1. Synthesis of peptide-oligonucleotide conjugates for chromium coordination
E R Civitello, R G Leniek, K A Hossler, K Haebe, D M Stearns Bioconjug Chem. 2001 Jul-Aug;12(4):459-63. doi: 10.1021/bc0100105.
The synthesis of the first peptide-oligonucleotide conjugate designed to coordinate chromium(III) is reported. The overall goal of this work is to synthesize di-deoxynucleotides tethered with chromium(III)-coordinating appendages to model chromium-DNA-protein cross-links, which are a type of DNA lesion that may be involved in chromium-induced cancers. The conjugate dGp(NHCH(2)CH(2)S-Ac-Gly-Ser-Gly-OH)G was made by coupling the peptide, ClAc-Gly-Ser-Gly-OH, and dinucleotide, dGp(NHCH(2)CH(2)SH)G, through a thioether moiety. The conjugate was characterized by HPLC and mass spectrometry. Previously reported methods for small-scale solid-phase synthesis of peptides and dinucleotide were unsuitable; therefore, gram-scale solution-phase methods were developed. We also report the gram-scale syntheses of two other serine-containing peptides, ClAc-betaAla-Ser-Gly-OH and ClAc-Ser-Gly-OH, and three histidine-containing peptides, ClAc-Gly-His-Gly-OH, ClAc-betaAla-His-Gly-OH, and ClAc-His-Gly-OH. The synthesis and characterization of chromium-containing peptide-oligonucleotide conjugates will ultimately help us to understand chromium-DNA interactions at a molecular level, which is necessary before we can determine how chromium causes cancer.
2. Oligopeptides Generated by Neprilysin Degradation of β-Amyloid Have the Highest Cu(II) Affinity in the Whole Aβ Family
Karolina Bossak-Ahmad, Mariusz Mital, Dawid Płonka, Simon C Drew, Wojciech Bal Inorg Chem. 2019 Jan 7;58(1):932-943. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.8b03051. Epub 2018 Dec 24.
The catabolism of β-amyloid (Aβ) is carried out by numerous endopeptidases including neprilysin, which hydrolyzes peptide bonds preceding positions 4, 10, and 12 to yield Aβ4-9 and a minor Aβ12- x species. Alternative processing of the amyloid precursor protein by β-secretase also generates the Aβ11- x species. All these peptides contain a Xxx-Yyy-His sequence, also known as an ATCUN or NTS motif, making them strong chelators of Cu(II) ions. We synthesized the corresponding peptides, Phe-Arg-His-Asp-Ser-Gly-OH (Aβ4-9), Glu-Val-His-His-Gln-Lys-am (Aβ11-16), Val-His-His-Gln-Lys-am (Aβ12-16), and pGlu-Val-His-His-Gln-Lys-am (pAβ11-16), and investigated their Cu(II) binding properties using potentiometry, and UV-vis, circular dichroism, and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopies. We found that the three peptides with unmodified N-termini formed square-planar Cu(II) complexes at pH 7.4 with analogous geometries but significantly varied Kd values of 6.6 fM (Aβ4-9), 9.5 fM (Aβ12-16), and 1.8 pM (Aβ11-16). Cyclization of the N-terminal Glu11 residue to the pyroglutamate species pAβ11-16 dramatically reduced the affinity (5.8 nM). The Cu(II) affinities of Aβ4-9 and Aβ12-16 are the highest among the Cu(II) complexes of Aβ peptides. Using fluorescence spectroscopy, we demonstrated that the Cu(II) exchange between the Phe-Arg-His and Val-His-His motifs is very slow, on the order of days. These results are discussed in terms of the relevance of Aβ4-9, a major Cu(II) binding Aβ fragment generated by neprilysin, as a possible Cu(II) carrier in the brain.
3. Synthesis and activity of novel glutathione analogues containing an urethane backbone linkage
I Cacciatore, A M Caccuri, A Di Stefano, G Luisi, M Nalli, F Pinnen, G Ricci, P Sozio Farmaco. 2003 Sep;58(9):787-93. doi: 10.1016/S0014-827X(03)00135-6.
The new GSH analogues H-Glo(-Ser-Gly-OH)-OH (5), its O-benzyl derivative 4, and H-Glo(-Asp-Gly-OH)-OH (9), characterized by the replacement of central cysteine with either serine or aspartic acid, and containing an urethanic fragment as isosteric substitution of the scissile gamma-glutamylic junction, have been synthesized and characterized. Their ability to inhibit human GST P1-1 (hGST P1-1) in comparison with H-Glu(-Ser-Gly-OH)-OH and H-Glu(-Asp-Gly-OH)-OH, which are potent competitive inhibitors of rat GST 3-3 and 4-4, has been evaluated. In order to further investigate the effect of the isosteric substitution on the binding abilities of the new GSH analogues 4, 5 and 9, the previously reported cysteinyl-containing analogue H-Glo(-Cys-Gly-OH)-OH has been also evaluated as a co-substrate for hGSTP1-1.
