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Publications - Bioorganic Chemistry

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Preprints

Osmolovskaya, N.; Shumilina, J.; Kim, A.; Didio, A.; Grishina, T.; Bilova, T.; Keltsieva, O. A.; Zhukov, V.; Tikhonovich, I.; Tarakhovskaya, E.; Wessjohann, L. A.; Frolov, A.; Methodology of Drought Stress Research: Experimental Setup and Physiological Characterization Preprints (2018) DOI: 10.20944/preprints201812.0145.v1

Drought is one of the major stress factors affecting growth and development of plants. In this context, drought-related losses of crop plant productivity impede sustainable agriculture all over the world. In general, plants responses to water deficit by multiple physiological and metabolic adaptations at the molecular, cellular and organism levels. To understand the underlying mechanisms of drought tolerance, adequate stress models and arrays of reliable stress markers are required. Therefore, in this review we comprehensively address currently available models of drought stress, based on culturing plants in soil, hydroponic or agar culture. These experimental setups give access to different aspects of plant response to drought, like decrease of tissue water potential, reduction of stomata conductance and photosynthesis efficiency, accumulation of low-molecular weight solutes (metabolic adjustment) and drought protective proteins. Till now, this pattern of markers was successfully extended to the methods of enzyme chemistry, molecular biology and omics techniques. Thus, conventional tests can be efficiently complemented by determination of phytohormone and reactive oxygen species (ROS) contents, activities of antioxidant enzymes, as well as comprehensive profiling of transcriptome, proteome and metabolome.
Preprints

Mamontova, T.; Lukasheva, E.; Mavropolo-Stolyarenko, G.; Proksch, C.; Bilova, T.; Kim, A.; Babakov, V.; Grishina, T.; Hoehenwarter, W.; Medvedev, S.; Smolikova, G.; Frolov, A.; Proteome Map of Pea (Pisum Sativum L.) Embryos Containing Different Amounts of Residual Chlorophylls Preprints (2018) DOI: 10.20944/preprints201812.0069.v1

Due to low culturing costs and high seed protein contents, legumes represent the main global source of food protein. Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is one of the major economically important legume crops, impacting both animal feed and human nutrition. Therefore, the quality of pea seeds needs to be ensured in the context of sustainable crop production and nutritional efficiency. Obviously, changes in seed protein patterns might directly affect both of these aspects. Thus, here we address the pea seed proteome in more detail and provide, to the best of our knowledge, the most comprehensive annotation of the functions and intracellular localization of pea seed proteins. Accordingly, 1938 and 1989 non-redundant proteins were identified in yellow and green pea seeds, in total. Only 35 and 44 proteins, respectively, could be additionally identified after protamine sulfate precipitation (PSP) potentially indicating the high efficiency of our experimental workflow. In total 981 protein groups could be assigned to 34 functional classes, which were to a large extent differentially represented in yellow and green seeds. Closer analysis of these differences by processing of the data in KEGG and String databases revealed their possible relation to a higher metabolic status and reduced longevity of green seeds.
Publications

Hussain, H.; Green, I. R.; Shamraiz, U.; Saleem, M.; Badshah, A.; Abbas, G.; Rehman, N. U.; Irshad, M.; Therapeutic potential of glycyrrhetinic acids: a patent review (2010-2017) Expert Opin. Ther. Pat. 28, 383-398, (2018) DOI: 10.1080/13543776.2018.1455828

