Huib Ovaa

Synthesis of phosphorus mono- and bicycles by catalytic ring-closing metathesis

A versatile route of synthesis of phosphorus oxide and phosphorus borane templates starting from the bifunctional phosphorylating agent bis(diisopropylamino)ethynylphosphine is presented. Ring-closing enyne metathesis using 4,5-dihydro-imidazol-2-ylidene ruthenium benzylidene complex 3 on these types of substrates led to the formation of mono- and bicyclic phosphorus heterocycles.

An expeditious route to the synthesis of highly functionalized chiral oxepines from monosaccharides

Abstract The transformation of partially protected aldofuranoses into dienes by Wittig olefination of the anomeric center followed by either allylation or oxopalladation of alkoxy-1,2-propadienes is described. Ring-closing metathesis of the linear dienes gives rise to a variety of highly functionalized and chiral ring-expanded oxepines.

Synthesis of Verbascoside: A Dihydroxyphenylethyl Glycoside with Diverse Bioactivity

TMSOTf-mediated condensation of ethyl 4,6-O-benzylidene-1-thio-β-D-glucopyranoside (2) with peracetylated α-L-rhamnopyranosyl trichloroacetimidate donor 3a resulted in the formation of orthoester 4, which, after acetylation, rearranged into ethyl 3-O-(α-L-rhamnopyranosyl)-1-thio-β-D-glucopyranoside derivative 6a. The latter compound was converted into the corresponding trichloroacetimidate donors 8a–b. An alternative approach to trichloroacetimidate 8c commenced with the iodonium ion mediated glycosidation of ethyl 2,3,4-tri-O-benzoyl-1-thio-α-L-rhamnopyranside (15) with 1,2:5,6-diisopropylidene-D-glucofuranose (16) to afford disaccharide 17, which was transformed into 8c in five steps. Condensation of 8a–c with 2-[3,4-di-(tert-butyldimethyl-silyloxy)phenyl]ethanol (12) gave, after deacylation, key intermediate 14. Protecting-group manipulation of 14 and subsequent esterification of resulting 22 with 3,4-di-O-tert-butyldimethylsilylcaffeic acid (27) gave, after deprotection, verbascoside (1).

An expeditious route to phosphorus heterocycles based on ring-closing metathesis

A convenient route for the synthesis of phosphorus diolefinic templates starting from the bifunctional reagent bis(diisopropylamino)vinylphosphine is presented. Ring closing olefin metathesis on this type of diene substrate revealed that the newly developed 4,5-dihydro-imidazol-2-ylidene ruthenium benzylidene complex 4 is in all aspects superior to the previously developed Grubbs’ catalyst 1.

A convenient approach towards 2′-analogs of zoapatanol from d-glucose

Abstract The protected 3-C-methyl-α- d -allofuranose derivative 6 , readily accessible from d -glucose, could be transformed into a diene scaffold which underwent ring-closing metathesis (RCM) to give the functionalized oxepines 10a,b . Further elaboration of 10a,b provided the 2′-zoapatanol analogs 3–5 .

Elucidating crosstalk mechanisms between phosphorylation and O-GlcNAcylation

Significance Nearly all proteins are posttranslationally modified, a phenomenon known to alter protein function. Recently, multiple posttranslational modifications (PTMs) have been documented to exist on the same proteins, revealing an additional level of complexity (named “PTM crosstalk”) that, due to its dynamic nature, is challenging to predict. Here, we propose a motif for PTM crosstalk between two of the most common PTMs: phosphorylation and O-GlcNAcylation. Through the use of a kinetic-based high-resolution mass spectrometry assay, we highlight specific residues that, when phosphorylated, hamper O-GlcNAcylation at nearby sites. In addition, we show that the Ser/Thr residues in one of the most common kinase motifs, PX(S/T)P, cannot be O-GlcNAcylated, demonstrating that reciprocal PTM crosstalk does not occur with Pro-directed kinases. Proteins can be modified by multiple posttranslational modifications (PTMs), creating a PTM code that controls the function of proteins in space and time. Unraveling this complex PTM code is one of the great challenges in molecular biology. Here, using mass spectrometry-based assays, we focus on the most common PTMs—phosphorylation and O-GlcNAcylation—and investigate how they affect each other. We demonstrate two generic crosstalk mechanisms. First, we define a frequently occurring, very specific and stringent phosphorylation/O-GlcNAcylation interplay motif, (pSp/T)P(V/A/T)(gS/gT), whereby phosphorylation strongly inhibits O-GlcNAcylation. Strikingly, this stringent motif is substantially enriched in the human (phospho)proteome, allowing us to predict hundreds of putative O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) substrates. A set of these we investigate further and show them to be decent substrates of OGT, exhibiting a negative feedback loop when phosphorylated at the P-3 site. Second, we demonstrate that reciprocal crosstalk does not occur at PX(S/T)P sites, i.e., at sites phosphorylated by proline-directed kinases, which represent 40% of all sites in the vertebrate phosphoproteomes.

