Novel LC/MS/MS and High-Throughput Mass Spectrometric Assays for Monoacylglycerol Acyltransferase Inhibitors.

Monoacylglycerol acyltransferase enzymes (MGAT1, MGAT2, and MGAT3) convert monoacylglycerol to diacylglycerol (DAG). MGAT1 and MGAT2 are both implicated in obesity-related metabolic diseases. Conventional MGAT enzyme assays use radioactive substrates, wherein the product of the MGAT-catalyzed reaction is usually resolved by time-consuming thin layer chromatography (TLC) analysis.

Potent, nonpeptide inhibitors of human mast cell tryptase. Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel spirocyclic piperidine amide derivatives.

We have explored a series of spirocyclic piperidine amide derivatives (5) as tryptase inhibitors. Thus, 4 (JNJ-27390467) was identified as a potent, selective tryptase inhibitor with oral efficacy in two animal models of airway inflammation (sheep and guinea pig asthma models). An X-ray co-crystal structure of 4 x tryptase revealed a hydrophobic pocket in the enzyme's active site, which is induced by the phenylethynyl group and is comprised of amino acid residues from two different monomers of the tetrameric protein.

Similarities and differences in interactions of the activity-enhancing chemoreceptor pentapeptide with the two enzymes of adaptational modification.

Sensory adaptation and chemotaxis by Escherichia coli require a specific pentapeptide at the chemoreceptor carboxyl terminus. This sequence binds the two enzymes of receptor adaptational modification, enhancing catalysis, but with different binding features and mechanisms. We investigated the relative importance of each pentapeptide side chain for the two enhancing interactions.

Functional reconstitution of Beta2-adrenergic receptors utilizing self-assembling Nanodisc technology.

Integral membrane G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) compose the single most prolific class of drug targets, yet significant functional and structural questions remain unanswered for this superfamily. A primary reason for this gap in understanding arises from the difficulty of forming soluble, monodisperse receptor membrane preparations that maintain the transmembrane signaling activity of the receptor and provide robust biophysical and biochemical assay systems. Here we report a technique for self-assembling functional beta2-adrenergic receptor (beta2AR) into a nanoscale phospholipid bilayer system (Nanodisc) that is highly soluble in aqueous solution.

Dihydroquinone ansamycins: toward resolving the conflict between low in vitro affinity and high cellular potency of geldanamycin derivatives.

Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is critical for the maturation of numerous client proteins, many of which are involved in cellular transformation and oncogenesis. The ansamycins, geldanamycin (GA) and its derivative, 17-allylaminogeldanamycin (17-AAG), inhibit Hsp90. As such, the prototypical Hsp90 inhibitor, 17-AAG, has advanced into clinical oncology trials.

Allosteric enhancement of adaptational demethylation by a carboxyl-terminal sequence on chemoreceptors.

Sensory adaptation in bacterial chemotaxis is mediated by covalent modification of chemoreceptors. Specific glutamyl residues are methylated and demethylated in reactions catalyzed by methyltransferase CheR and methylesterase CheB. In Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium, efficient adaptational modification by either enzyme is dependent on a conserved pentapeptide sequence at the chemoreceptor carboxyl terminus, a position distant from the sites of modification.