Three protected tetrapeptides

The structures of three protected tetrapeptides, containing the Boc-Gly-Gly-Phe-X-OMe chain, tert-butoxycarbonyl-glycy-glycl-phenylalanine-leucine methyl ester dihydrate, Boc-Gly-Gly-L-Phe-D-Leu-OMe, C25H38N4O7·2H2O, tert-butoxycarbonyl-glycy-glycl-phenylalanine-methionine methyl ester dihydrate, Boc-Gly Gly-L-Phe-D-Met-OMe, C24H36N4O7S.2H2O and tert-butoxycarbonyl-glycy-glycl-phenylalanine-norleucine methyl ester dihydrate, Boc-Gly-Gly-D-Phe-L-Nle-OMe, C25H38N4O7.2H2O, are described. The three molecules have the same conformation of the Boc-Gly Gly Phe-X-OMe tetrapeptide chain and display the same packing, consisting of couples of molecules linked head-to-tail by two hydrogen (N-HO) bonds; other hydrogen bonds, also involving two water molecules of crystallization, link these couples together, and give rise to a planar structure

Effect of native gastric mucus on in vivo hybridization therapies directed at Helicobacter pylori

Helicobacter pylori infects more than 50% of the worldwide population. It is mostly found deep in the gastric mucus lining of the stomach, being a major cause of peptic ulcers and gastric adenocarcinoma. To face the increasing resistance of H. pylori to antibiotics, antimicrobial nucleic acid mimics are a promising alternative. In particular, locked nucleic acids (LNA)/2'-OMethyl RNA (2'OMe) have shown to specifically target H. pylori, as evidenced by in situ hybridization. The success of in vivo hybridization depends on the ability of these nucleic acids to penetrate the major physical barriers-the highly viscoelastic gastric mucus and the bacterial cell envelope. We found that LNA/2'OMe is capable of diffusing rapidly through native, undiluted, gastric mucus isolated from porcine stomachs, without degradation. Moreover, although LNA/2'OMe hybridization was still successful without permeabilization and fixation of the bacteria, which is normally part of in vitro studies, the ability of LNA/2'OMe to efficiently hybridize with H. pylori was hampered by the presence of mucus. Future research should focus on developing nanocarriers that shield LNA/2'OMe from components in the gastric mucus, while remaining capable of diffusing through the mucus and delivering these nucleic acid mimics directly into the bacteria

Stability and enzymatic studies with omeprazole: hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com. A publicação original está disponível em www.springerlink.comOmeprazole (OME) exhibits low stability to light, heat and humidity. In stress conditions OME stability should improve under inclusion complex form with hydroxypropyl-b-cyclodextrin (HPbCD). Stability of OME, its physical mixture (PM) with HPbCD and OME:HPbCD inclusion complex was assessed during 60 days. The inclusion complexes were prepared by kneading and freezedrying techniques and characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). A molecular modelling was also held to predict the most probable tridimensional conformation of inclusion complex OME:HPbCD. The inhibitory activity of free and complexed OME on selected enzymes, namely, papain (protease model of the proton pump) and acetylcholinesterase (enzyme present in cholinergic neurons and also involved in Alzheimer’s disease) was compared. The results obtained show that HPbCD do not protect against OME degradation, in any prepared powder, in the presence of light, heat and humidity. This may indicate that the reactive group of OME is not included in the HPbCD cavity. This fact is supported by molecular modelling data, which demonstrated that 2-pyridylmethyl group of OME is not included into the cyclodextrin cavity. In relation to enzymatic assays it was observed that free OME and OME in the binary systems showed identical inhibitory activity on papain and acethylcolinesterase, concluding that HPbCD do not affect OME activity on these two enzymes

Mass spectrometry-directed synthesis of early–late sulfide-bridged heterobimetallic complexes from the metalloligand [Pt₂(PPh₃)₄(μ-S)₂] and oxo compounds of vanadium(V), molybdenum(VI) and uranium(VI)

