Prolonging microtubule dysruption enhances the immunogenicity of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia cells.

Cytotoxic chemotherapies do not usually mediate the expression of an immunogenic gene programme in tumours, despite activating many of the signalling pathways employed by highly immunogenic cells. Concomitant use of agents that modulate and complement stress-signalling pathways activated by chemotherapeutic agents may then enhance the immunogenicity of cancer cells, increase their susceptibility to T cell-mediated controls and lead to higher clinical remission rates. Consistent with this hypothesis, the microtubule inhibitor, vincristine, caused chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) cells to die rapidly, without increasing their immunogenicity. Protein kinase C (PKC) agonists (such as bryostatin) delayed the death of vincristine-treated CLL cells and made them highly immunogenic, with increased stimulatory abilities in mixed lymphocyte responses, production of proinflammatory cytokines, expression of co-stimulatory molecules and activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), p38 and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) signalling pathways. This phenotype was similar to the result of activating CLL cells through Toll-like receptors (TLRs), which communicate 'danger' signals from infectious pathogens. Use of PKC agonists and microtubule inhibitors to mimic TLR-signalling, and increase the immunogenicity of CLL cells, has implications for the design of chemo-immunotherapeutic strategies.

Single-molecule motions of oligoarginine transporter conjugates on the plasma membrane of Chinese hamster ovary cells.

To explore the real-time dynamic behavior of molecular transporters of the cell-penetrating-peptide (CPP) type on a biological membrane, single fluorescently labeled oligoarginine conjugates were imaged interacting with the plasma membrane of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. The diffusional motion on the membrane, characterized by single-molecule diffusion coefficient and residence time (tau R), defined as the time from the initial appearance of a single-molecule spot on the membrane (from the solution) to the time the single molecule disappears from the imaging focal plane, was observed for a fluorophore-labeled octaarginine (a model guanidinium-rich CPP) and compared with the corresponding values observed for a tetraarginine conjugate (negative control), a lipid analogue, and a fluorescently labeled protein conjugate (transferrin-Alexa594) known to enter the cell through endocytosis. Imaging of the oligoarginine conjugates was enabled by the use of a new high-contrast fluorophore in the dicyanomethylenedihydrofuran family, which brightens upon interaction with the membrane at normal oxygen concentrations. Taken as a whole, the motions of the octaarginine conjugate single molecules are highly heterogeneous and cannot be described as Brownian motion with a single diffusion coefficient. The observed behavior is also different from that of lipids, known to penetrate cellular membranes through passive diffusion, conventionally involving lateral diffusion followed by membrane bilayer flip-flop. Furthermore, while the octaarginine conjugate behavior shares some common features with transferrin uptake (endocytotic) processes, the two systems also exhibit dissimilar traits when diffusional motions and residence times of single constructs are compared. Additionally, pretreatment of cells with cytochalasin D, a known actin filament disruptor, produces no significant effect, which further rules out unimodal endocytosis as the mechanism of uptake. Also, the involvement of membrane potential in octaarginine-membrane interaction is supported by significant changes in the motion with high [K(+)] treatment. In sum, this first study of single transporter motion on the membrane of a living cell indicates that the mode by which the octaarginine transporter penetrates the cell membrane appears to either be a multimechanism uptake process or a mechanism different from unimodal passive diffusion or endocytosis.

An efficient, scalable synthesis of the molecular transporter octaarginine via a segment doubling strategy.

[reaction: see text]. Short oligomers of arginine function as remarkably efficient molecular transporters of drugs and probe molecules into cells and tissue. Currently, these compounds are prepared on resin through a unidirectional solid-phase synthesis. To extend the utility of these compounds for therapeutic and research applications, a scalable solution-phase synthesis of Arg8 (1) has been developed on the basis of a segment doubling strategy that proceeds in 13 steps and 28% overall yield from 4, including a novel one-step perdeprotection-perguanidinylation reaction.

Toward the identification of selective modulators of protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes: establishment of a binding assay for PKC isozymes using synthetic C1 peptide receptors and identification of the critical residues involved in the phorbol ester binding.

