Galectin-3-Binding Glycomimetics that Strongly Reduce Bleomycin-Induced Lung Fibrosis and Modulate Intracellular Glycan Recognition.

Discovery of glycan-competitive galectin-3-binding compounds that attenuate lung fibrosis in a murine model and that block intracellular galectin-3 accumulation at damaged vesicles, hence revealing galectin-3-glycan interactions involved in fibrosis progression and in intracellular galectin-3 activities, is reported. 3,3'-Bis-(4-aryltriazol-1-yl)thiodigalactosides were synthesized and evaluated as antagonists of galectin-1, -2, -3, and -4 N-terminal, -4 C-terminal, -7 and -8 N-terminal, -9 N-terminal, and -9 C-terminal domains. Compounds displaying low-nanomolar affinities for galectins-1 and -3 were identified in a competitive fluorescence anisotropy assay. X-ray structural analysis of selected compounds in complex with galectin-3, together with galectin-3 mutant binding experiments, revealed that both the aryltriazolyl moieties and fluoro substituents on the compounds are involved in key interactions responsible for exceptional affinities towards galectin-3. The most potent galectin-3 antagonist was demonstrated to act in an assay monitoring galectin-3 accumulation upon amitriptyline-induced vesicle damage, visualizing a biochemically/medically relevant intracellular lectin-carbohydrate binding event and that it can be blocked by a small molecule. The same antagonist administered intratracheally attenuated bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in a mouse model with a dose/response profile comparing favorably with that of oral administration of the marketed antifibrotic compound pirfenidone.

Chemical modification of polysaccharides.

This review covers methods for modifying the structures of polysaccharides. The introduction of hydrophobic, acidic, basic, or other functionality into polysaccharide structures can alter the properties of materials based on these substances. The development of chemical methods to achieve this aim is an ongoing area of research that is expected to become more important as the emphasis on using renewable starting materials and sustainable processes increases in the future. The methods covered in this review include ester and ether formation using saccharide oxygen nucleophiles, including enzymatic reactions and aspects of regioselectivity; the introduction of heteroatomic nucleophiles into polysaccharide chains; the oxidation of polysaccharides, including oxidative glycol cleavage, chemical oxidation of primary alcohols to carboxylic acids, and enzymatic oxidation of primary alcohols to aldehydes; reactions of uronic-acid-based polysaccharides; nucleophilic reactions of the amines of chitosan; and the formation of unsaturated polysaccharide derivatives.

On a so-called "kinetic anomeric effect" in chemical glycosylation.

Commentary on diastereoselectivity in chemical glycosylation reactions, and dismissal of the influence of stereoelectronic effects analogous to the anomeric effect in kinetically controlled reactions.

Amine-linked diglycosides: Synthesis facilitated by the enhanced reactivity of allylic electrophiles, and glycosidase inhibition assays.

Diglycose derivatives, consisting of two monosaccharides linked at non-anomeric positions by a bridging nitrogen atom, have been synthesised. Conversion of one of the precursor monosaccharide coupling components into an unsaturated derivative enhances its electrophilicity at the allylic position, facilitating coupling reactions. Mitsunobu coupling between nosylamides and 2,3-unsaturated-4-alcohols gave the 4-amino-pseudodisaccharides with inversion of configuration as single regio- and diastereoisomers. A palladium-catalysed coupling between an amine and a 2,3-unsaturated 4-trichloroacetimidate gave a 2-amino-pseudodisaccharide as the major product, along with other minor products. Derivatisation of the C=C double bond in pseudodisaccharides allowed the formation of Man(N4-6)Glc and Man(N4-6)Man diglycosides. The amine-linked diglycosides were found to show weak glycosidase inhibitory activity.

Synthesis and α-Glucosidase II inhibitory activity of valienamine pseudodisaccharides relevant to N-glycan biosynthesis.

Valienol-derived allylic C-1 bromides have been used as carbaglycosyl donors for α-xylo configured valienamine pseudodisaccharide synthesis. We synthesised valienamine analogues of the Glc(α1→3)Glc and Glc(α1→3)Man disaccharides representing the linkages cleaved by α-Glucosidase II in N-glycan biosynthesis. These (N1→3)-linked pseudodisaccharides were found to have some α-Glucosidase II inhibitory activity, while two other (N1→6)-linked valienamine pseudodisaccharides failed to inhibit the enzyme.

Iridium-catalysed condensation of alcohols and amines as a method for aminosugar synthesis.

Primary carbohydrate amines at primary and secondary carbons are alkylated by alcohols in the presence of [Cp*IrCl(2)](2). When primary carbohydrate alcohols are used as the coupling partners and in the presence of Cs(2)CO(3), amine-linked pseudodisaccharides are obtained. Secondary carbohydrate alcohols are unaffected under these conditions, which allows regioselective reactions.

Carbasugar analogues of galactofuranosides: ß-O-linked derivatives and towards ß-S-linked derivatives.

