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Biomedical subjects

D A Horne

Publications and source records attributed to D A Horne.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

Synthesis of slagenins A, B, and C.

[structure: see text] A short synthesis of the marine sponge metabolites slagenins A (1), B (2), and C (3) is described. The synthetic route features the preparation of beta-hydroxyimidazolone 4 from ornithine and its subsequent oxidative cyclization to the slagenin core.

Animals↗

A facile synthesis of dragmacidin B and 2,5-bis(6'-bromo-3'-indolyl)piperazine.

A short synthesis of dragmacidin B (1), 2,5-bis(6'-bromo-3'-indolyl)piperazine (2), and corresponding didebromo analogues 8 and 9 is described. The key steps involve the dimerization of oxotryptamines 4 and 11 to give bis(indolyl)pyrazines 5 and 12, which upon selective reduction and reductive methylation with sodium cyanoborohydride afforded the requisite piperazine natural products.

Animals↗

A concise synthesis of topsentin A and nortopsentins B and D.

[reaction: see text] A concise synthesis of topsentin A (R(1) = R(2) = H) and nortopsentins B (R(1) = Br, R(2) = H) and D (R(1) = R(2) = H) is described from oxotryptamine 5 via reduction of acyl cyanide 4. Regiospecific bromination of 3-cyanoindole afforded 6-bromo-3-cyanoindole (10) as the major product.

Animals↗

The role of cysteine residues in the rearrangement of uridine to pseudouridine catalyzed by pseudouridine synthase I.

Escherichia coli tRNA pseudouridine synthase I (PSUI) catalyzes the conversion of uridine residues to pseudouridine in positions 38, 39, and 40 of various tRNA molecules. In previous biochemical studies with this enzyme (Kammen, H. O., Marvel, C. C., Hardy, L., and Penhoet, E. E. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 2255-2263) it was reported that cysteine residues are important in maintaining the active structure of the enzyme and are possibly involved in the catalytic reaction mechanism via a covalent cysteine intermediate. In order to further investigate the biochemical properties of PSUI, a high level expression and purification system for the enzyme and its corresponding mutants was developed. PSUI has three cysteine residues among 270 amino acids. In the present investigation, each cysteine residue was individually changed to serine and alanine. In addition, a triple mutant was prepared wherein all three cysteine residues were replaced by alanine. Surprisingly, while two of the three cysteine to serine mutants were inactive, all alanine mutants exhibited near wild-type levels of activity, including the triple mutant. These results provide the first direct and unambiguous chemical evidence against a covalent cysteine intermediate in the rearrangement mechanism of uridine to pseudouridine.

Catalysis↗

Effects of an abasic site on triple helix formation characterized by affinity cleaving.

The stability of triple helical complexes of pyrimidine oligodeoxyribonucleotides containing one abasic 1,2-dideoxy-D-ribose (phi) residue was examined by affinity cleaving. Within a pyrimidine third strand, the triplets phi.AT, phi.GC, phi.TA and phi.CG are significantly less stable than the triplets, T.AT, C+GC and G.TA. The decrease in binding produced by an abasic residue is similar to that observed with imperfectly matched natural base triplets, with phi.AT and phi.GC being less stable than phi.TA and phi.CG triplets for the sequences studied.

Base Composition↗

Single nucleotide modulation of uridine to pseudouridine rearrangement in transfer RNA catalyzed by pseudouridine synthase I.

E. coli pseudouridine synthase I (PSUI) catalyzes the rearrangement of uridine residues in positions 38, 39 and 40 of tRNA transcripts to pseudouridine. These positions are located in the anticodon stem-loop of the tRNA molecule. Fourteen different E. coli tRNAs are substrates for the enzyme, whereas four other tRNAs which contain uridine in position 38 are not. Investigations were focused on the basis of enzyme differentiation between substrate and non-substrate tRNAs. Comparison of modification reactions with mutant and wild-type tRNA transcripts demonstrates that the presence of a G36 residue modulates modification by PSUI at position 38. In addition to local sequence effects, steady-state kinetic analyses suggest the existence of other recognition elements distinct from the immediate vicinity of modification.

Base Sequence↗