Conventional and novel protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes contain two cysteine-rich C1 domains (C1A and C1B), both of which are candidate phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu) binding sites. We previously synthesized C1 peptides (of approximately 50 residues) corresponding to all PKC isozymes and measured their PDBu binding affinity. While many of these peptide receptors exhibited PDBu affinities comparable to the respective complete isozyme, some of the C1A peptides could not be used because they undergo temperature dependent inactivation. This problem was however eliminated by 4 degrees C incubation or elongation of the 50-mer C1 peptides at both N- and C-termini to increase their folding efficiency and stability. These findings enabled us to determine the K(d)'s of PDBu for all PKC C1 peptides (except for theta-C1A) and establish the value of these peptides as readily available, stable, and easily handled surrogates of the individual isozymes. The resultant C1 peptide receptor library can be used to screen for new ligands with PKC isozyme and importantly C1 domain selectivity. Most of the C1 peptide receptors showed strong PDBu binding affinities with K(d)'s in the nanomolar range (0.45-7.4 nM). Two peptides (delta-C1A and theta-C1A) bound PDBu over 100-fold less tightly. To identify the residues that contribute to this affinity difference, several mutants of delta-C1A and theta-C1A were synthesized. Both the G9K mutant of delta-C1A and the P9K mutant of theta-C1A showed K(d)'s of 2-3 nM. This approach provides a useful procedure to determine the role of each C1 domain of the PKC isozymes by point mutation.

Asymmetric synthesis of the tricyclic core of NGF-inducing cyathane diterpenes via a transition-metal-catalyzed [5 + 2] cycloaddition.

[reaction: see text] A concise asymmetric synthesis of the tricyclic core of cyathane diterpenes is described, based on a novel transition-metal-catalyzed intramolecular [5 + 2] cycloaddition of ynone-vinylcyclopropane 10 (assembled from commercially available (S)-(-)-limonene), which proceeds in 90% yield with >95% selectivity. This strategy provides efficient access (14 steps and 13% overall yield) to potential analogues as well as precursors of nerve growth factor (NGF)-inducing diterpenes.

The C4 hydroxyl group of phorbol esters is not necessary for protein kinase C binding.

To investigate the role of the hydroxyl group at position 4 of the phorbol esters in protein kinase C (PKC) binding and function, 4beta-deoxy-phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate (4beta-deoxy-PDBu, 5a) and 4beta-deoxy-phorbol-13-acetate (6a) were synthesized from phorbol (1). The binding affinities of these 4beta-deoxy compounds (5a, 6a) to the 13 PKC isozyme C1 domains were quite similar to those of the corresponding 4beta-hydroxy compounds (4a, 4b), suggesting that the C4 hydroxyl group of phorbol esters is not necessary for PKC binding. Moreover, functional assays showed that 4beta-deoxy-PDBu (5a) exhibited biological activities (Epstein-Barr virus induction and superoxide generation) equally potent to those of PDBu (4a). These solution phase results differ from expectations based on the previously reported solid-phase structure of the complex of PKCdelta-C1B and phorbol-13-acetate (4b).

Photocleavage of DNA by 4'-bromoacetophenone analogs.

4'-Bromoacetophenone analogs, which are able to generate monophenyl radicals capable of hydrogen atom abstraction, were investigated as possible photoinducible DNA cleaving agents. The potential of 4'-bromoacetophenone as a possible new DNA cleaver is explored. Pyrrolecarboxatmid conjugated 4'-bromoacetophenones, in particular, DNA cleaving activity and sequence-selectivity on the contiguous AT base pair sites.

Molecular transporters for peptides: delivery of a cardioprotective epsilonPKC agonist peptide into cells and intact ischemic heart using a transport system, R(7).

BACKGROUND: Recently, we reported a novel oligoguanidine transporter system, polyarginine (R(7)), which, when conjugated to spectroscopic probes (e.g., fluorescein) and drugs (e.g., cyclosporin A), results in highly water-soluble conjugates that rapidly enter cells and tissues. We report herein the preparation of the first R(7) peptide conjugates and a study of their cellular and organ uptake and functional activity. The octapeptide (psi)(epsilon)RACK was selected for this study as it is known to exhibit selective epsilon protein kinase C isozyme agonist activity and to reduce ischemia-induced damage in cardiomyocytes. However, (psi)(epsilon)RACK is not cell-permeable. RESULTS: Here we show that an R(7)-(psi)(epsilon)RACK conjugate readily enters cardiomyocytes, significantly outperforming (psi)(epsilon)RACK conjugates of the transporters derived from HIV Tat and from Antennapedia. Moreover, R(7)-(psi)(epsilon)RACK conjugate reduced ischemic damage when delivered into intact hearts either prior to or after the ischemic insult. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that R(7) converts a peptide lead into a potential therapeutic agent for the ischemic heart.

Conjugation of arginine oligomers to cyclosporin A facilitates topical delivery and inhibition of inflammation.

Many systemically effective drugs such as cyclosporin A are ineffective topically because of their poor penetration into skin. To surmount this problem, we conjugated a heptamer of arginine to cyclosporin A through a pH-sensitive linker to produce R7-CsA. In contrast to unmodified cyclosporin A, which fails to penetrate skin, topically applied R7-CsA was efficiently transported into cells in mouse and human skin. R7-CsA reached dermal T lymphocytes and inhibited cutaneous inflammation. These data establish a general strategy for enhancing delivery of poorly absorbed drugs across tissue barriers and provide a new topical approach to the treatment of inflammatory skin disorders.

