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Fatty acid amide hydrolase: biochemistry, pharmacology, and therapeutic possibilities for an enzyme hydrolyzing anandamide, 2-arachidonoylglycerol, palmitoylethanolamide, and oleamide.

Fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) is responsible for the hydrolysis of a number of important endogenous fatty acid amides, including the endogenous cannabimimetic agent anandamide (AEA), the sleep-inducing compound oleamide, and the putative anti-inflammatory agent palmitoylethanolamide (PEA). In recent years, there have been great advances in our understanding of the biochemical and pharmacological properties of the enzyme. In this commentary, the structure and biochemical properties of FAAH and the development of potent and selective FAAH inhibitors are reviewed, together with a brief discussion on the therapeutic possibilities for such compounds in the treatment of inflammatory pain and ischaemic states.

Amides↗

The enzymatic inactivation of the fatty acid amide class of signaling lipids.

The fatty acid amide (FAA) class of signaling lipids modulates a number of neurobehavioral processes in mammals, including pain, sleep, feeding, and locomotor activity. Representative FAAs include the endogenous cannabinoid anandamide and the sleep-inducing lipid oleamide. Despite activating several neuroreceptor systems in vitro, most FAAs produce only weak and transient behavioral effects in vivo, presumably due to their expeditious catabolism. This review focuses on one enzyme, fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) that appears to play a major role in regulating the amplitude and duration of FAA signals in vivo. In particular, we will highlight a series of recent papers that have investigated the physiological functions of the mouse and human FAAH enzymes. Collectively, these studies promote FAAH as a central component of FAA signaling pathways, especially those mediated by the endocannabinoid anandamide, and suggest that this enzyme may represent an attractive pharmaceutical target for the treatment of pain and related neurophysiological disorders.

Amides↗

Characterization of the 5'-sequence of the mouse fatty acid amide hydrolase.

Fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) is critical for degradation of several important fatty acid amides including anandamide, an endocannabinoid, as well as oleamide, a sleep-inducing factor. These compounds play roles in diverse physiological processes ranging from memory and learning to the regulation of blood pressure. The mechanisms that regulate FAAH expression have not been characterized. A 5'-region of the mouse FAAH with promoter activity was isolated from 1.8 kbp of genomic sequence. Characterization of +1 of transcription of FAAH by RNA ligase mediated-rapid amplification of cDNA ends showed that FAAH mRNA is transcribed from multiple transcription start sites lacking a TATA-box element. Functional analysis of the FAAH upstream sequence fused to a luciferase reporter gene revealed a FAAH-promoter construct with tissue specific activity. A 674-bp FAAH-promoter construct was active in N18TG2 (N18) neuroblastoma cells and C6 glioma cells, lines that have endogenous FAAH activity. The same 674-bp FAAH-promoter construct was not active in C2C12 or L6 myogenic cells, two lines that do not have FAAH activity.

Amides↗

The effects of tobacco mosaic virus synthesis on the free amino acid and amide composition of the host.

1. Changes in concentrations of free amino acids and amides have been determined in TMV-infected tobacco leaf discs and in comparable uninfected discs during the time of virus formation. 2. During the period of rapid virus formation the infected discs show a transitory deficiency (as compared to uninfected discs) in glutamine, asparagine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, serine, and to a lesser extent in valine, threonine, and proline. About 100 hours before this time smaller deficiencies in the concentrations of these components also occur. The latter effect is probably associated with the early synthesis of a non-virus protein in infected tissue. 3. Comparison of the above effects with the known amino acid composition of TMV indicates that it is unlikely that the virus protein is synthesized by condensation of appropriate free amino acids. Rather, the deficiencies observed appear to result from removal of ammonia from the nitrogen pool during synthesis of new proteins in infected tissue. Equilibrium shifts resulting from ammonia withdrawal probably account for the observed deficiencies in amides and free amino acids. TMV protein, therefore, appears to be synthesized de novo, from non-protein nitrogen, probably ammonia. 4. It is suggested that the changes in free amino acid concentrations induced by virus formation may account for some of the symptoms observed in infected plants.

Amides↗

Fatty acid amide hydrolase, an enzyme with many bioactive substrates. Possible therapeutic implications.

During the last eight years a number of bioactive lipid mediators, the amides or esters of long chain fatty acids, have been discovered or re-discovered. These are: anandamide (N-arachidonoyl-ethanolamine, AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), two endogenous agonists of cannabinoid receptors; oleamide (cis-9-octadecenoamide), a putative endogenous sleep-inducing factor; N-palmitoylethanol amine (PEA), a compound with promising anti-inflammatory and immune-modulatory activity. These compounds are all substrates for the same hydrolytic enzyme, fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), whose molecular characterization was obtained in 1996. The molecular and enzymatic properties, tissue distribution, substrate recognition properties, physiological regulation and biological role of FAAH are discussed in this article, with special emphasis on the possible pharmacological manipulation of the activity of this enzyme with therapeutic purpose.