A selectively protected carbasugar analogue of ß-galactofuranose was synthesised from glucose using ring-closing metathesis as the key step. The carbasugar was converted into an α-galacto configured 1,2-epoxide, which was an effective electrophile in Lewis acid catalysed coupling reactions with alcohols. The epoxide was opened with regioselective attack at C-1 to give ß-galacto configured C-1 ethers. Using carbohydrates as nucleophiles, we synthesised a number of pseudodisaccharides. The epoxide was also regioselectively opened at C-1 with a sulfur nucleophile under basic conditions to give a ß-galacto configured C-1 thioether.

Carbasugar analogues of galactofuranosides: α-O-linked derivatives.

Using an indirect method, we have synthesised α-linked carbasugar analogues of galactofuranosides for the first time. Ring opening of a ß-talo configured carbasugar 1,2-epoxide by alcohol nucleophiles under Lewis acidic conditions proceeded with very good regioselectivity to give α-talo configured C1-substituted ethers with a free OH-group at the C2 position. Inversion of configuration at C2 by an oxidation-reduction sequence gave the α-galacto configured carbahexofuranose C1 ethers. A carbadisaccharide corresponding to the Galf(α1→3)Manp substructure from Apodus deciduus galactomannan was synthesised to exemplify the method.

1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl thiodigalactoside derivatives as high affinity galectin-3 inhibitors.

Galactose C3-triazole derivatives were synthesized by Cu(I)-catalyzed cycloaddition between acetylenes and galactose C3-azido derivatives. Evaluation against galectin-3, 7, 8N (N-terminal) and 9N (N-terminal) revealed 1,4-disubstituted triazoles to be high-affinity inhibitors of galectin-3 with selectivity over galectin-7, 8N, and 9N. Conformational analysis of 1,4-di- and 1,4,5-tri-substituted galactose C3-triazoles suggested that a triazole C5-substituent interfered sterically with the galectin proteins, which explained their poor affinities compared to the corresponding 1,4-disubstituted triazoles. Introduction of two 1,4-disubstituted triazole moieties onto thiodigalactoside resulted in affinities down to 29 nM for galectin-3.

Short synthesis of a benzyl ether-protected building block for the synthesis of carbocyclic galactopyranose mimics.

A versatile intermediate for the synthesis of galactose-mimicking carbasugars was synthesised from tetrabenzyl galactose in five steps and 30% overall yield. The reaction sequence uses an L-proline-mediated aldol reaction as key step. The reaction sequence was run on several grams of material.

Synthesis and conformational analysis of carbasugar bioisosteres of alpha-L-iduronic acid and its methyl glycoside.

The synthesis of two novel carbasugar analogues of alpha-L-iduronic acid is described in which the ring-oxygen is replaced by a methylene group. In analogy with the conformational equilibrium described for alpha-L-IdopA, the conformation of the carbasugars was investigated by (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy. Hadamard transform NMR experiments were utilised for rapid acquisition of (1)H,(13)C-HSQC spectra and efficient measurements of heteronuclear long-range coupling constants. Analysis of (1)H NMR chemical shifts and J(H,H) coupling constants extracted by a total-lineshape fitting procedure in conjunction with J(H,C) coupling constants obtained by three different 2D NMR experiments, viz., (1)H,(13)C-HSQC-HECADE, J-HMBC and IPAP-HSQC-TOCSY-HT, as well as effective proton-proton distances from 1D (1)H,(1)H T-ROE and NOE experiments showed that the conformational equilibrium [formula in text] is shifted towards (4)C(1) as the predominant or exclusive conformation. These carbasugar bioisosteres of alpha-l-iduronic acid do not as monomers show the inherent flexibility that is anticipated to be necessary for biological activity.

Synthesis of carbasugar-containing non-glycosidically linked pseudodisaccharides and higher pseudooligosaccharides.

This minireview covers synthetic methods towards carbasugar-containing non-glycosidically linked pseudodisaccharides or higher pseudooligosaccharides. Carbocyclic pyranose mimetics (saturated or unsaturated between C-5 and C-5a) are linked by ether, thioether or amine bridges to carbohydrates or other carbasugars.

The conformational properties of the Glc3Man unit suggest conformational biasing within the chaperone-assisted glycoprotein folding pathway.

A major puzzle is: are all glycoproteins routed through the ER calnexin pathway irrespective of whether this is required for their correct folding? Calnexin recognizes the terminal Glcalpha1-3Manalpha linkage, formed by trimming of the Glcalpha1-2Glcalpha1-3Glcalpha1-3Manalpha (Glc3Man) unit in Glc3Man9GlcNAc2. Different conformations of this unit have been reported. We have addressed this problem by studying the conformation of a series of N-glycans; i.e. Glc3ManOMe, Glc3Man(4,5,7)GlcNAc2 and Glc1Man9GlcNAc2 using 2D NMR NOESY, ROESY, T-ROESY and residual dipolar coupling experiments in a range of solvents, along with solution molecular dynamics simulations of Glc3ManOMe. Our results show a single conformation for the Glcalpha1-2Glcalpha and Glcalpha1-3Glcalpha linkages, and a major (65%) and a minor (30%) conformer for the Glcalpha1-3Manalpha linkage. Modeling of the binding of Glc1Man9GlcNAc2 to calnexin suggests that it is the minor conformer that is recognized by calnexin. This may be one of the mechanisms for controlling the rate of recruitment of proteins into the calnexin/calreticulin chaperone system and enabling proteins that do not require such assistance for folding to bypass the system. This is the first time evidence has been presented on glycoprotein folding that suggests the process may be optimized to balance the chaperone-assisted and chaperone-independent pathways.

