Jari Ratilainen

Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of the symmetric dimeric form of temporin A based on 3-N,N-di(3-aminopropyl)amino propanoic acid as the branching unit

Dimeric derivative of antimicrobial peptide amide Temporin A (TA) was synthesized by using a new branching unit 3-N,N-di(3-aminopropyl)amino propanoic acid (DAPPA), which allows building of the parallelly symmetric alpha-helical structures. Antimicrobial effect of the original peptide amide, its monomeric carboxy (TAc) and novel dimeric (TAd) analogues were tested against Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive) and Escherichia coli (Gram-negative). Both TA and TAd completely inhibited the growth of S. aureus at the concentrations of 5 and 10 microM, respectively, whereas TAc did not show any inhibitory activity. The activities of TAc, TA and TAd correlate directly with the net charges of the molecules, +1, +2 and +4, respectively. Interestingly, TAd displayed antibacterial effect against E. coli at a concentration of 10 microM, where as monomeric TA did not show any activity at concentration as high as 20 microM. The results indicate that the novel structural modification improves the antibacterial properties of Temporin A especially towards Gram-negative bacteria.

Synthesis of benzobicyclo[2.2.1]heptylimidazoles as conformationally constrained adrenergic receptor antagonists

A facile method for the preparation of conformationally rigid analogues of the adrenergic α-2 receptor antagonist atipamezole and the adrenergic α-2 receptor agonist medetomidine has been developed. The efficient benzyne [4+2] cycloaddition reaction was used to give the core 7-acetylbenzonorbomadiene structure, which was subsequently elaborated to the corresponding imidazole-based syn and anti isomers by means of the classical Brederecks method.