Amides↗

Effects of amide and amine plasma-treated ePTFE vascular grafts on endothelial cell lining in an artificial circulatory system.

We sought to examine whether surface modification of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) vascular grafts might extend graft patency without modifying the graft structure. Amide and amine plasma (butylamine) were applied to graft surfaces using radio frequency glow discharge. Surface analyses by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated total reflectance, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and dynamic contact angle measurements revealed the presence of nitrogen-containing functional groups on the plasma modified graft surfaces, along with an increased surface hydrophilicity. Bovine aortic endothelial cells were seeded on amide and amine plasma coated ePTFE vascular grafts and placed inside an artificial circulatory system under well-defined flow conditions. The seeded endothelial cells were exposed to either constant or pulsatile flow condition for 5 days. Their corresponding maximum wall shear stresses were 1 dyn/cm2 under constant flow and 65, 108, and 259 dyn/cm2 under various pulsatile flows. Plasma modified ePTFE vascular grafts enhanced the endothelial cell lining under constant and pulsatile flow conditions. Fluorescence nuclear staining, scanning electron microscopy, and histological staining indicated the formation of an endothelial cell monolayer on the plasma coated graft surfaces.

Amides↗

Insights into the origins of binding and the recognition properties of molecularly imprinted polymers prepared using an amide as the hydrogen-bonding functional group.

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) prepared using an amide hydrogen-bonding functional monomer (acrylamide) exhibited efficient enantiomeric recognition properties in both organic and aqueous media in the HPLC mode. The results indicate that the amide functional groups formed strong hydrogen-bonding interactions with the template molecule, and specific recognition sites were created within the polymer matrix during the imprinting process. When Boc-L-Trp was used as the template, an MIP prepared in a polar organic solvent (acetonitrile) using acrylamide as the functional monomer showed better enantiomeric recognition of Boc-Trp than the MIPs prepared in the same solvent using an acidic (methacrylic acid) or a basic (2-vinylpyridine) functional monomer or a combination of an acidic and a basic functional monomer (methacrylic acid + 2-vinylpyridine). Our results indicate that in organic media the degree of retention of the sample molecule on the imprinted polymer was controlled by hydrogen-bonding interactions between the sample molecule and the polymer, while in aqueous media it was determined to a considerable extent by hydrophobic interactions. In both media the shape, size and the nature of the hydrogen-bonding groups of the sample molecules were all important factors in determining the enantiomeric and substrate selectivity. In the aqueous media, however, the hydrophobicity of the sample molecules was also found to play an important role.

Amides↗

Bicyclo[3.2.1]amide-DNA: a chiral, nonchiroselective base-pairing system.

The design, synthesis, and base-pairing properties of bicyclo[3.2.1]amide-DNA (bca-DNA), a novel phosphodiester-based DNA analogue, are reported. This analogue consists of a conformationally constrained backbone entity, which emulates a B-DNA geometry, to which the nucleo-bases were attached through an extended, acyclic amide linker. Homobasic adenine-containing bca decamers form duplexes with complementary oligonucleotides containing bca, DNA, RNA, and, surprisingly, also L-RNA backbones. UV and CD spectroscopic investigations revealed the duplexes with D- or L-complements to be of similar stability and enantiomorphic in structure. Bca oligonucleotides that contain all four bases form strictly antiparallel, left-handed complementary duplexes with themselves and with complementary DNA, but not with RNA. Base-mismatch discrimination is comparable to that of DNA, while the overall thermal stabilities of bca-oligonucleotide duplexes are inferior to those of DNA or RNA. A detailed molecular modeling study of left- and right-handed bca-DNA-containing duplexes showed only minor changes in the backbone structure and revealed a structural switch around the base-linker unit to be responsible for the generation of enantiomorphic duplex structures. The obtained data are discussed with respect to the structural and energetic role of the ribofuranose entities in DNA and RNA association.

Amides↗

Enzymes utilizing glutamine as an amide donor.

Amide nitrogen from glutamine is a major source of nitrogen atoms incorporated biosynthetically into other amino acids, purine and pyrimidine bases, amino-sugars, and coenzymes. A family comprised of at least sixteen amidotransferases are known to catalyze amide nitrogen transfer from glutamine to their acceptor substrates. Recent fine structural advances, largely as a result of X-ray crystallography, now provide structure-based mechanisms that help to explain fundamental aspects of the catalytic and regulatory interactions of several of these aminotransferases. This chapter provides an overview of this recent progress made on the characterization of amidotransferase structure and mechanism.

