Yoshinosuke Usuki

Climacostol, a defense toxin of the heterotrich ciliate Climacostomum virens against predators

Abstract A toxic substance (climacostol) of the protozoan ciliate Climacostomum virens against the predatory ciliate Dileptus margaritifer was established as 1,3-dihydoxy-5-[(Z)-2′-nonenyl]benzene. The structure was rigorously confirmed by the total synthesis.

A new synthesis of α-fluorovinylsulfones utilizing the Peterson olefination methodology

Abstract α-Fluoro-α-silyl-substituted sulfones 1 are readily prepared from fluoromethyl phenyl sulfone and the appropriate silyl chloride. The use of TBSCl improves both the stability and yield of 1 . Lithium derivatives 4 undergo a smooth Peterson olefination reaction with less-enolizable carbonyl compounds to give moderate to good yields of the expected α-fluorovinylsulfones 6 , in some cases with high E -stereoselectivity. One-pot reaction with 4 generated in situ from fluoromethyl phenyl sulfone in tetrahydrofuran (THF) also proceeds smoothly, particularly with aldehydes.

Synergistic combination of direct plasma membrane damage and oxidative stress as a cause of antifungal activity of polyol macrolide antibiotic niphimycin

The polyol macrolide niphimycin (NM) exhibited fungicidal activity against Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells accompanying the leakage of cytoplasmic components including nucleotide-like materials in addition to K+ at 10 microM or above. Such a dynamic change in the plasma membrane was observed upon treatment of cells with H2O2 but not with the polyene macrolide antibiotic amphotericin B (AmB). The NM-induced cell death could be prevented by the exogenous addition of phosphatidylcholine (PC) whereas such a protective effect was only weakly observed with ergosterol, the molecular target of AmB. NM-treated cells were further characterized with a dramatic loss of glutathione even at a dose of 5 microM or less, representing NM-triggered metabolic conversion of the antioxidant molecule. NM-treatment indeed accelerated the cellular production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as H2O2 detectable with a specific fluorescent probe in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggested a synergistic combination of direct plasma membrane damage and oxidative stress as a cause of antifungal activity of NM against S. cerevisiae.

Antifungal thiopeptide cyclothiazomycin B1 exhibits growth inhibition accompanying morphological changes via binding to fungal cell wall chitin.

Cyclothiazomycin B1 (CTB1) is an antifungal cyclic thiopeptide isolated from the culture broth of Streptomyces sp. HA 125-40. CTB1 inhibited the growth of several filamentous fungi including plant pathogens along with swelling of hyphae and spores. The antifungal activity of CTB1 was weakened by hyperosmotic conditions, and hyphae treated with CTB1 burst under hypoosmotic conditions, indicating increased cell wall fragility. CTB1-sensitive fungal species contain high levels of cell wall chitin and/or chitosan. Unlike nikkomycin Z, a competitive inhibitor of chitin synthase (CHS), CTB1 did not inhibit CHS activity. Although CTB1 inhibited CHS biosynthesis, the same result was also obtained with a non-specific proteins inhibitor, cycloheximide, which did not reduce cell wall rigidity. These results indicate that the primary target of CTB1 is not CHS, and we concluded that CTB1 antifungal activity was independent of this sole inhibition. We found that CTB1 bound to chitin but did not bind to β-glucan and chitosan. The results of the present study suggest that CTB1 induces cell wall fragility by binding to chitin, which forms the fungal cell wall. The antifungal activity of CTB1 could be explained by this chitin-binding ability.

Synergistic fungicidal activities of amphotericin B and N-methyl-N"-dodecylguanidine: a constituent of polyol macrolide antibiotic niphimycin.

The synergy between the alkylguanidinium chain of niphimycin (NM), a polyol macrolide antibiotic, and polyene macrolide amphotericin B (AmB) without such an alkyl side chain was examined using N-methyl-N″-alkylguanidines as its synthetic analogs. Among the analogs, N-methyl-N″-dodecylguanidine (MC12) most strongly inhibited the growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells and those of other fungal strains in synergy with AmB. MC12 itself was not lethal but the analog could be a cause of a rapid cell death progression of yeast cells in the presence of AmB at a nonlethal concentration. Their combined actions resulted in the generation of NM-like fungicidal activity that depended on plasma membrane disability and cellular reactive oxygen species production. We also found an aberrant vacuolar morphogenesis and an associated vacuolar membrane disability in cells treated simultaneously with MC12 and AmB, as in the case of NM-treated cells. These findings support the idea that the alkylguanidinium chain plays a major role in the fungicidal activity of NM in cooperation with the polyol lactone ring as its enhancer.