Introduction: Glycyrrhetinic acids (GAs) viz., 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid and 18α-glycyrrhetinic acid, are oleanane-type triterpenes having a carboxylic acid group at C-30, and are extracted from the Chines herbal medicine licorice (Glycyrrhiza uralensis). Although the pharmacological properties of GAs have long been known, attention to them has greatly increased in recent times due to their cytotoxic activity.Areas covered: This review represents the patents granted about natural and synthetic glycyrrhetinic acid analogs from January 2010 to December 2017, the advances made by research groups in conjunction with pharmaceutical companies in the discovery of new natural or synthetic glycyrrhetinic acid analogs.Expert opinion: GAs demonstrate excellent cytotoxic, antimicrobial, enzyme inhibitory, antiinflammatory, antioxidant, analgesic, and antiviral effects. It is interesting to note that the C-3(OH) and C30-CO2H functional groups make GAs very attractive lead structures for medicinal scientists since these functionalities allow the generation of further chemical diversity for improved pharmacological effects. Moreover, various GA analogues have been prepared via modification of the C30-CO2H. It is noteworthy that the C-30 amide of GA demonstrated better cytotoxic effects compared to the parent compounds. In addition, GAs have the capability to conjugate with other anticancer drugs or be converted into their halo or amino analogs which is expected to stimulate medicinal chemist to synthesize new lead compounds in cancer drug discovery.
Publications

Hussain, H.; Csuk, R.; Green, I. R.; Ur Rehman, N.; Abbas, G.; Hussain, W.; Journey Describing the Cytotoxic Potential of Withanolides: A Patent Review Recent Pat. Anti-Canc. Drug Discov. 13, 411-421, (2018) DOI: 10.2174/1574892813666180808154928

Withanolides are C-28 ergostane steroids known to demonstrate some very interesting therapeutic properties. Numerous withanolides have been isolated from a variety of different plant species and can be employed to treat various types of cancers. Withanolides are indeed capable of demonstrating excellent anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective activities. Additionally, libraries of prepared withaferin A analogs incorporating an acyl, sulphate, amide and aldehyde functionality have demonstrated the most potential response. It is of particular interest to note that an acetyl group at either C-4, C-19 or C-27 enhances the anticancer effects. Since the majority of natural withanolides reported in patents are classified as “Type-A”, it is our opinion that there should now be a focus on developing “Type-B” withanolides and an investigation into their various therapeutic applications. Moreover, very little real innovation in synthetic methodologies has been reported which opens up huge possibilities for novel synthetic methodologies to be developed for the production of larger libraries new withanolides and their analogs to incorporate chemical diversity. In addition, since withanolides have the capability to conjugate with other anticancer compounds, this should encourage scientists to prepare lead compounds in cancer drug discovery.
Publications

Hauck, N.; Seixas, N.; Centeno, S. P.; Schlüßler, R.; Cojoc, G.; Müller, P.; Guck, J.; Wöll, D.; Wessjohann, L. A.; Thiele, J.; Droplet-Assisted Microfluidic Fabrication and Characterization of Multifunctional Polysaccharide Microgels Formed by Multicomponent Reactions Polymers 10, 1055, (2018) DOI: 10.3390/polym10101055

Polysaccharide-based microgels have broad applications in multi-parametric cell cultures, cell-free biotechnology, and drug delivery. Multicomponent reactions like the Passerini three-component and the Ugi four-component reaction are shown in here to be versatile platforms for fabricating these polysaccharide microgels by droplet microfluidics with a narrow size distribution. While conventional microgel formation requires pre-modification of hydrogel building blocks to introduce certain functionality, in multicomponent reactions one building block can be simply exchanged by another to introduce and extend functionality in a library-like fashion. Beyond synthesizing a range of polysaccharide-based microgels utilizing hyaluronic acid, alginate and chitosan, exemplary in-depth analysis of hyaluronic acid-based Ugi four-component gels is conducted by colloidal probe atomic force microscopy, confocal Brillouin microscopy, quantitative phase imaging, and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy to elucidate the capability of microfluidic multicomponent reactions for forming defined polysaccharide microgel networks. Particularly, the impact of crosslinker amount and length is studied. A higher network density leads to higher Young’s moduli accompanied by smaller pore sizes with lower diffusion coefficients of tracer molecules in the highly homogeneous network, and vice versa. Moreover, tailored building blocks allow for crosslinking the microgels and incorporating functional groups at the same time as demonstrated for biotin-functionalized, chitosan-based microgels formed by Ugi four-component reaction. To these microgels, streptavidin-labeled enzymes are easily conjugated as shown for horseradish peroxidase (HRP), which retains its activity inside the microgels.
Publications