Proteasome activity regulates CD8+ T lymphocyte metabolism and fate specification

During an immune response, CD8+ T lymphocytes can undergo asymmetric division, giving rise to daughter cells that exhibit distinct tendencies to adopt terminal effector and memory cell fates. Here we show that pre-effector and pre-memory cells resulting from the first CD8+ T cell division in vivo exhibited low and high rates of endogenous proteasome activity, respectively. Pharmacologic reduction of proteasome activity in CD8+ T cells early during differentiation resulted in acquisition of terminal effector cell characteristics, whereas enhancement of proteasome activity conferred attributes of memory lymphocytes. Transcriptomic and proteomic analyses revealed that modulating proteasome activity in CD8+ T cells affected cellular metabolism. These metabolic changes were mediated, in part, through differential expression of Myc, a transcription factor that controls glycolysis and metabolic reprogramming. Taken together, these results demonstrate that proteasome activity is an important regulator of CD8+ T cell fate and raise the possibility that increasing proteasome activity may be a useful therapeutic strategy to enhance the generation of memory lymphocytes.

A General Approach Towards Triazole‐Linked Adenosine Diphosphate Ribosylated Peptides and Proteins

Current methods to prepare adenosine diphosphate ribosylated (ADPr) peptides are not generally applicable due to the labile nature of this post-translational modification and its incompatibility with strong acidic conditions used in standard solid-phase peptide synthesis. A general strategy is presented to prepare ADPr peptide analogues based on a copper-catalyzed click reaction between an azide-modified peptide and an alkyne-modified ADPr counterpart. The scope of this approach was expanded to proteins by preparing two ubiquitin ADPr analogues carrying the biological relevant α-glycosidic linkage. Biochemical validation using Legionella effector enzyme SdeA shows that clicked ubiquitin ADPr is well-tolerated and highlights the potential of this strategy to prepare ADPr proteins.

Rapid covalent-probe discovery by electrophile fragment screening

Covalent probes can display unmatched potency, selectivity and duration of action, however, their discovery is challenging. In principle, fragments that can irreversibly bind their target can overcome the low affinity that limits reversible fragment screening. Such electrophilic fragments were considered non-selective and were rarely screened. We hypothesized that mild electrophiles might overcome the selectivity challenge, and constructed a library of 993 mildly electrophilic fragments. We characterized this library by a new high-throughput thiol-reactivity assay and screened them against ten cysteine-containing proteins. Highly reactive and promiscuous fragments were rare and could be easily eliminated. By contrast, we found selective hits for most targets. Combination with high-throughput crystallography allowed rapid progression to potent and selective probes for two enzymes, the deubiquitinase OTUB2, and the pyrophosphatase NUDT7. No inhibitors were previously known for either. This study highlights the potential of electrophile fragment screening as a practical and efficient tool for covalent ligand discovery.

Irreversible inactivation of ISG15 by a viral leader protease enables alternative infection detection strategies

Significance An understanding of the mechanisms by which viruses evade host immunity is essential to the development of antiviral drugs and viral detection strategies. Ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like modifications are crucial in cellular innate immune and infection responses and are often suppressed by viral proteins. We here identify a previously unknown mechanism of viral evasion. A viral protease, Lbpro, removes ubiquitin and the ubiquitin-like protein ISG15 incompletely from proteins. While this strategy efficiently and irreversibly shuts down these modification systems, it enables repurposing of tools and technologies developed for ubiquitin research in virus detection. Specifically, we show that foot-and-mouth disease virus infection can be detected using an anti-GlyGly antibody developed for ubiquitin mass spectrometry research. In response to viral infection, cells mount a potent inflammatory response that relies on ISG15 and ubiquitin posttranslational modifications. Many viruses use deubiquitinases and deISGylases that reverse these modifications and antagonize host signaling processes. We here reveal that the leader protease, Lbpro, from foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) targets ISG15 and to a lesser extent, ubiquitin in an unprecedented manner. Unlike canonical deISGylases that hydrolyze the isopeptide linkage after the C-terminal GlyGly motif, Lbpro cleaves the peptide bond preceding the GlyGly motif. Consequently, the GlyGly dipeptide remains attached to the substrate Lys, and cleaved ISG15 is rendered incompetent for reconjugation. A crystal structure of Lbpro bound to an engineered ISG15 suicide probe revealed the molecular basis for ISG15 proteolysis. Importantly, anti-GlyGly antibodies, developed for ubiquitin proteomics, are able to detect Lbpro cleavage products during viral infection. This opens avenues for infection detection of FMDV based on an immutable, host-derived epitope.