The design, synthesis, and evaluation of molecules that enable or enhance cellular uptake: peptoid molecular transporters.

Certain proteins contain subunits that enable their active translocation across the plasma membrane into cells. In the specific case of HIV-1, this subunit is the basic domain Tat(49-57) (RKKRRQRRR). To establish the optimal structural requirements for this translocation process, and thereby to develop improved molecular transporters that could deliver agents into cells, a series of analogues of Tat(49-57) were prepared and their cellular uptake into Jurkat cells was determined by flow cytometry. All truncated and alanine-substituted analogues exhibited diminished cellular uptake, suggesting that the cationic residues of Tat(49-57) play a principal role in its uptake. Charge alone, however, is insufficient for transport as oligomers of several cationic amino acids (histidine, lysine, and ornithine) are less effective than Tat(49-57) in cellular uptake. In contrast, a 9-mer of l-arginine (R9) was 20-fold more efficient than Tat(49-57) at cellular uptake as determined by Michaelis-Menton kinetic analysis. The d-arginine oligomer (r9) exhibited an even greater uptake rate enhancement (>100-fold). Collectively, these studies suggest that the guanidinium groups of Tat(49-57) play a greater role in facilitating cellular uptake than either charge or backbone structure. Based on this analysis, we designed and synthesized a class of polyguanidine peptoid derivatives. Remarkably, the subset of peptoid analogues containing a six-methylene spacer between the guanidine head group and backbone (N-hxg), exhibited significantly enhanced cellular uptake compared to Tat(49-57) and even to r9. Overall, a transporter has been developed that is superior to Tat(49-57), protease resistant, and more readily and economically prepared.

Synthesis and PKC isozyme surrogate binding of indothiolactam-V, a new thioamide analogue of tumor promoting indolactam-V.

To investigate the role of the amide group of (-)-indolactam-V (1) on PKC binding, we synthesized (-)-indothiolactam-V (2), a new thioamide analogue of 1, by microbial conversion using Streptomyces blastmyceticum. Compounds 2 and 1 showed similar binding affinities to conventional PKCs but 2 had lower affinities to novel PKCs, suggesting that novel PKCs recognize amide modifications more effectively than conventional PKCs.

Asymmetric total synthesis of (+)-aphanamol I based on the transition metal catalyzed [5 + 2] cycloaddition of allenes and vinylcyclopropanes.

A concise asymmetric total synthesis of (+)-aphanamol I is described, based on the transition metal catalyzed [5 + 2] allenyl-vinylcyclopropane cycloaddition. The key cycloaddition precursor is convergently assembled from (R)-(+)-limonene and cyclopropane diester through a novel decarboxylative dehydration reaction. The metal-catalyzed [5 + 2] cycloaddition of this precursor proceeds with complete chemo, endo/exo, and diastereoselectivity in 93% yield, representing an effective general route to bicyclo[5.3.0]decane derivatives.

Design and synthesis of new DNA photocleavers, 4'-bromoace-tophenone-pyrrolecarboxamide hybrid compounds.

4-Bromoacetophenone-pyrrolecarboxamide conjugates were designed and synthesized as photoinducible DNA cleaving agents which can generate monophenyl radicals capable of causing the hydrogen atom abstraction which initiates the scission of DNA.

Synthesis and tumor-promoting activities of 12-Epi-phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate.

12-Epi-phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate (1), the C12-epimer of the most frequently used phorbol ester probe, phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu), has been synthesized from phorbol in 9 steps in order to investigate the structural requirements for tumor-promoting activity. Compound 1 showed about 100-fold weaker in vitro biological activities related to in vivo tumor promotion, Epstein-Barr virus early antigen (EBV-EA)-inducing ability, superoxide (O2-) generation-inducing ability, and binding to the protein kinase C (PKC) regulatory domain surrogate peptides. The results indicated that the beta-stereochemistry at position 12 of the phorbol skeleton is important for optimal activity. Binding selectivity to each PKC C1 domain of 1 was almost equal to that of PDBu.

The rational design of potential chemotherapeutic agents: synthesis of bryostatin analogues.

