Automatic analysis of quantitative NMR data of pharmaceutical compound libraries.

In drug discovery, chemical library compounds are usually dissolved in DMSO at a certain concentration and then distributed to biologists for target screening. Quantitative (1)H NMR (qNMR) is the preferred method for the determination of the actual concentrations of compounds because the relative single proton peak areas of two chemical species represent the relative molar concentrations of the two compounds, that is, the compound of interest and a calibrant. Thus, an analyte concentration can be determined using a calibration compound at a known concentration. One particularly time-consuming step in the qNMR analysis of compound libraries is the manual integration of peaks. In this report is presented an automated method for performing this task without prior knowledge of compound structures and by using an external calibration spectrum. The script for automated integration is fast and adaptable to large-scale data sets, eliminating the need for manual integration in ~80% of the cases.

Design and synthesis of polyethylene glycol-modified biphenylsulfonyl-thiophene-carboxamidine inhibitors of the complement component C1s.

Complement C1s protease inhibitors have potential utility in the treatment of diseases associated with activation of the classical complement pathway such as humorally mediated graft rejection, ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), vascular leak syndrome, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The utility of biphenylsulfonyl-thiophene-carboxamidine small-molecule C1s inhibitors are limited by their poor in vivo pharmacokinetic properties. Pegylation of a potent analog has provided compounds with good potency and good in vivo pharmacokinetic properties.

Structural basis for elastolytic substrate specificity in rodent alpha-chymases.

Divergence of substrate specificity within the context of a common structural framework represents an important mechanism by which new enzyme activity naturally evolves. We present enzymological and x-ray structural data for hamster chymase-2 (HAM2) that provides a detailed explanation for the unusual hydrolytic specificity of this rodent alpha-chymase. In enzymatic characterization, hamster chymase-1 (HAM1) showed typical chymase proteolytic activity. In contrast, HAM2 exhibited atypical substrate specificity, cleaving on the carboxyl side of the P1 substrate residues Ala and Val, characteristic of elastolytic rather than chymotryptic specificity. The 2.5-A resolution crystal structure of HAM2 complexed to the peptidyl inhibitor MeOSuc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Ala-chloromethylketone revealed a narrow and shallow S1 substrate binding pocket that accommodated only a small hydrophobic residue (e.g. Ala or Val). The different substrate specificities of HAM2 and HAM1 are explained by changes in four S1 substrate site residues (positions 189, 190, 216, and 226). Of these, Asn(189), Val(190), and Val(216) form an easily identifiable triplet in all known rodent alpha-chymases that can be used to predict elastolytic specificity for novel chymase-like sequences. Phylogenetic comparison defines guinea pig and rabbit chymases as the closest orthologs to rodent alpha-chymases.