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Herbert Waldmann

Publications and source records attributed to Herbert Waldmann.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed2004

Total synthesis and biological evaluation of the protein phosphatase 2A inhibitor cytostatin and analogues.

The total synthesis of the natural product cytostatin is described which inhibits protein phosphatase 2A. Cytostatin has anti-metastatic properties and induces apoptosis. On the basis of this synthesis the relative and absolute configuration of cytostatin could be assigned. Key structural elements of cytostatin are an alpha,beta-unsaturated lactone group and a side chain embodying a phosphate and a rather unstable (Z,Z,E)-triene subunit. In addition, the natural product carries six stereocenters. For the construction of the stereocenters reagent-controlled transformations were used in order to ensure maximum stereochemical flexibility. The Evans syn-aldol reaction was chosen to establish the stereochemistry at C-4, C-5, C-9 and C-10; C-6 was introduced by means of the Evans asymmetric alkylation. In all cases the same chiral auxiliary was employed as stereodirecting group. The stereocenter at C-11 was established by an asymmetric reduction using CBS-oxazaborolidine. Temporary protection of the phosphate group was achieved best by using the base-labile 9-fluorenylmethyl group, which could be cleanly cleaved by an excess of triethylamine; this reaction yielded analytically pure phosphates after a simple aqueous work-up. The (Z,Z,E)-triene embodied in cytostatin was synthesized by means of a Stille coupling as key transformation. The synthesis sequence established in this way readily gave access to a series of analogues with simplified structure. Initial biological testing of these analogues proved that the alpha,beta-unsaturated lactone, the C-11-hydroxy group and a fully deprotected phosphate moiety at C-9 are essential for the PP2A-inhibitory activity of cytostatin. The rather unstable triene moiety in the side chain can be replaced by other lipophilic residues with only moderate decrease of biological activity. Other phosphatases, that is, PP1, VHR, PTP1B, CD45, were not inhibited by cytostatin or any of the analogues, demonstrating the high selectivity of this compound. These findings will be useful for the design and synthesis of cytostatin-derived chemical tools for the study of biological processes influenced by PP2A.

Enzyme Inhibitors↗
PubMed2004

The cholesterol membrane anchor of the Hedgehog protein confers stable membrane association to lipid-modified proteins.

The Hedgehog proteins are potent organizers of animal development. They carry a cholesterol ester at the C terminus of their signaling domain. The membrane anchoring mediated by this lipophilic modification was studied by means of an approach integrating cell biology, biochemistry, biophysics, and organic chemistry techniques. Sterol-modified and fluorescent-labeled Hedgehog-derived peptides and proteins were synthesized and investigated in biophysical and cell-biological assays. These experiments revealed that cholesterol alone anchors proteins to membranes with significant strength and half-times for spontaneous desorption of several hours. Its membrane anchoring ability is comparable to dual lipidation motifs such as double geranylgeranylation or S-palmitoylation plus S-farnesylation found in other lipidated proteins. The experiments also demonstrate that membrane binding changes dramatically if short lipidated peptides are equipped with a large protein. These data suggest that for Hedgehog release and subsequent signaling an interaction partner such as the Dispatched protein is necessary. In addition to these findings the described approach allows one to correlate biophysical data obtained with model peptides with data determined with fully functional proteins and to combine results from in vitro and in vivo experiments. It should be generally applicable to other membrane anchors and proteins.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Structure assignment, total synthesis, and evaluation of the phosphatase modulating activity of glucolipsin A.

