An Original and Efficient Antibiotic Adjuvant Strategy to Enhance the Activity of Macrolide Antibiotics against Gram-Negative Resistant Strains

Gram-negative bacteria were reported as a significant cause of infections in both community and nosocomial settings. Considered as one of the greatest threats to public health, the spread of bacteria drug resistance and the lack of effective alternative treatment options remains problematic. Herein, we report a promising strategy to combat Gram-negative resistant strains consisting of the combination of a macrolide antibiotic with a polyaminoisoprenyl adjuvant derivative leading to a significant decrease of antibiotic resistance.     

Mixture Effects of Tryptophan Intestinal Microbial Metabolites on Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Activity

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) plays pivotal roles in intestinal physiology and pathophysiology. Intestinal AHR is activated by numerous dietary, endogenous, and microbial ligands. Whereas the effects of individual compounds on AHR are mostly known, the effects of real physiological mixtures occurring in the intestine have not been studied. Using reporter gene assays and RT-PCR, we evaluated the combinatorial effects (3520 combinations) of 11 microbial catabolites of tryptophan (MICTs) on AHR. We robustly (n = 30) determined the potencies and relative efficacies of single MICTs. Synergistic effects of MICT binary mixtures were observed between low- or medium-efficacy agonists, in particular for combinations of indole-3-propionate and indole-3-lactate. Combinations comprising highly efficacious agonists such as indole-3-pyruvate displayed rather antagonist effects, caused by saturation of the assay response. These synergistic effects were confirmed by RT-PCR as CYP1A1 mRNA expression. We also tested mimic multicomponent and binary mixtures of MICTs, prepared based on the metabolomic analyses of human feces and colonoscopy aspirates, respectively. In this case, AHR responsiveness did not correlate with type of diet or health status, and the indole concentrations in the mixtures were determinative of gross AHR activity. Future systematic research on the synergistic activation of AHR by microbial metabolites and other ligands is needed.     

Study of the Electrochemical Behavior of N-Substituted-4-Piperidones Curcumin Analogs: A Combined Experimental and Theoretical Approach

The electrochemical behavior of N-methyl- and N-benzyl-4-piperidone curcumin analogs were studied experimentally and theoretically. The studied compounds present different substituents at the para position in the phenyl rings (-H, -Br, -Cl, -CF₃, and -OCH₃). We assessed their electrochemical behavior by differential pulse and cyclic voltammetry, while we employed density functional theory (DFT) M06 and M06-2x functionals along with 6-311+G(d,p) basis set calculations to study them theoretically. The results showed that compounds suffer a two-electron irreversible oxidation in the range of 0.72 to 0.86 V, with surface concentrations ranging from 1.72 × 10⁻⁷ to 5.01 × 10⁻⁷ mol/cm². The results also suggested that the process is diffusion-controlled for all compounds. M06 DFT calculations showed a better performance than M06-2x to obtain oxidation potentials. We found a good correlation between the experimental and theoretical oxidation potential for N-benzyl-4-piperidones (R² = 0.9846), while the correlation was poor for N-methyl-4-piperidones (R² = 0.3786), suggesting that the latter suffer a more complex oxidation process. Calculations of the BDEs for labile C-H bonds in the compounds suggested that neither of the two series of compounds has a different tendency for a proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) oxidation process. It is proposed that irreversible behavior is due to possible dimerization of the compounds by Shono-type oxidation.     

Quinolizidines as Novel SARS-CoV-2 Entry Inhibitors

COVID-19, caused by the highly transmissible severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has rapidly spread and become a pandemic since its outbreak in 2019. We have previously discovered that aloperine is a new privileged scaffold that can be modified to become a specific antiviral compound with markedly improved potency against different viruses, such as the influenza virus. In this study, we have identified a collection of aloperine derivatives that can inhibit the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into host cells. Compound 5 is the most potent tested aloperine derivative that inhibited the entry of SARS-CoV-2 (D614G variant) spike protein-pseudotyped virus with an IC₅₀ of 0.5 µM. The compound was also active against several other SARS-CoV-2 variants including Delta and Omicron. Results of a confocal microscopy study suggest that compound 5 inhibited the viral entry before fusion to the cell or endosomal membrane. The results are consistent with the notion that aloperine is a privileged scaffold that can be used to develop potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 entry inhibitors.     