Visualization analysis of the vacuole-targeting fungicidal activity of amphotericin B against the parent strain and an ergosterol-less mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Here, we sought to investigate the vacuole-targeting fungicidal activity of amphotericin B (AmB) in the parent strain and AmB-resistant mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and elucidate the mechanisms involved in this process. Our data demonstrated that the vacuole-targeting fungicidal activity of AmB was markedly enhanced by N-methyl-N″-dodecylguanidine (MC12), a synthetic analogue of the alkyl side chain in niphimycin, as represented by the synergy in their antifungal activities against parent cells of S. cerevisiae. Indifference was observed only with Δerg3 cells, indicating that the replacement of ergosterol with episterol facilitated their resistance to the combined lethal actions of AmB and MC12. Dansyl-labelled amphotericin B (AmB-Ds) was concentrated into normal rounded vacuoles when parent cells were treated with AmB-Ds alone, even at a non-lethal concentration. The additional supplementation of MC12 resulted in a marked loss of cell viability and vacuole disruption, as judged by the fluorescence from AmB-Ds scattered throughout the cytoplasm. In Δerg3 cells, AmB-Ds was scarcely detected in the cytoplasm, even with the addition of MC12, reflecting its failure to normally incorporate across the plasma membrane into the vacuole. Thus, this study supported the hypothesis that ergosterol is involved in the mobilization of AmB into the vacuolar membrane so that AmB-dependent vacuole disruption can be fully enhanced by cotreatment with MC12.

A new synthesis of α-fluoro-α,β-unsaturated ketones and esters based on organoselenium methodology

Fluoroselenenylation of α-diazoketones and α-diazoesters using a phenylselenenyl fluoride equivalent, generated in situ from phenylselenenyl bromide and AgF, followed by oxidation with hydrogen peroxide, provided α-fluoro-α,β-unsaturated ketones and ester, respectively, in moderate yields.

Farnesylpyridinium, an analog of isoprenoid farnesol, induces apoptosis but suppresses apoptotic body formation in human promyelocytic leukemia cells.

1‐Farnesylpyridinium (FPy), an analog of isoprenoid farnesol, initially induced morphological changes similar to those of typical apoptosis in human leukemia HL‐60 cells but FPy‐treated cells were characterized by the absolute absence of final apoptotic events such as fragmentation into apoptotic bodies. FPy‐induced cell death was considered to be apoptotic on the basis of the induction of DNA fragmentation and the protection against these events by the coaddition of a pan‐caspase inhibitor. The increase in the cytoplasmic cytochrome c level supported the possibility that FPy‐treated cells should have the ability to complete the entire apoptotic process ending in cell fragmentation and apoptotic body formation. At concentrations too low to induce apoptosis, FPy could suppress the induction of apoptotic body formation in HL‐60 cells by typical inducers of apoptosis such as actinomycin D or anisomycin. FPy exhibited a cytochalasin‐like effect on spatial arrangement of actin filament independent of its apoptosis‐inducing activity.

Asymmetric synthesis of isohaliclorensin, a key intermediate of bisquinolinylpyrrole alkaloid halitulin

Abstract A new enantioselective total synthesis of N-(3′-aminopropyl)-3-methylazacyclodecane, a partial structure of halitulin, has been achieved in eight steps with 14% overall yield. The key steps are the photochemical ring-expansion reaction of spirooxaziridine to lactam for constructing the azacyclodecane moiety and 1,4-stereoinductive methylation of the resulting lactam.

Identification of Phoslactomycin E as a Metabolite Inducing Hyphal Morphological Abnormalities in Aspergillus fumigatus IFO 5840

In our survey for antifungal compounds, a fermentation broth of Streptomyces sp. HA81-2 was found to inhibit the in vitro growth of Aspergillus fumigatus IFO 5840 accompanied by hyphal morphological abnormalities. One of the isolated antibiotics was identified as phoslactomycin E based on LC-MS and NMR spectral data. In a preliminary assay using the membrane fractions of A. fumigatus, phoslactomycin E was found to inhibit the activity of 1,3-β glucan synthase.