The previously unknown stereostructure of glucolipsin A (1), a complex glycolipid endowed with glucokinase-activating properties, was unambiguously elucidated as (2R,2'R,3S,3'S) by comparison of its spectroscopic and analytical data with those of all conceivable C(2)-symmetric stereoisomers. This set of macrodiolides was prepared by a sequence comprising auxiliary guided aldol reactions, glycosidation of the resulting beta-hydroxy acid derivatives with trichloroacetimidate 7, followed by hydrolytic cleavage of the auxiliaries used. The hydroxy acids thus formed were subjected to a macrodilactonization reaction mediated by 2-chloro-1,3-dimethylimidazolinium chloride (22) as the activating agent; this transformation is highly productive only in the presence of admixed potassium cations which likely serve as templates to preorganize two substrate molecules in a favorable head-to-tail arrangement. Glucolipsin and analogues were subjected to enzymatic assays that revealed that glycoconjugates of this type effectively inhibit the activity of the dual specific phosphatase Cdc25A with IC(50) values in the low micromolar range, while being hardly active against the tyrosine phosphatase PTP1B in vitro. This activity profile was compared to that of other glycolipids previously prepared in this laboratory, including cycloviracin B(1) (2), caloporoside (38), woodrosin I (39), sophorolipid lactone (40), and tricolorin G (41).

Disaccharides↗
PubMed2004

Synthesis of lipidated peptides.

This chapter describes general methodologies for the synthesis of lipidated, that is, prenylated and/or palmitoylated peptides. Standard operating procedures are given for peptide synthesis both on the polymeric support and in solution.

Lipids↗
PubMed2003

Structure of Rab GDP-dissociation inhibitor in complex with prenylated YPT1 GTPase.

Rab/Ypt guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) represent a family of key membrane traffic regulators in eukaryotic cells whose function is governed by the guanosine diphosphate (GDP) dissociation inhibitor (RabGDI). Using a combination of chemical synthesis and protein engineering, we generated and crystallized the monoprenylated Ypt1:RabGDI complex. The structure of the complex was solved to 1.5 angstrom resolution and provides a structural basis for the ability of RabGDI to inhibit the release of nucleotide by Rab proteins. Isoprenoid binding requires a conformational change that opens a cavity in the hydrophobic core of its domain II. Analysis of the structure provides a molecular basis for understanding a RabGDI mutant that causes mental retardation in humans.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed2003

Synthesis and biological activity of photoactivatable N-ras peptides and proteins.

A modular strategy for the assembly of farnesylated N-Ras heptapeptides carrying a photoactivatable benzophenone (BP) group within the lipid residue is described. This strategy is based on the fragment condensation of a N-terminal hexapeptide synthesized on the solid support with a cysteine methyl ester which is modified with different farnesyl analogues, incorporating the photophor. At the N-terminus of the peptides different functional groups can be attached, e.g., biotin for product enrichment and detection after photoactivation or a maleimido (MIC) linker, allowing for the coupling to proteins carrying a C-terminal free cysteine. Using this strategy, 24 peptides were synthesized, incorporating farnesyl analogues with four different chain lengths. Two of these photoactivatable conjugates were ligated to oncogenic human N-RasG12V Delta 181. A cellular transformation assay revealed that the semisynthetic proteins retain their biological activity despite the photolabel. The first photolabeling experiments with a geranyl-BP-labeled N-Ras construct and the farnesyl-sensitive guanine nucleotide exchange factor hSos1 indicate that this photoaffinity labeling system can be particularly useful for studying protein-protein interactions, e.g., the participation of the farnesyl group in Ras signaling, which is still discussed with controversy.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Synthesis and biological evaluation of cytostatin analogues.

Analogues of the serine/threonine phosphatase 2A inhibitor cytostatin were synthesized and evaluated as inhibitors of various phosphatases in order to establish a basic structure-activity relationship (SAR) of the natural product.

Enzyme Inhibitors↗
PubMed2003

The synthesis of acid- and base-labile lipopeptides on solid support.

