Access to carbaboranyl glycophosphonates--an odyssey.

Novel bis-phosphonate derivatives of carbaboranes, which might be potential boron-delivery agents for boron neutron capture therapy, are described. Conceivable synthetic routes which failed to give the desired compounds are discussed, and finally, a highly selective route to the target molecules is reported.

Aptamers that recognize the lipid moiety of the antibiotic moenomycin A.

Moenomycin A is an amphiphilic phosphoglycolipid antibiotic that interferes with the transglycosylation step in peptidoglycan biosynthesis. The antibiotic consists of a branched pentasaccharide moiety, connected to the moenocinol lipid via a glycerophosphate linker. We have previously described the selection of aptamers that require the lipid group and the disaccharide epitopes of the oligosaccharide moiety for moenomycin binding.

Evidence for the combined participation of a C10 and a C15 precursor in the biosynthesis of moenocinol, the lipid part of the moenomycin antibiotics.

Upon feeding of [2-(13)C,4-(2)H]-1-deoxy-D-xylulose to Streptomyces ghanaensis, the deuterium label was retained exclusively at positions C-7 and C-17 in the moenocinol part of the moenomycin antibiotics. This result vindicates the hypothesis that the C(25) structure of moenocinol is assembled from a C(10) and a C(15) precursor, each of which requires for its formation the involvement of a dimethylallyl diphosphate starter unit.

Studies on the interaction of the antibiotic moenomycin A with the enzyme penicillin-binding protein 1b.

The interaction of a moenomycin derivative with the enzyme penicillin binding protein 1b (PBP 1b) has been studied by means of STD NMR. The results obtained initiated the synthesis of a number of moenomycin derivatives modified in unit A including a moenomycin-ampicillin conjugate and determination of their antibiotic activities. A protocol is described that allows studying the interaction of moenomycin analogues with PBP 1b by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy.

A surface plasmon resonance analysis of the interaction between the antibiotic moenomycin A and penicillin-binding protein 1b.

The antibiotic moenomycin A inhibits the biosynthesis of peptidoglycan, the main structural polymer of the bacterial cell wall. The inhibition is based on a reversible binding of the antibiotic to one of the substrate binding sites in enzymes such as penicillin-binding protein (PBP) 1b. A novel assay based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has been established that can be used to investigate selective binding of the moenomycin sugar moiety and other transglycosylase inhibitors to this enzyme.

Isoserine-based biotinylated photoaffinity probes that interact with penicillin-binding protein 1b.

The photolytic decomposition of trifunctional carbene generating photoaffinity probes in methanolic solution was studied, a cleavage reaction with butylamine in water, the conjugation with a ligand (moenomycin), and experiments that demonstrate that the fully armed probes interact with penicillin-binding protein 1b.

Moenomycin-mediated affinity purification of penicillin-binding protein 1b.

The antibiotic moenomycin A inhibits the biosynthesis of peptidoglycan, the main structural polymer of the bacterial cell wall. The inhibition is based on a reversible binding of the antibiotic to one of the substrate binding sites at enzymes such as the penicillin binding protein 1b (PBP 1b). This binding has been employed to isolate PBP 1b by affinity chromatography.