Structural Modifications and Biological Evaluations of Rift Valley Fever Virus Inhibitors Identified from Chemical Library Screening.

The Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is an emerging high-priority pathogen endemic in Africa with pandemic potential. There is no specific treatment or approved antiviral drugs for the RVFV. We previously developed a cell-based high-throughput assay to screen small molecules targeting the RVFV and identified a potential effective antiviral compound (1--(2-(biphenyl-4-yloxy)ethyl)propane-1,3-diamine) as a lead compound.

Identification of a novel compound that simultaneously impairs the ubiquitin-proteasome system and autophagy.

The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) and macroautophagy/autophagy are the main proteolytic systems in eukaryotic cells for preserving protein homeostasis, i.e., proteostasis.

Pentavalent Sialic Acid Conjugates Block Coxsackievirus A24 Variant and Human Adenovirus Type 37-Viruses That Cause Highly Contagious Eye Infections.

Coxsackievirus A24 variant (CVA24v) and human adenovirus 37 (HAdV-37) are leading causative agents of the severe and highly contagious ocular infections acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis and epidemic keratoconjunctivitis, respectively. Currently, neither vaccines nor antiviral agents are available for treating these diseases, which affect millions of individuals worldwide. CVA24v and HAdV-37 utilize sialic acid as attachment receptors facilitating entry into host cells.

Optimization of Tetrahydroindazoles as Inhibitors of Human Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase and Evaluation of Their Activity and In Vitro Metabolic Stability.

Human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), an enzyme in the de novo pyrimidine synthesis pathway, is a target for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis and is re-emerging as an attractive target for cancer therapy. Here we describe the optimization of recently identified tetrahydroindazoles (HZ) as DHODH inhibitors. Several of the HZ analogues synthesized in this study are highly potent inhibitors of DHODH in an enzymatic assay, while also inhibiting cancer cell growth and viability and activating p53-dependent transcription factor activity in a reporter cell assay.

Pedestrian Navigation Method Based on Machine Learning and Gait Feature Assistance.

In recent years, as the mechanical structure of humanoid robots increasingly resembles the human form, research on pedestrian navigation technology has become of great significance for the development of humanoid robot navigation systems. To solve the problem that the wearable inertial navigation system based on micro-inertial measurement units (MIMUs) installed on feet cannot effectively realize its positioning function when the body movement is too drastic to be measured correctly by commercial grade inertial sensors, a pedestrian navigation method based on construction of a virtual inertial measurement unit (VIMU) and gait feature assistance is proposed. The inertial data from different positions of pedestrians' lower limbs are collected synchronously via actual IMUs as training samples.

Interaction between VPS35 and RABG3f is necessary as a checkpoint to control fusion of late compartments with the vacuole.

Vacuoles are essential organelles in plants, playing crucial roles, such as cellular material degradation, ion and metabolite storage, and turgor maintenance. Vacuoles receive material via the endocytic, secretory, and autophagic pathways. Membrane fusion is the last step during which prevacuolar compartments (PVCs) and autophagosomes fuse with the vacuole membrane (tonoplast) to deliver cargoes.

Performance Enhancement Method for Angular Rate Measurement Based on Redundant MEMS IMUs.

Aiming at the low-cost, wide-range, and accurate measurement requirement for Microelectromechanical System (MEMS) Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) on a multi-rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), the paper designs a heterogeneous parallel redundancy configuration scheme. In redundant MEMS IMUs, a high-cost and small-range MEMS gyroscope is combined with low-cost and large-range MEMS gyroscopes. Then, an adaptive data fusion method of redundant MEMS gyroscopes is proposed.

Screening for Inhibitors of Acetaldehyde Dehydrogenase (AdhE) from Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC).

Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (AdhE) is a bifunctional acetaldehyde-coenzyme A (CoA) dehydrogenase and alcohol dehydrogenase involved in anaerobic metabolism in gram-negative bacteria. This enzyme was recently found to be a key regulator of the type three secretion (T3S) system in Escherichia coli. AdhE inhibitors can be used as tools to study bacterial virulence and a starting point for discovery of novel antibacterial agents.

Structure-activity relationships for lipoprotein lipase agonists that lower plasma triglycerides in vivo.

The risk of cardiovascular events increases in individuals with elevated plasma triglyceride (TG) levels, therefore advocating the need for efficient TG-lowering drugs. In the blood circulation, TG levels are regulated by lipoprotein lipase (LPL), an unstable enzyme that is only active as a non-covalently associated homodimer. We recently reported on a N-phenylphthalimide derivative (1) that stabilizes LPL in vitro, and moderately lowers triglycerides in vivo (Biochem.

