbit muscle aldolase.