The bryostatins are a unique family of cancer chemotherapeutic candidates isolated from marine bryozoa. While their molecular mode of action is not known, these macrolactones exhibit high affinities for protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes, compete for the phorbol ester binding site on PKC, and stimulate kinase activity in vitro and in vivo. Unlike the phorbol esters, they do not act as tumor promoters. Despite promising biological properties, the supply of these compounds is limited by the difficulty of their isolation from natural sources and their synthetic complexity. A new class of bryostatin analogues which retain the putative recognition domain of the bryostatins but are simplified through deletions and modifications in the C1-C14 spacer domain have been designed using computer models. A convergent synthesis has been realized for the production, in gram quantities, of these recognition and spacer domains whose coupling allows for the generation of a range of analogues. The final closure process involves a novel macrotransacetalization reaction which proceeds with complete stereoselectivity. The solution structures of two synthetic analogues were determined by NMR spectroscopy and found to be very similar to the previously reported structures of bryostatins 1 and 10. In addition, these structures appear to indicate that the stereochemistry of the C3 hydroxyl group plays a significant role in the conformation of the macrolactone. All analogues bound strongly to a mixture of PKC isozymes, and several exhibited significant levels of in vitro growth inhibitory activity against human cancer cell lines. Taken together, this work provides important steps toward the development and understanding of simplified, synthetically accessible analogues of the bryostatins as potential chemotherapeutic agents.

Synthesis and phorbol ester-binding studies of the individual cysteine-rich motifs of protein kinase D.

To investigate the phorbol ester-binding properties of the individual cysteine-rich motifs of protein kinase D (PKD), the 52-mer peptides containing each cysteine-rich motif of PKD (PKD-C1A, PKD-C1B) have been synthesized. The [3H]phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu) binding to PKD-C1A was affected drastically by incubation temperature while that to PKD-C1B was not. Scatchard analysis of [3H]PDBu binding to both PKD C1 peptides gave dissociation constants of 2.5 +/- 0.4 and 2.7 +/- 0.8 nM for PKD-C1A and PKD-C1B, respectively, indicating that the two cysteine-rich motifs of PKD are functionally equivalent like those of PKCgamma.

Solid-phase synthesis, mass spectrometric analysis of the zinc-folding, and phorbol ester-binding studies of the 116-mer peptide containing the tandem cysteine-rich C1 domains of protein kinase C gamma.

Tumor-promoting phorbol esters activate protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes by binding to the zinc-finger like cysteine-rich domains in the N-terminal regulatory region. Our recent studies have revealed that only PKCgamma has two high affinity phorbol ester-binding domains, providing a structural blueprint for the rational design of PKCgamma-selective modulators for the treatment of neuropathic pain. To extend this approach, the 116-mer peptide containing the double cysteine-rich motifs of PKCgamma (gamma-C1A-C1B) has been synthesized for the first time using an Fmoc-solid phase strategy with a stepwise chain elongation. This peptide was purified by the reversed phase HPLC to give satisfactory mass data (MALDI-TOF-MS and ESI-TOF-MS). The peptide was successfully folded by zinc treatment and the folded peptide was analyzed intact under neutral conditions by ESI-TOF-MS. The multiple charge mass envelopes shifted to those of the lower mass charge state by addition of 4 molar equiv. ZnCl2, suggesting that gamma-C1A-C1B preserves some higher order structure by the zinc folding. Moreover, the mass spectrum of the zinc-folded peptide in the presence of EDTA clearly showed that gamma-C1A-C1B coordinates exactly four atoms of zinc. This zinc stoichiometry is identical to that of native PKCgamma. Scatchard analysis of the zinc-folded peptide revealed two binding sites of distinctly different affinities (Kd=6.0 +/- 1.5 and 47.0 +/- 6.6 nM) comparable to those reported by Quest and Bell for the GST fusion protein of gamma-C1A-C1B prepared by DNA recombination. These results indicate that gamma-C1A-C1B serves as an effective surrogate for native PKCgamma for the study of the structural characteristics of the binding recognition event and the design, discovery, and development of new PKCgamma-selective modulators.

Selective binding of bryostatin analogues to the cysteine rich domains of protein kinase C isozymes.

Designed bryostatin analogues are assayed for binding affinity to individual cysteine rich domains of several protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes. These analogues exhibit significant selectivity for the PKCdelta-C1B peptide in terms of absolute affinity and the PKCdelta-C1A peptide in terms of relative affinity when compared to phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate.

Bromoacetophenone-based photonucleases: photoinduced cleavage of DNA by 4'-bromoacetophenone-pyrrolecarboxamide conjugates.

[formula: see text] 4'-Bromoacetophenone derivatives which upon excitation can generate monophenyl radicals capable of hydrogen atom abstraction were investigated as photoinducible DNA cleaving agents. Pyrrolecarboxamide-conjugated 4'-bromoacetophenones were synthesized, and their DNA cleaving activities and sequence selectivities were determined.