The metalloligand [Pt₂(PPh₃)₄(μ-S)₂] has been found to react with the transition metal oxo compounds, ammonium metavanadate, sodium molybdate, and the actinide complex uranyl nitrate to give sulfide-bridged heterobimetallic complexes [Pt₂(PPh₃)₄(μ₃-S)₂VO(OMe)₂]⁺, [Pt₂(PPh₃)₄(μ₃-S)₂MoO₂(OMe)]⁺, and [Pt₂(PPh₃)₄(μ₃-S)₂UO₂( ₂-NO₃)₂], respectively. Electrospray mass spectrometry (ESMS) was used to probe the reactivity of [Pt₂(PPh₃)₄(μ-S)₂] and thus identify likely targets for isolation and characterization. ESMS has also been used to investigate fragmentation pathways of the new species. No bimetallic species were detected with hydrated La(NO₃)₃or Th(NO₃)₄, or with the lanthanide shift reagent Eu(fod)₃ (fod = 6,6,7,7,8,8,8-heptafluoro-2,2-dimethyl-3,5-octanedionate). X-Ray crystal structure determinations have been carried out on [Pt₂(PPh₃)₄(μ₃-S)₂VO(OMe)₂]⁺, 2, (as its hexafluorophosphate salt) and [Pt₂(PPh₃)₄(μ₃-S)₂UO₂( ₂-NO₃)₂], 4. The vanadium atom of 2 has a distorted square pyramidal geometry, while the uranium in 4 has the expected linear dioxo coordination geometry, with two bidentate nitrates and a bidentate {Pt₂S₂} moiety

Peptide synthesis by recombinant Fasciola hepatica cathepsin L1

Synthesis of the tripeptide Z-Phe-Arg-SerNH2 has been accomplished by a recombinant cysteine protease, cathepsin L1 from liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica), using Z-Phe-Arg-OMe as acyl acceptor and SerNH2 as nucleophile in 0.1 M ammonium acetate pH 9.0–12.5% v/v acetonitrile at 37 °C. LC–MS detection indicated tripeptide formation after 10 min, continuing up to 5.5 h. The ester Z-Phe-Arg-OMe was detected throughout the experiment but the hydrolysis product Z-Phe-Arg-OH appeared early and in quite large amounts. We believe that this is the first application of a parasite protease in enzymatic peptide synthesis

The synthesis and the catalytic (catalase and tyrosinase) activities of amino acid copper complexes covalently grafted onto silica gel

In this work the synthesis, structure and certain catalytic properties of amino acid copper complexes covalently grafted onto silica gel are described. The following enzyme mimicking complexes were synthesized and characterised by experimental (FT-IR) and computational (mainly MM+) methods: BOC-His-Cu/silica gel, BOC-Tyr-Cu/silica gel, His-OMe-Cu/silica gel, Tyr-OMe-Cu/silica gel, H-His-Cu/silica gel, H-Tyr-Cu/silica gel His-OH-Cu/silica gel and Tyr-OH-Cu/silica gel. The activities of these substances were also tested in the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide. The majority of the substances proved to be good enzyme mimics displaying either catalase or tyrosinase activity

Organoaluminium complexes of ortho-, meta-, para-anisidines: synthesis, structural studies and ROP of ε-caprolactone (and rac-lactide)

Reaction of Me₃Al (two equivalents) with ortho-, meta- or para-anisidine, (OMe)(NH₂)C₆H₄, affords the complexes {[1,2-(OMe),NC₆H₄(μ-Me₂Al)](μ-Me₂Al)}₂ (1), [1,3-(Me₃AlOMe),NHC₆H₄(μ-Me₂Al)]2 (2) or [1,4-(Me₃AlOMe),NHC₆H₄(μ-Me₂Al)]₂ (3), respectively. The molecular structures of 1–3 have been determined and all three complexes were found to be highly active for the ring opening polymerization (ROP) of ε-caprolactone. 1 was found highly active either with or without benzyl alcohol present; at various temperatures, the activity order 1 > 2 ≈ 3 was observed. For the ROP of rac-lactide results for 1–3 were poor

New complexes with M-Si-O or M-Si-S linkages (M = Fe or Co)

Ph2XSiFe(CO)2Cp [X = p-tolylS (1a), MeO (1b)] and Ph[2-MeOC6H4]XSiFe(CO)2Cp [X = Cl (2a), OMe (2b)] have been fully characterised, including X-ray crystal structure determinations for 1a, 1b and 2a. None of the examples showed any tendency for migration of the X groups from silicon to iron, with elimination of silylene. However very ready loss of the X groups was seen in the electrospray mass spectra, suggesting formation of the cationic silylene-iron complex ions is favoured. This was especially so for 2a and 2b, where intramolecular stabilisation of the silicon centre from the 2-OMe group is possible.The stable siloxane O[SiPh2{Co(CO)4}]2 was also characterised; the X-ray crystal structure analysis shows a Si-O-Si bond angle of 153°