Discovery of novel leukotriene A4 hydrolase inhibitors based on piperidine and piperazine scaffolds.

Novel piperidine and piperazine derivatives have been designed and tested as inhibitors of LTA(4) hydrolase (LTA(4)H). Most potent compounds showed good potency in both enzymatic and functional human whole blood assay. Crystallography studies further confirmed observed structure-activity relationship and LTA(4)H binding mode for analogs from the piperidine series.

Discovery of 4-[(2S)-2-{[4-(4-chlorophenoxy)phenoxy]methyl}-1-pyrrolidinyl]butanoic acid (DG-051) as a novel leukotriene A4 hydrolase inhibitor of leukotriene B4 biosynthesis.

Both in-house human genetic and literature data have converged on the identification of leukotriene 4 hydrolase (LTA(4)H) as a key target for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. We combined fragment-based crystallography screening with an iterative medicinal chemistry effort to optimize inhibitors of LTA(4)H. Ligand efficiency was followed throughout our structure-activity studies. As applied within the context of LTA(4)H inhibitor design, the chemistry team was able to design a potent compound 20 (DG-051) (K(d) = 26 nM) with high aqueous solubility (>30 mg/mL) and high oral bioavailability (>80% across species) that is currently undergoing clinical evaluation for the treatment of myocardial infarction and stroke. The structural biology-chemistry interaction described in this paper provides a sound alternative to conventional screening techniques. This is the first example of a gene-to-clinic paradigm enabled by a fragment-based drug discovery effort.

Discovery of leukotriene A4 hydrolase inhibitors using metabolomics biased fragment crystallography.

We describe a novel fragment library termed fragments of life (FOL) for structure-based drug discovery. The FOL library includes natural small molecules of life, derivatives thereof, and biaryl protein architecture mimetics. The choice of fragments facilitates the interrogation of protein active sites, allosteric binding sites, and protein-protein interaction surfaces for fragment binding. We screened the FOL library against leukotriene A4 hydrolase (LTA4H) by X-ray crystallography. A diverse set of fragments including derivatives of resveratrol, nicotinamide, and indole were identified as efficient ligands for LTA4H. These fragments were elaborated in a small number of synthetic cycles into potent inhibitors of LTA4H representing multiple novel chemotypes for modulating leukotriene biosynthesis. Analysis of the fragment-bound structures also showed that the fragments comprehensively recapitulated key chemical features and binding modes of several reported LTA4H inhibitors.

The crystal structure of the apoenzyme of the iron-sulphur cluster-free hydrogenase.

The iron-sulphur cluster-free hydrogenase (Hmd, EC 1.12.98.2) from methanogenic archaea is a novel type of hydrogenase that tightly binds an iron-containing cofactor. The iron is coordinated by two CO molecules, one sulphur and a pyridone derivative, which is linked via a phosphodiester bond to a guanosine base. We report here on the crystal structure of the Hmd apoenzyme from Methanocaldococcus jannaschii at 1.75 A and from Methanopyrus kandleri at 2.4 A resolution. Homodimeric Hmd reveals a unique architecture composed of one central and two identical peripheral globular units. The central unit is composed of the intertwined C-terminal segments of both subunits, forming a novel intersubunit fold. The two peripheral units consist of the N-terminal domain of each subunit. The Rossmann fold-like structure of the N-terminal domain contains a mononucleotide-binding site, which could harbour the GMP moiety of the cofactor. Another binding site for the iron-containing cofactor is most probably Cys176, which is located at the bottom of a deep intersubunit cleft and which has been shown to be essential for enzyme activity. Adjacent to the iron of the cofactor modelled as a ligand to Cys176, an extended U-shaped extra electron density, interpreted as a polyethyleneglycol fragment, suggests a binding site for the substrate methenyltetrahydromethanopterin.

Crystal structures and enzymatic properties of three formyltransferases from archaea: environmental adaptation and evolutionary relationship.

Formyltransferase catalyzes the reversible formation of formylmethanofuran from N(5)-formyltetrahydromethanopterin and methanofuran, a reaction involved in the C1 metabolism of methanogenic and sulfate-reducing archaea. The crystal structure of the homotetrameric enzyme from Methanopyrus kandleri (growth temperature optimum 98 degrees C) has recently been solved at 1.65 A resolution. We report here the crystal structures of the formyltransferase from Methanosarcina barkeri (growth temperature optimum 37 degrees C) and from Archaeoglobus fulgidus (growth temperature optimum 83 degrees C) at 1.9 A and 2.0 A resolution, respectively. Comparison of the structures of the three enzymes revealed very similar folds. The most striking difference found was the negative surface charge, which was -32 for the M. kandleri enzyme, only -8 for the M. barkeri enzyme, and -11 for the A. fulgidus enzyme. The hydrophobic surface fraction was 50% for the M. kandleri enzyme, 56% for the M. barkeri enzyme, and 57% for the A. fulgidus enzyme. These differences most likely reflect the adaptation of the enzyme to different cytoplasmic concentrations of potassium cyclic 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, which are very high in M. kandleri (>1 M) and relatively low in M. barkeri and A. fulgidus. Formyltransferase is in a monomer/dimer/tetramer equilibrium that is dependent on the salt concentration. Only the dimers and tetramers are active, and only the tetramers are thermostable. The enzyme from M. kandleri is a tetramer, which is active and thermostable only at high concentrations of potassium phosphate (>1 M) or potassium cyclic 2,3-diphosphoglycerate. Conversely, the enzyme from M. barkeri and A. fulgidus already showed these properties, activity and stability, at much lower concentrations of these strong salting-out salts.

Caged O(2). Reaction of cytochrome bo(3) oxidase with photochemically released dioxygen from a cobalt peroxo complex.

We developed the synthesis of the caged oxygen donor (micro-peroxo)(micro-hydroxo)bis[bis(bipyridyl)cobalt(III)] complex (HPBC) as nitrate salt, which has, compared with the perchlorate-form described previously [MacArthur, R., Sucheta, A., Chong, F.F. & Einarsdottir, O. (1995) Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA, 92, 8105-8109], greatly enhanced solubility. Now, the quantum efficiency of the photolytical release of dioxygen was determined to be 0.4 per photon at a laser wavelength of 308 nm, which was used to observe biological reactions. The X-ray structure of HPBC has been solved, and the molecular interactions of photochemically generated oxygen with cytochrome oxidase were investigated with optical and FT-IR spectroscopy: it acts as acceptor of electrons transferred from prereduced cytochrome bo(3), the heme-copper oxidase from Escherichia coli. FT-IR spectra revealed typical absorbance difference changes in the carbonyl region of cytochrome bo(3), supported by bandshifts due to solvent isotope exchange and by assignment using site-directed mutants. IR difference spectra of the photooxidation reaction using the caged oxygen compound, and of the photoreduction reaction using the caged electron donor FMN, have inverted shapes. The spectroscopic signals of carboxyl groups are thus equivalent in both reactions: the use of chemically produced oxygen allows the observation of the ongoing molecular changes of cytochrome bo(3) oxidase under quasi-physiological conditions.