MicroRNA 449a can Attenuate Protective Effect of Urokinase Against Pulmonary Embolism.

Acute pulmonary embolism (APE) is a disabling diseases with high incidence rate and mortality rate. Although with high specificity, D-Dimer lacks specificity to assess APE, hence additional diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers are necessary. APE is widely treated with serine protease urokinase or urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), which act as a catalyst for conversion of plasminogen to plasmin to resolve blood clots. However, it is unknown the role of differential expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) in protective effect of uPA against APE. Hence, we performed miRNA profiling in a hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) model of bronchial epithelial BEAS-2B cells in vitro and a APE mice model in vivo. Our analysis revealed that miR-34a-5p, miR-324-5p, miR-331-3p are upregulated with H/R or APE induction, whereas miR-429, miR-491-5p, and miR-449a are downregulated. The differential expression of the miRNAs was attenuated to levels comparable to control by treatment with uPA both in vitro and in vivo. In situ target prediction and analysis of potential functions of the target genes showed that the enrichment of biological processes and pathways were related to cell growth, proliferation, and inflammation. Ectopic overexpression of miR-449a using a mimic completely attenuated the protective effect of uPA in the H/R model in vitro. These results provide a group of miRNAs that could be used as markers, and the modulation of these miRNAs might have potential therapeutic benefits in patients with APE, which need to be validated in additional studies in humans.

Synthesis of tryptophan-containing 2,5-diketopiperazines via sequential C-H activation: total syntheses of tryprostatin A, maremycins A and B.

Indole 2,5-diketopiperazines (DKPs) are an important type of metabolic cyclic dipeptides containing a tryptophan (Trp) unit possessing a range of interesting biological activities. The intriguing structural features and divergent activities have stimulated tremendous efforts towards their efficient synthesis. Herein, we report the development of a unified strategy for the synthesis of three Trp-containing DKPs, namely tryprostatin A, and maremycins A and B, via a sequential C-H activation strategy. The key Trp skeletons were synthesized from the inexpensive, readily available alanine via a Pd(ii)-catalyzed ß-methyl C(sp3)-H monoarylation. A subsequent C2-selective prenylation of the resulting 6-OMe-Trp by Pd/norbornene-promoted C-H activation led to the total synthesis of tryprostatin A in 12 linear steps from alanine with 25% overall yield. Meanwhile, total syntheses of maremycins A and B were successfully accomplished using a sequential Pd-catalyzed methylene C(sp3)-H methylation as the key step in 15 linear steps from alanine.

Rhodium-Catalyzed Enantioselective Addition of Arylboroxines to Isatin-Derived N-Boc Ketimines Using Chiral Phosphite-Olefin Ligands: Asymmetric Synthesis of 3-Aryl-3-amino-2-oxindoles.

An efficient rhodium-catalyzed enantioselective arylation of isatin-derived N-Boc ketimines with arylboroxines has been developed using H8-BINOL-derived phosphite-olefin as a chiral ligand. This method allows access to a broad variety of valuable tetrasubstituted 3-amino-2-oxindole derivatives in good yields (up to 98%) with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 98% ee).

Rhodium(I)-catalyzed asymmetric carbene insertion into B-H bonds: highly enantioselective access to functionalized organoboranes.

A unique rhodium(I)-catalyzed asymmetric B-H insertion of α-diazo carbonyl compounds with easily available amine-borane adducts was achieved using a newly developed C1-symmetric chiral diene as ligand. This first Rh(I)-carbene-directed B-H insertion example represents an attractive and promising approach for synthesis of highly enantioenriched organoboron compounds, allowing for the efficient construction of α-boryl esters and ketones with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee) under exceptionally mild conditions.

Design of chiral sulfoxide-olefins as a new class of sulfur-based olefin ligands for asymmetric catalysis.

The design and development of a novel class of chiral sulfur-olefin hybrid ligands with high synthetic feasibility are described. These new sulfoxide-olefin ligands showed excellent catalytic activities and enantioselectivities (up to 98% ee) in rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-addition reactions of aryl boronic acids to α,ß-unsaturated carbonyl compounds.