ABSTRACT
A rapid sensitive method for the quantification of in vitro HIV-protease activity has been developed on the basis of the endoproteolytic conversion of N-Dns-SQ-NYPIV to N-Dns-SQNY. The use of the N-dansyl group as a fluorescence label was shown to not significantly alter the apparent kinetic parameters for the peptide-enzyme interaction. Using fluorescence detection, the dansylated product and unconverted substrate are detected in a single rapid (3 min) isocratic reverse-phase HPLC separation in quantities as low as 0.2 pmol. The method is highly reproducible and suited to a variety of applications including the analysis of large sample numbers and rigorous enzymological studies.
Subject(s)
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Endopeptidases/analysis , Fluorometry , Gene Products, pol/analysis , Retroviridae Proteins/analysis , Amino Acid Sequence , Dansyl Compounds , Fluorescent Dyes , HIV Protease , Molecular Sequence Data , Peptide Fragments/metabolism , Recombinant Fusion Proteins/analysis , Substrate SpecificityABSTRACT
The synthesis of novel 1-thio-substituted butadienes, designed as mechanism-based 5-lipoxygenase inhibitors, is described. The structure of these compounds closely resembles a proposed high-energy intermediate during the lipoxygenation of arachidonic acid. They demonstrate 5-lipoxygenase inhibition in vitro and in vivo. The most potent compound is 15a with an IC50 of 1.8 microM in vitro. LTC4 release was inhibited by 80% after intraperitoneal administration of 15c at a dose of 2 mg/kg.