Carbasugar-thioether pseudodisaccharides related to N-glycan biosynthesis.

Analogues of the alpha-Glcp-(1-->3)-alpha-Glcp and alpha-Glcp-(1-->3)-alpha-Manp disaccharides (representing the two alpha-gluco linkages cleaved by alpha-Glucosidase II in N-glycan biosynthesis) in which the non-reducing-end sugar is replaced by a carbasugar and the inter-glycosidic oxygen by a sulfur were synthesised. The key coupling step was an S(N)2 displacement of an equatorial triflate at C-1 of the carbasugar by C-3 gluco or manno thiolates with inversion of configuration to give thioether pseudodisaccharides with axial substitution at C-1 of the carbasugar. The deprotected pseudodisaccharides failed to inhibit the action of alpha-Glucosidase II as measured both by an in vitro assay and by free oligosaccharide (FOS) analysis from cell studies.

(Z)-1,2:5,6-Di-O-isopropyl-idene-α-d-ribo-hexofuranos-3-ulose O-benzyl-oxime.

The title compound, C(19)H(25)NO(6), is a Z diastereomer in which the phenyl ring of the 3-benzyl-oxime substituent and the 5,6-O-isopropyl-idene acetal are both located on the Si-face of the C=N double bond. Inter-molecular C-H⋯O inter-actions result in helical chains along the b axis of the monoclinic unit cell.

Galectin-inhibitory thiodigalactoside ester derivatives have antimigratory effects in cultured lung and prostate cancer cells.

Aromatic 3,3'-diesters of thiodigalactoside were synthesized in a rapid three-step sequence from commercially available thiodigalactoside and evaluated as inhibitors of cancer- and immunity-related galectins. For each of galectins-1, -3, -7, and -9N-terminal domain, aromatic 3,3'-diesters of thiodigalactoside were found to have affinities in the low micromolar range, which represents a 7-70 fold enhancement over thiodigalactoside itself. No significant improvement was found for galectin-8 N-terminal domain. Two of the compounds were selected for testing in cell culture and were shown to have potent antimigratory effects on human PC-3 prostate and human A549 nonsmall-cell lung cancer cells.

Intramolecular aglycon delivery.

A Minireview with 51 references covering the two-step tethering and intramolecular glycosylation process termed intramolecular aglycon delivery (IAD). Specifically, glycosylation reactions where the tethered oxygen acts as nucleophile are covered. In the majority of cases, tethering to O-2 of a glycosyl donor ensures formation of a 1,2-cis glycoside after intramolecular glycosylation.

Studies on the synthesis of valienamine and 1-epi-valienamine starting from D-glucose or L-sorbose.

Two synthetic routes to a carbocyclic precursor to valienamine are reported, starting from either D-glucose or L-sorbose and using ring-closing metathesis as a key step. A low-yielding synthesis of 1-epi-valienamine is reported. Results from an abortive third possible route to valienamine based on an early introduction of nitrogen are discussed.

Double affinity amplification of galectin-ligand interactions through arginine-arene interactions: synthetic, thermodynamic, and computational studies with aromatic diamido thiodigalactosides.

A series of aromatic mono- or diamido-thiodigalactoside derivatives were synthesized and studied as ligands for galectin-1, -3, -7, -8N terminal domain, and -9N terminal domain. The affinity determination in vitro with competitive fluorescence-polarization experiments and thermodynamic analysis by isothermal microcalorimetry provided a coherent picture of structural requirements for arginine-arene interactions in galectin-ligand binding. Computational studies were employed to explain binding preferences for the different galectins. Galectin-3 formed two almost ideal arene-arginine stacking interactions according to computer modeling and also had the highest affinity for the diamido-thiodigalactosides (K(d) below 50 nM). Site-directed mutagenesis of galectin-3 arginines involved in binding corroborated the importance of their interaction with the aromatic diamido-thiodigalactosides. Furthermore, the arginine mutants revealed distinct differences between free, flexible, and solvent-exposed arginine side chains and tightly ion-paired arginine side chains in interactions with aromatic systems.

Stereospecific debenzylative cycloetherification of carbohydrate-derived allylic alcohols, ethers and esters to form vinyl C-furanosides.

Benzyl ether protected polyhydroxylated alkene compounds containing allylic alcohol, ether or ester functionality undergo a stereospecific cyclisation reaction upon treatment with TFA-acetonitrile-toluene with inversion of configuration at the allylic position and loss of a benzyl ether to give tetrahydrofurans.