Design and Evaluation of Azaspirocycles as RNA binders.

This study presents efficient synthetic pathways for preparing novel azaspirocycles. These methodologies involve functionalizing key bicyclic hydrazines with a substituent on one of their bridgehead carbon atoms. The desired spirocyclic cores were successfully obtained through double reductive amination reactions, intramolecular cyclizations, and cleavages of the N-N bond.

Phosphorous NMR Analysis and Activity of Chiral BINAP-Silver Complexes.

Chiral Ag-atropisomeric ligand species were studied in solution at different temperatures by P-NMR spectroscopy. The analysis and understanding of key parameters in Ag-BINAP complexes were considered in the context of an enantioselective transformation. An efficient silver-catalyzed intramolecular [4+2] cycloaddition reaction of amide-1,6-enyne provided an enantiomerically enriched tricyclic compound using simple reagents and under mild reaction conditions.

Physico-Chemical Properties and Principal Component Analysis of Biobased Thermosets Developed with Different Batches of Industrial Humins.

Humins have already shown their potential as thermosetting resins to produce crosslinked networks and composites, with a large variety of properties depending on the used macromolecular approach. Our group has shown that a very interesting class of materials with tunable flexibility can be made by humins co-polymerization with glycerol diglycidyl ether (GDE). To create a clearer picture on structure-reactivity-properties-application interdependent relationship, a principal component analysis (PCA) was applied on several humins batches.

AaTs-1: A Tetrapeptide from Scorpion Venom, Inhibiting U87 Glioblastoma Cells Proliferation by p53 and FPRL-1 Up-Regulations.

Glioblastoma is an aggressive cancer, against which medical professionals are still quite helpless, due to its resistance to current treatments. Scorpion toxins have been proposed as a promising alternative for the development of effective targeted glioblastoma therapy and diagnostic. However, the exploitation of the long peptides could present disadvantages.

Concentration and pH effect on the electronic circular dichroism and anisotropy spectra of aqueous solutions of glyceric acid calcium salt.

Electronic circular dichroism (ECD) and anisotropy spectra carry information on differential absorption of left- and right-circularly polarized light (LCPL and RCPL) by optically active compounds. This makes them powerful tools for the rapid determination of enantiomeric excesses (ee) in asymmetric synthetic and pharmaceutical chemistry, as well as for predicting the ee inducible by ultraviolet (UV) CPL. The ECD response of a chiral molecule is, however, critically dependent on the properties of the surrounding medium.

Structural Insights of Humins/Epoxidized Linseed Oil/ Hardener Terpolymerization.

Bio-based thermosetting resins were synthesized from a ternary composition: humins; epoxidized linseed oil (ELO); and an industrial hardener, Capcure3-800 (CAP). Humins are in a focused attention in the last years, as biorefinery by-product, therefore its valorization through materials design is very important. Here we present a structural study of terpolymerization of humins/ ELO/CAP.

Functionalized C-nucleosides as remarkable RNA binders: targeting of prokaryotic ribosomal A-site RNA.

RNA represents an extremely promising and yet challenging therapeutic target. Here, we report the design of a series of C-nucleosides as original RNA binders. Some of them bind strongly and selectively to A-site prokaryotic ribosomal RNA.

Revisiting the Chemistry of Guaiacwood Oil: Identification and Formation Pathways of 5,11- and 10,11-Epoxyguaianes.

Guaiacwood oil from Bulnesia sarmientoi Lorentz ex. Griseb is a common natural ingredient of the perfume industry used in both domestic and luxury fragrances for its highly appreciated woody-rosy odor, as well as its excellent fixative properties. Despite its long and traditional use as a perfume ingredient, guaiacwood oil has not been extensively studied.

On the use of 31P NMR for the quantification of hydrosoluble phosphorus-containing compounds in coral host tissues and cultured zooxanthellae.

(31)P Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) was assessed to investigate the phosphorus-containing compounds present in the tissues of the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata as well as of cultured zooxanthellae (CZ). Results showed that phosphorus-containing compounds observed in CZ were mainly phosphate and phosphate esters. Phosphate accounted for 19 ± 2% of the total phosphorus compounds observed in CZ maintained under low P-levels (0.

Deciphering structure-activity relationships in a series of Tat/TAR inhibitors.

A series of pentameric "Polyamide Amino Acids" (PAAs) compounds derived from the same trimeric precursor have been synthesized and investigated as HIV TAR RNA ligands, in the absence and in the presence of a Tat fragment. All PAAs bind TAR with similar sub-micromolar affinities but their ability to compete efficiently with the Tat fragment strongly differs, IC50 ranging from 35 nM to >2 μM. While NMR and CD studies reveal that all PAA interact with TAR at the same site and induce globally the same RNA conformational change upon binding, a comparative thermodynamic study of PAA/TAR equilibria highlights distinct TAR binding modes for Tat competitor and non-competitor PAAs.

Extraction, Purification, and NMR Analysis of Terpenes from Brown Algae.

Algal terpenes constitute a wide and well-documented group of marine natural products with structures differing from their terrestrial plant biosynthetic analogues. Amongst macroalgae, brown seaweeds are considered as one of the richest source of biologically and ecologically relevant terpenoids. These metabolites, mostly encountered in algae of the class Phaeophyceae, are mainly diterpenes and meroditerpenes (metabolites of mixed biogenesis characterized by a toluquinol or a toluquinone nucleus linked to a diterpene moiety).

Indole alkaloids from the Marquesan plant Rauvolfia nukuhivensis and their effects on ion channels.

In addition to the already reported nukuhivensiums 1 and 2, 11 indole alkaloids were isolated from the bark of the plant Rauvolfia nukuhivensis, growing in the Marquesas archipelago. The known sandwicine (3), isosandwicine (4), spegatrine (8), lochneram (9), flavopereirine (13) have been found in this plant together with the norsandwicine (5), isonorsandwicine (6), Nb-methylisosandwicine (7), 10-methoxypanarine (10), nortueiaoine (11), tueiaoine (12). The structure elucidation was performed on the basis of a deep exploration of the NMR and HRESIMS data as well as comparison with literature data for similar compounds.

Thermodynamic studies of a series of homologous HIV-1 TAR RNA ligands reveal that loose binders are stronger Tat competitors than tight ones.

RNA is a major drug target, but the design of small molecules that modulate RNA function remains a great challenge. In this context, a series of structurally homologous 'polyamide amino acids' (PAA) was studied as HIV-1 trans-activating response (TAR) RNA ligands. An extensive thermodynamic study revealed the occurence of an enthalpy-entropy compensation phenomenon resulting in very close TAR affinities for all PAA.

Osmotically induced synthesis of the dipeptide N-acetylglutaminylglutamine amide is mediated by a new pathway conserved among bacteria.

The dipeptide N-acetylglutaminylglutamine amide (NAGGN) was discovered in the bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti grown at high osmolarity, and subsequently shown to be synthesized and accumulated by a few osmotically challenged bacteria. However, its biosynthetic pathway remained unknown. Recently, two genes, which putatively encode a glutamine amidotransferase and an acetyltransferase and are up-regulated by osmotic stress, were identified in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.