Structural studies of β-glucosidase from the thermophilic bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus.

β-Glucosidase from the thermophilic bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus (Bgl1) has been denoted as having an attractive catalytic profile for various industrial applications. Bgl1 catalyses the final step of in the decomposition of cellulose, an unbranched glucose polymer that has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years as it is the most abundant renewable source of reduced carbon in the biosphere. With the aim of enhancing the thermostability of Bgl1 for a broad spectrum of biotechnological processes, it has been subjected to structural studies.

Rational Drug Design Using Integrative Structural Biology.

Modern drug discovery and design approaches rely heavily on high-throughput methods and state-of-the-art infrastructures with robotic facilities and sophisticated platforms. However, the anticipated research output that would eventually lead to new drugs with minimal or no side effects to the market has not been achieved. Despite the vast amount of information generated, very little is converted to knowledge and even less is capitalized for cross-discipline research actions.

Efficient atropodiastereoselective access to 5,5'-bis-1,2,3-triazoles: studies on 1-glucosylated 5-halogeno 1,2,3-triazoles and their 5-substituted derivatives as glycogen phosphorylase inhibitors.

Whereas copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) between acetylated β-D-glucosyl azide and alkyl or phenyl acetylenes led to the corresponding 4-substituted 1-glucosyl-1,2,3-triazoles in good yields, use of similar conditions but with 2 equiv CuI or CuBr led to the 5-halogeno analogues (>71 %). In contrast, with 2 equiv CuCl and either propargyl acetate or phenyl acetylene, the major products (>56 %) displayed two 5,5'-linked triazole rings resulting from homocoupling of the 1-glucosyl-4-substituted 1,2,3-triazoles. The 4-phenyl substituted compounds (acetylated, O-unprotected) and the acetylated 4-acetoxymethyl derivative existed in solution as a single form (d.