Allosteric Regulation↗

Synthesis and neuropeptide Y Y1 receptor antagonistic activity of N,N-disubstituted omega-guanidino- and omega-aminoalkanoic acid amides.

Potent arpromidine-type histamine H2 receptor agonists such as BU-E-76 (He 90481) were among the first non-peptides reported to display weak neuropeptide Y (NPY) Y1 receptor antagonist activity. In search of new chemical leads for the development of more potent NPY antagonists, a series of N,N-disubstituted omega-guanidino and omega-aminoalkanoic acid amides were synthesized on the basis of structure-activity relationships and molecular modeling studies of arpromidine and related imidazolylpropylguanidines. In one group of compounds the imidazole ring was retained whereas in the second group it was replaced with a phenol group representing a putative mimic of Tyr36 in NPY. Although the substitution patterns have not yet been optimized, the title compounds are NPY Y1 antagonists in human erythroleukemia (HEL) cells (Ca2+ assay) achieving pKB values in the range of 6.3-6.6. For representative new substances tested in the isolated guinea pig right atrium histamine H2 receptor agonism could not be found. In the N-(diphenylalkyl)amide series, compounds with a trimethylene chain were more active Y1 antagonists than the ethylene homologs. Concerning the spacer in the omega-amino or omega-guanidinoalkanoyl portion, the best activity was found in compounds with a four- or five-membered alkyl chain or a 1,4-cyclohexylene group. Surprisingly, in contrast to the phenol series, in the imidazole series the compounds with a side chain amino group turned out to be considerably more potent than the correspondence strongly basic guanidines. Thus, the structure-activity relationships appear to be different for the diphenylalkylamide NPY antagonists with one or two basic groups.

Amides↗

New amides of 5-acylamino-3-methyl-4-isothiazolecarboxylic acid and their immunotropic activity.

Several new amides 4 of 5-substituted 3-methyl-4-isothiazolecarboxylic acid were obtained. These compounds have acetylamino or benzoylamino groups in position 5 of the isothiazole ring. In position 4, the carboxylic group was transformed in the amides using amino-acid esters. Activities of the obtained derivatives were checked in the humoral immune response and delayed type hypersensitivity reaction to sheep red blood cells (SRBCs) in vivo.

Amides↗

Interactions of amidated acids with heparin.

Raman and NMR studies are performed to characterize the solution structures of complexes between heparin and a group of amidated acids, which act as delivery agents that facilitate the gastrointestinal absorption of orally administered heparin. At concentrations typically employed for the oral drug delivery of heparin, the contact points between heparin complexed with the delivery agents include points near the OH groups of heparin. The results suggest that heparin interacts rather nonspecifically with the amidated acids as monomers and with self-associated complexes of the delivery agents. It is also found that the carboxyl groups of at least one of the bioactive delivery agents easily protonates when it forms complexes with itself or heparin. This attribute may be one reason why this class of compounds is effective in the oral delivery of heparin.

Acids↗

Quantitative IR spectrophotometry of peptide compounds in water (H2O) solutions. II. Amide absorption bands of polypeptides and fibrous proteins in alpha-, beta-, and random coil conformations.

Infrared spectra of poly(D,L-alanine), poly(L-glutamic acid), poly(L-lysine), silk fibroin, and tropomyosin have been registered for various conformations of the polypeptide chain. Assuming additivity of the main- and side-chain absorption, spectral parameters of amide I and II absorption bands corresponding to alpha-, beta-, and random coil conformations have been derived. The amide I band parameters for H2O and D2O have been compared.

Amides↗

Separation and quantification of N-acetyl-l-cysteine and N-acetyl-cysteine-amide by HPLC with fluorescence detection.

N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) is a well-known antioxidant that is capable of facilitating glutathione (GSH) biosynthesis and replenishing intracellular GSH under oxidatively challenging circumstances. N-acetyl-cysteine-amide (NACA), the amide form of NAC, is a newly designed and synthesized thiol-containing compound which is believed to be more lipophilic and permeable through cell membranes than NAC. The metabolic and antioxidant effects of these compounds in vitro and in vivo are under investigation. However, an analytical method that can separate and quantify both compounds simultaneously is not yet available, to the best of our knowledge. Because of their structural similarities, the two compounds are difficult to separate using earlier HPLC methods which were designed for NAC quantification. Therefore, the goal of this work was to develop an HPLC method with fluorescence detection for simultaneous quantification of NAC and NACA in biological blood and tissue samples. A gradient HPLC program with fluorescence detection (lambda(ex) = 330 nm, lambda(em) = 376 nm) using N-(1-pyrenyl)maleimide (NPM) as the derivatizing agent was developed. The calibration curves were linear over a concentration range of 25-5000 nm (r(2) > 0.997). The coefficients of variation for within-run precision and between-run precision ranged from 0.67 to 5.23% and for accuracy ranged from 0.98 to 10.54%; the percentage relative recovery ranged from 94.5 to 102.8%. This new method provides satisfactory separation of NAC and NACA, along with other biological thiols, in 20 min with a 5 nm limit of detection (LOD) per 5 microL injection volume.

