Academic literature on the topic 'Carbohydrates-derived scaffold'

Macrocycles cover a small segment of molecules with a vast range of biological activity in the chemotherapeutic world. Primarily, the natural sources derived from macrocyclic drug candidates with a wide range of biological activities are known. Further evolutions of the medicinal chemistry towards macrocycle-based chemotherapeutics involve the functionalization of the natural product by hemisynthesis. More recently, macrocycles based on carbohydrates have evolved a considerable interest among the medicinal chemists worldwide. Carbohydrates provide an ideal scaffold to generate chiral macrocycles with well-defined pharmacophores in a decorated fashion to achieve the desired biological activity. We have given an overview on carbohydrate-derived macrocycle involving their synthesis in drug design and discovery and potential role in medicinal chemistry.

This paper presents our recent results concerning the use of carbohydrates as cheap, chiral, and enantiopure starting materials in the construction of a variety of densely functionalized molecules. The compatibility of ring-closing metathesis with standard carbohydrate chemistry is demonstrated in the synthesis of new stereoisomers of deoxystreptamine and neamine–important building blocks for the generation of synthetic aminoglycosides with potential antibacterial activity. Ring-closing metathesis is also a key step in the rapid synthesis of new indolizidines and quinolizidines, and in a new solid-phase assisted carbohydrate-based combinatorial scaffold strategy. Further, some of our latest results in the conformational analysis of sugar amino acid-based peptide mimetics and in the development of a novel Ugi-type three-component reaction of sugar-derived azido-aldehydes are discussed.

ABSTRACTDesigner cellulosomes are precision-engineered multienzyme complexes in which the molecular architecture and enzyme content are exquisitely controlled. This system was used to examine enzyme cooperation for improved synergy amongThermobifida fuscaglycoside hydrolases. TwoT. fuscacellulases, Cel48A exoglucanase and Cel5A endoglucanase, and twoT. fuscaxylanases, endoxylanases Xyn10B and Xyn11A, were selected as enzymatic components of a mixed cellulase/xylanase-containing designer cellulosome. The resultant mixed multienzyme complex was fabricated on a single scaffoldin subunit bearing all four enzymes. Conversion ofT. fuscaenzymes to the cellulosomal mode followed by their subsequent incorporation into a tetravalent cellulosome led to assemblies with enhanced activity (~2.4-fold) on wheat straw as a complex cellulosic substrate. The enhanced synergy was caused by the proximity of the enzymes on the complex compared to the free-enzyme systems. The hydrolytic properties of the tetravalent designer cellulosome were compared with the combined action of two separate divalent cellulase- and xylanase-containing cellulosomes. Significantly, the tetravalent designer cellulosome system exhibited an ~2-fold enhancement in enzymatic activity compared to the activity of the mixture of two distinct divalent scaffoldin-borne enzymes. These results provide additional evidence that close proximity between cellulases and xylanases is key to the observed concerted degradation of the complex cellulosic substrate in which the integrated enzymes complement each other by promoting access to the relevant polysaccharide components of the substrate. The data demonstrate that cooperation among xylanases and cellulases can be augmented by their integration into a single designer cellulosome.IMPORTANCEGlobal efforts towards alternative energy programs are highlighted by processes for converting plant-derived carbohydrates to biofuels. The major barrier in such processes is the inherent recalcitrance to enzymatic degradation of cellulose combined with related associated polysaccharides. The multienzyme cellulosome complexes, produced by anaerobic bacteria, are considered to be the most efficient systems for degradation of plant cell wall biomass. In the present work, we have employed a synthetic biology approach by producing artificial designer cellulosomes of predefined enzyme composition and architecture. The engineered tetravalent cellulosome complexes contain two different types of cellulases and two distinct xylanases. Using this approach, enhanced synergistic activity was observed on wheat straw, a natural recalcitrant substrate. The present work strives to gain insight into the combined action of cellulosomal enzyme components towards the development of advanced systems for improved degradation of cellulosic material.

The inhibition of the oncogenic variants of Ras proteins represents an interesting and promising research field for the development of new anticancer therapies. During this thesis several important data were collected in order to clarify the structure activity relationship in Ras-inhibitors. Then new lead compounds derived from natural carbohydrates were designed and synthesized following a rational drug design approach. These original water-soluble molecules were investigated for the biological activity point of view; in addition the binding to human Ras was fully investigated, identifying the ligand-Ras binding interface.