Identification of Potential New Aedes aegypti Juvenile Hormone Inhibitors from N-Acyl Piperidine Derivatives: A Bioinformatics Approach

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes transmit several human pathogens that cause millions of deaths worldwide, mainly in Latin America. The indiscriminate use of insecticides has resulted in the development of species resistance to some such compounds. Piperidine, a natural alkaloid isolated from Piper nigrum, has been used as a hit compound due to its larvicidal activity against Aedes aegypti. In the present study, piperidine derivatives were studied through in silico methods: pharmacophoric evaluation (PharmaGist), pharmacophoric virtual screening (Pharmit), ADME/Tox prediction (Preadmet/Derek 10.0^®), docking calculations (AutoDock 4.2) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation on GROMACS-5.1.4. MP-416 and MP-073 molecules exhibiting ΔG binding (MMPBSA −265.95 ± 1.32 kJ/mol and −124.412 ± 1.08 kJ/mol, respectively) and comparable to holo (ΔG binding = −216.21 ± 0.97) and pyriproxyfen (a well-known larvicidal, ΔG binding= −435.95 ± 2.06 kJ/mol). Considering future in vivo assays, we elaborated the theoretical synthetic route and made predictions of the synthetic accessibility (SA) (SwissADME), lipophilicity and water solubility (SwissADME) of the promising compounds identified in the present study. Our in silico results show that MP-416 and MP-073 molecules could be potent insecticides against the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.     

代谢工程调控策略在生物合成氨基酸及其衍生物中的应用

氨基酸的工业化生产已有上百年历史,多用于动物饲料和食品添加剂;很多种类的氨基酸如L-半胱氨酸、β-丙氨酸、S-腺苷甲硫氨酸、4-羟基异亮氨酸和高丝氨酸等也具有很高的应用价值。相较于化工合成或分离提取的方式,利用微生物细胞作为平台生产氨基酸及其衍生物具有绿色安全、可持续等独特的优势。本文综述了近年来微生物合成氨基酸及其衍生物的研究进展,分别介绍了碳源的高效利用、限速步骤的调节、碳通量的调节、转录和反馈抑制调节以及转运调节等代谢调控策略在提高微生物生产氨基酸及其衍生物效率的研究及应用,分析了不同调控策略的优势和缺点,总结了不同氨基酸及其衍生物的应用价值,最后展望了微生物作为细胞工厂生产各类氨基酸及其衍生物的广阔前景。     

Halochromic Behavior and Anticancer Effect of New Synthetic Anthocyanidins Complexed with β-Cyclodextrin Derivatives

Anthocyanidins, the aglycons of anthocyanins, are known, beyond their function in plants, also as compounds with a wide range of biological and pharmacological activities, including cytostatic effect against various cancer cells. The nature and position of the substituents in the flavylium cation is essential for such biological properties, as well as the equilibrium between the multistate of the different chemical species that are generated by the flavylium cation, including quinoidal base, hemiketal, and cis- and trans-chalcones. In this work, eight new flavylium derivatives were synthesized, characterized for confirmation of the structure by FT-IR and 2D-NMR, and investigated in vitro as possible cytostatic compounds against HCT116 and HepG2 cancer cells. The most active two compounds were explored for their halochromic properties that can influence the biological activity and subjected to molecular encapsulation in β-cyclodextrin derivatives in order to increase their solubility in water and bioavailability. The anticancer effect was influenced by the position (6-, 7-, or 8-) of the methoxy group in the β-ring of the methoxy-4′-hydroxy-3′-methoxyflavylium cation, while the study of the halochromic properties revealed the important role played by the chalcone species of the pH-dependent multistate in both the uncomplexed and inclusion complex forms of these anthocyanidins.     

可见光引发剂研究进展

光固化技术的应用非常广泛,常用于光固化涂料、油墨、牙科固化、胶粘剂以及3D打印材料等领域。与紫外光固化相比,可见光固化具备辐射安全、固化深度高、设备价格低廉等优势。作为光固化体系的重要组成部分,光引发剂的研究一直备受关注。本文对近2～3 a可见光引发剂的研究进展进行了综述,主要从TPO类、萘酰亚胺类、蒽醌类、咔唑类、硅酮类、肟酯类、共轭染料类、光生酸剂类和金属配合物类光引发剂9个方面进行了综述,并对可见光引发剂的发展方向做了简单的概述。     

P38促细胞分裂蛋白酶活性抑制剂的分子对接及3D-QSAR研究(英文)

运用分子对接方法研究了26个以嘧啶基咪唑环为基底的一系列同源化合物与p38促细胞分裂蛋白酶晶体结构的结合模式。采用比较分子力场分析法(CoMFA)对选取的对接优势构象进行三维定量构效关系(3D-QSAR)研究。建立了3D-QSAR的CoMFA模型,其非交叉验证系数r~2为0.986,交叉验证相关系数q~2为0.755,外部验证的标准偏差(SD为0.13,表明该模型合理、可信,并具有良好的预测能力。有趣的是,配体与活性周围氨基酸残基4个距离之和与其活性之间具有良好的线性关系(R~2=0.752),揭示了配体分子大小及与氨基酸残基结合的紧密程度对化合物的抑制活性起着主要的作用。最后,根据研究总结的规律设计了4个具有潜在高活性的嘧啶基咪唑衍生物。研究结果可为实验工作者合成新药提供理论有意义的理论参考。     

Sensitivity analysis of nonlinear fractional order control systems with state delay

In this paper, we consider a class of nonlinear fractional order control system with delay in state variable. Existence and uniqueness of solution are shown by using method of steps. The sensitivity of the state and control with respect to the parameters of the system is shown. Finally, analytical results are substantiated by numerical examples.