Lipidated peptides, including characteristic partial structures of human Ras proteins, were synthesized by means of a new solid-phase technique in 22-68 % yield. This technique gives access to farnesylated, palmitoylated, and doubly lipidated peptides as methyl esters or carboxylic acids carrying a fluorescent tag or a maleimide moiety for coupling to proteins. The peptide backbones were built up on the resin by using 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl chemistry together with the oxidatively cleavable hydrazide linker. As a key step, the acid-labile farnesyl and basic-labile palmitoyl lipid groups were introduced onto the resin after the cleavage of appropriate acid- or reduction-sensitive protecting groups from the cysteine residues. Optional introduction of different fluorescent tags or a maleimide group into the peptide was followed by release of the resin-bound target peptide as the methyl ester or carboxylic acid by very mild copper(II)-mediated oxidation in slightly acidic or basic media. This new methodology should substantially facilitate the access to lipidated peptides for the study of important biological phenomena like biological signal transduction, localization, and vesicular transport.

Acids↗
PubMed2003

Development of the traceless phenylhydrazide linker for solid-phase synthesis.

The hydrazide group is a new oxidatively cleavable traceless linker for solid-phase chemistry. It can be readily introduced by hydrazide formation between a carboxy-functionalized resin and different substituted hydrazines. In order to achieve high yields in this step, new carboxylic acid resins were developed that are not prone to undesired imide formation upon activation of the carboxylic acid. The polymer-bound acyl hydrazides were successfully employed in various transformations, namely Heck, Suzuki, Sonogashira, and Stille couplings, as well as Wittig and Grignard reactions. Traceless release of the coupling products from the solid support is achieved selectively under mild conditions and in high purity by oxidation of the aryl hydrazides to acyl diazenes with Cu(II) salts or N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) and subsequent nucleophilic attack of the acyl diazene intermediates. Traceless cleavage by oxidation with NBS can be carried out as a two-step process in which stable acyl diazenes are first generated by treatment with NBS in the absence of a nucleophile. After removal of the reagents by simple resin washing, the traceless release is effected by the addition of methanol, which leads to products of high purity without any additional separation steps.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Multistep solid-phase synthesis of an antibiotic and receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors using the traceless phenylhydrazide linker.

The hydrazide group is an oxidatively cleavable traceless linker for solid-phase chemistry. This linker technology was used to develop a multistep solid-phase synthesis of an antibiotic that is active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Furthermore, we describe an efficient method for the traceless synthesis of 2-aminothiazoles that display dual inhibitory activity against the receptor tyrosine kinases VEGFR-2 and Tie-2. The synthesis method proceeds through 9 steps on the solid phase and should give access to a much larger library of 2-aminothiazoles, from which a new class of anti-angiogenesis drugs may be developed.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed2003

Development of natural product-derived receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors based on conservation of protein domain fold.

Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) such as Tie-2, IGF1R, Her-2/Neu, EGFR, and VEGFR1-3 play crucial roles in the control of cell growth and differentiation. Inhibition of such RTKs has become a major focus of current anticancer drug development, and therefore the discovery of new classes of inhibitors for these signal-transducing proteins is of prime importance. We have recently proposed a novel concept for improving the hit-finding process by employing natural products as biologically validated starting points in structural space for compound library development. In this concept, natural products are regarded as evolutionary chosen ligands for protein domains which are structurally conserved yet genetically mobile. Here we report on the discovery of novel and highly selective VEGFR-2 and -3, Tie-2, and IGF1R inhibitors derived from the naturally occurring Her-2/Neu kinase inhibitor nakijiquinone C and developed on the basis of this concept. Based on the structure of the natural product, a small library (74 members) was synthesized and investigated for inhibition of kinases with highly similar ATP-binding domains. The library yielded inhibitors with IC(50)s in the low micromolar range with high frequency (7 out of 74). In particular, four inhibitors of Tie-2 were found, a kinase critically involved in the formation of new blood vessels from preexisting ones (angiogenesis) and believed to be a new promising target in antitumor therapy. These results support the "domain concept". To advance the development of improved inhibitors, extensive molecular modeling studies were undertaken, including the construction of new homology models for VEGFR-2 and Tie-2. These studies revealed residues in the kinase structure which are crucial to the development of tailor-made receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Amino Acid Sequence↗