Novel mouse model for evaluating in vivo efficacy of xCT inhibitor.

xCT, a well-known cystine transporter, is reported to be involved in the proliferation of various cells, such as cancer cells, immune cells, and fibroblasts. xCT inhibitor is expected to be a promising drug for cancer or immune diseases. However, there are little studies reporting that xCT inhibitors improve disease progression in vivo.

Novel orally bioavailable EZH1/2 dual inhibitors with greater antitumor efficacy than an EZH2 selective inhibitor.

Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) methylates histone H3 lysine 27 and represses gene expression to regulate cell proliferation and differentiation. Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) or its close homolog EZH1 functions as a catalytic subunit of PRC2, so there are two PRC2 complexes containing either EZH2 or EZH1. Tumorigenic functions of EZH2 and its synthetic lethality with some subunits of SWItch/Sucrose Non-Fermentable (SWI/SNF) chromatin remodeling complexes have been observed.

Regio- and enantioselective hydroamination of dienes by gold(I)/menthol cooperative catalysis.

Alcohol is key: regio- and enantioselective hydroamination of 1,3-dienes has been achieved with the dinuclear catalyst (R)-DTBM-SEGPHOS. The rate and selectivity of the reaction are enhanced by alcohol additives like menthol, which coordinates the cationic gold(I) to generate a Brønsted acid that can participate in catalysis. Mbs=p-methoxybenzenesulfonyl.

Chiral Brønsted acid from a cationic gold(I) complex: catalytic enantioselective protonation of silyl enol ethers of ketones.

A chiral Brønsted acid has been developed from a cationic gold(I) disphosphine complex in the presence of alcoholic solvent and applied to the enantioselective protonation reaction of silyl enol ethers of ketones. Various optically active cyclic ketones were obtained in excellent yields and high enantioselectivities, including cyclic ketones bearing aliphatic substrates at the α-position. Furthermore, the application of this Brønsted acid was extended to the first Brønsted acid-catalyzed enantioselective protonation reaction of silyl enol ethers of acyclic substrates, regardless of their E/Z ratio.

Discovery of potent and orally active tricyclic-based FBPase inhibitors.

With the aim of exploring the effect of tricyclic-based FBPase inhibitors in cells and in vivo, a series of prodrugs of tricyclic phosphonates was designed and synthesized. Introducing prodrug moieties into tricyclic-based phosphonates led to the discovery of prodrug 15c, which strongly inhibited glucose production in monkey hepatocytes. Furthermore, prodrug 15c lowered blood glucose levels in fasted cynomolgus monkeys.

Structure-based drug design of tricyclic 8H-indeno[1,2-d][1,3]thiazoles as potent FBPase inhibitors.

With the goal of improving metabolic stability and further enhancing FBPase inhibitory activity, a series of tricyclic 8H-indeno[1,2-d][1,3]thiazoles was designed and synthesized with the aid of structure-based drug design. Extensive SAR studies led to the discovery of 19a with an IC(50) value of 1nM against human FBPase. X-ray crystallographic studies revealed that high affinity of 19a was due to the hydrophobic interaction arising from better shape complementarity and to the hydrogen bonding network involving the side chain on the tricyclic scaffold.

Synthesis, SAR, and X-ray structure of tricyclic compounds as potent FBPase inhibitors.

With the aim of discovering a novel class of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase) inhibitors, a series of compounds based on tricyclic scaffolds was synthesized. Extensive SAR studies led to the finding of 8l with an IC50 value of 0.013 microM against human FBPase.

Synthesis and structure-activity relationships of novel parenteral carbapenems, CS-023 (R-115685) and related compounds containing an amidine moiety.

In order to design a new parenteral 1beta-methylcarbapenem antibiotic which has a broad antibacterial spectrum and improved plasma half-life, a series of 1beta-methylcarbapenems with 5-substituted pyrrolidine-3-ylthio groups including an amidine moiety at the C-2 position have been synthesized and structure-activity relationships were investigated. Among those carbapenem derivatives, CS-023 (R-115685) showed a broad spectrum and excellent antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. This compound also showed sufficient dehydropeptidase-I (DHP-I) stability and high urinary recovery in animals after subcutaneous administration without cilastatin, a DHP-I inhibitor.

Early components of event-related potentials related to semantic and syntactic processes in the Japanese language.

Brain activities were compared between semantic and syntactic processing in the Japanese language using event-related potentials with a 58-ch EEG system. We previously found that semantic violations elicited N400 and syntactic violations elicited P600 but not early left anterior negativity (ELAN) or left anterior negativity (LAN) using a relatively long stimulus presentation time (1 s). In the present study, we adopted a shorter stimulus presentation time (0.