Triazole linker-based trivalent sialic acid inhibitors of adenovirus type 37 infection of human corneal epithelial cells.

Adenovirus type 37 (Ad37) is one of the principal agents responsible for epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC), a severe ocular infection that remains without any available treatment. Recently, a trivalent sialic acid derivative (ME0322, Angew. Chem.

Benefits of statistical molecular design, covariance analysis, and reference models in QSAR: a case study on acetylcholinesterase.

Scientific disciplines such as medicinal- and environmental chemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology deal with the questions related to the effects small organic compounds exhort on biological targets and the compounds' physicochemical properties responsible for these effects. A common strategy in this endeavor is to establish structure-activity relationships (SARs). The aim of this work was to illustrate benefits of performing a statistical molecular design (SMD) and proper statistical analysis of the molecules' properties before SAR and quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) analysis.

Divergent structure-activity relationships of structurally similar acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.

The molecular interactions between the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and two compound classes consisting of N-[2-(diethylamino)ethyl]benzenesulfonamides and N-[2-(diethylamino)ethyl]benzenemethanesulfonamides have been investigated using organic synthesis, enzymatic assays, X-ray crystallography, and thermodynamic profiling. The inhibitors' aromatic properties were varied to establish structure-activity relationships (SAR) between the inhibitors and the peripheral anionic site (PAS) of AChE. The two structurally similar compound classes proved to have distinctly divergent SARs in terms of their inhibition capacity of AChE.

Synthesis and application of a 2-[(4-fluorophenyl)-sulfonyl]ethoxy carbonyl(Fsec) protected glycosyl donor in carbohydrate chemistry.

The 2-[(4-fluorophenyl)sulfonyl]ethoxy carbonyl (Fsec) group for protection of hydroxyl groups has been designed, synthesized, and evaluated. Fsec-Cl was readily prepared in 91% yield over three steps and subsequently used to protect 4-fluorobenzyl alcohol in high yield. The Fsec group was cleaved from the resulting model compound under mild basic conditions e.

An efficient and convenient Cu(OAc)(2)/air mediated oxidative coupling of azoles via C-H activation.

An efficient and convenient approach to construct C-C bonds at the 2-position of azoles via Cu(OAc)(2)/air mediated oxidative homo- and cross-coupling reaction was reported. The corresponding products were obtained in good to excellent yield.

Design, synthesis, and evaluation of N-acyl modified sialic acids as inhibitors of adenoviruses causing epidemic keratoconjunctivitis.

The adenovirus serotype Ad37 binds to and infects human corneal epithelial (HCE) cells through attachment to cellular glycoproteins carrying terminal sialic acids. By use of the crystallographic structure of the sialic acid-interacting domain of the Ad37 fiber protein in complex with sialyllactose, a set of N-acyl modified sialic acids were designed to improve binding affinity through increased hydrophobic interactions. These N-acyl modified sialic acids and their corresponding multivalent human serum albumin (HSA) conjugates were synthesized and tested in Ad37 cell binding and cell infectivity assays.

Synthesis and application of N-[1-(4-(4-fluorophenyl)-2,6-dioxocyclohexylidene)ethyl] (Fde)-protected amino acids for optimization of solid-phase peptide synthesis using gel-phase (19)F NMR spectroscopy.

N-[1-(4-(4-fluorophenyl)-2,6-dioxocyclohexylidene)ethyl] (Fde) protected amino acids have been prepared and applied in solid-phase peptide synthesis monitored by gel-phase (19)F NMR spectroscopy. The Fde protective group could be cleaved with 2% hydrazine or 5% hydroxylamine solution in DMF as determined with gel-phase (19)F NMR spectroscopy. The dipeptide Ac-L-Val-L-Val-NH(2) 12 was constructed using Fde-L-Val-OH and no noticeable racemization took place during the amino acid coupling with N,N'-diisopropylcarbodiimide and 1-hydroxy-7-azabenzotriazole or Fde deblocking.

Cu2O-catalyzed tandem ring-opening/coupling cyclization process for the synthesis of 2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxins.

2,3-Dihydro-1,4-benzodioxins can be prepared in a tandem one-pot procedure by reaction of o-iodophenols with epoxides catalyzed by Cu2O/1,10-phenanthroline/Cs2CO3 system. The reaction is suggested to occur via a novel ring-opening/coupling mechanism, giving moderate to good yields. Moreover, both aryl and aliphatic epoxides are tolerated under these conditions.