Acetylcysteine↗

Determination of amino- and amide-15N glutamine enrichment with tertiary butyldimethylsilyl derivatives.

We have developed a simple and rapid method for the selective synthesis of tetra-tertiarybutyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS) glutamine, which allows the simultaneous quantitation of glutamine (2-15N) and (5-15N) isotopic enrichment by selected ion monitoring (SIM) gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric analysis. The tetra-TBDMS glutamine (4S-gln) has an electron impact mass fragment at m/z 258 that contains only the amino-N and larger fragments (e.g., at m/z 545) that have both nitrogens. Derivatization with acetonitrile (ACN) and N-methyl-N-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide yields primarily tri-TBDMS glutamine (3S-gln) and quantities of 4S-gln too small to allow accurate SIM and tracer/tracee ratio determinations. However, when N,N-dimethylformamide, a more polar aprotic solvent, was substituted for ACN and the sample was heated for 30 min at 125 degrees C, greater than 80% of derivatized glutamine appeared as 4S-gln. Derivatized plasma samples that had been mixed with amide- and/or amino-15N glutamine and analyzed by SIM demonstrated strong agreement (r > or = 0.998, p = 0.0001) between theoretical and observed enrichment values for the 4S-gln fragments at m/z 258 and 545. Deamidation of glutamine to glutamate is negligible during sample processing and analysis. This procedure will facilitate the investigation of the specific sources and fates of glutamine amide and amino nitrogen as well as stable isotope studies involving amino acid transamination, ammonia clearance, urea production and other areas of nitrogen metabolism.

Acetamides↗

Synthesis of (E)-alpha-hydroxy-beta,gamma-unsaturated amides with high selectivity from alpha,beta-epoxyamides by using catalytic samarium diiodide or triiodide.

The highly stereoselective synthesis of (E)-alpha-hydroxy-beta,gamma-unsaturated amides starting from alpha,beta-epoxyamides, by using catalytic SmI2 or SmI3, was achieved. This transformation can also be carried out by using SmI2 generated in situ from samarium powder and diiodomethane. The starting compounds 1 are easily prepared by the reaction of enolates derived from alpha-chloroamides with ketones at -78 degrees C. A mechanism to explain this transformation has been proposed. Cyclopropanation of (E)-alpha-hydroxy-beta,gamma-unsaturated amides has been performed to demonstrate their synthetic applications.

Amides↗

A practical ruthenium-catalyzed cleavage of the allyl protecting group in amides, lactams, imides, and congeners.

A convenient methodology for the deprotection of N-allylic amide-like moieties was developed. The first examples accounting for the ruthenium-catalyzed deallylation of amides, lactams, imides, pyrazolidones, hydantoins, and oxazolidinones have been achieved by the sequential use of Grubbs carbene (isomerization step) and RuCl(3) (oxidation step). A variety of substrates, including enantiopure multifunctional beta- and gamma-lactams, can be employed.

Allyl Compounds↗

Antibody response to immunization with ganglioside GD3 and GD3 congeners (lactones, amide and gangliosidol) in patients with malignant melanoma.

GD3 is the ganglioside most abundantly expressed on the cell surface of human melanoma, and treatment with a murine MAb recognizing GD3 has induced major responses in a small proportion of patients with melanoma. We have therefore attempted to induce production of GD3 antibodies in melanoma patients by active immunization. We found, however, that vaccination with GD3-expressing melanoma cells or purified GD3 does not result in antibody production. We describe here attempts to overcome the poor immunogenicity of GD3 in patients with melanoma by chemical modification. GD3 lactones, GD3 amide and GD3 gangliosidol were synthesized, and the humoral immune response to these derivatives was analyzed. Immunization of melanoma patients with these GD3 derivatives resulted in production of IgM antibodies and, in the case of GD3 amide, also of IgG antibodies. The antibodies to the GD3 derivatives did not cross-react with GD3. This is in contrast to observations in the mouse, where GD3 lactone I induced antibodies that showed cross-reactivity with GD3. Thus, the human immune response was specifically directed toward the modified epitope, rather than to the native structure.

Amides↗