Frolov, A.; Didio, A.; Ihling, C.; Chantzeva, V.; Grishina, T.; Hoehenwarter, W.; Sinz, A.; Smolikova, G.; Bilova, T.; Medvedev, S.; The effect of simulated microgravity on the Brassica napus seedling proteome Funct. Plant Biol. 45, 440-452, (2018) DOI: 10.1071/FP16378

The magnitude and the direction of the gravitational field represent an important environmental factor affecting plant development. In this context, the absence or frequent alterations of the gravity field (i.e. microgravity conditions) might compromise extraterrestrial agriculture and hence space inhabitation by humans. To overcome the deleterious effects of microgravity, a complete understanding of the underlying changes on the macromolecular level is necessary. However, although microgravity-related changes in gene expression are well characterised on the transcriptome level, proteomic data are limited. Moreover, information about the microgravity-induced changes in the seedling proteome during seed germination and the first steps of seedling development is completely missing. One of the valuable tools to assess gravity-related issues is 3D clinorotation (i.e. rotation in two axes). Therefore, here we address the effects of microgravity, simulated by a two-axial clinostat, on the proteome of 24- and 48-h-old seedlings of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). The liquid chromatography-MS-based proteomic analysis and database search revealed 95 up- and 38 downregulated proteins in the tryptic digests obtained from the seedlings subjected to simulated microgravity, with 42 and 52 annotations detected as being unique for 24- and 48-h treatment times, respectively. The polypeptides involved in protein metabolism, transport and signalling were annotated as the functional groups most strongly affected by 3-D clinorotation.
Publications

Frolov, A.; Mamontova, T.; Ihling, C.; Lukasheva, E.; Bankin, M.; Chantseva, V.; Vikhnina, M.; Soboleva, A.; Shumilina, J.; Mavropolo-Stolyarenko, G.; Grishina, T.; Osmolovskaya, N.; Zhukov, V.; Hoehenwarter, W.; Sinz, A.; Tikhononovich, I.; Wessjohann, L.; Bilova, T.; Smolikova, G.; Medvedev, S.; Mining seed proteome: from protein dynamics to modification profiles Biol. Commun. 63, 43-58, (2018) DOI: 10.21638/spbu03.2018.106

In the modern world, crop plants represent a major source of daily consumed foods. Among them, cereals and legumes — i.e. the crops accumulating oils, carbohydrates and proteins in their seeds — dominate in European agriculture, tremendously impacting global protein consumption and biodiesel production. Therefore, the seeds of crop plants attract the special attention of biologists, biochemists, nutritional physiologists and food chemists. Seed development and germination, as well as age- and stress-related changes in their viability and nutritional properties, can be addressed by a variety of physiological and biochemical methods. In this context, the methods of functional genomics can be applied to address characteristic changes in seed metabolism, which can give access to stress-resistant genotypes. Among these methods, proteomics is one of the most effective tools, allowing mining metabolism changes on the protein level. Here we discuss the main methodological approaches of seed proteomics in the context of physiological changes related to environmental stress and ageing. We provide a comprehensive comparison of gel- and chromatographybased approaches with a special emphasis on advantages and disadvantages of both strategies in characterization of the seed proteome.
Publications

Fritzsche, S.; Billig, S.; Rynek, R.; Abburi, R.; Tarakhovskaya, E.; Leuner, O.; Frolov, A.; Birkemeyer, C.; Derivatization of Methylglyoxal for LC-ESI-MS Analysis—Stability and Relative Sensitivity of Different Derivatives Molecules 23, 2994, (2018) DOI: 10.3390/molecules23112994

The great research interest in the quantification of reactive carbonyl compounds (RCCs), such as methylglyoxal (MGO) in biological and environmental samples, is reflected by the fact that several publications have described specific strategies to perform this task. Thus, many reagents have also been reported for the derivatization of RCCs to effectively detect and quantify the resulting compounds using sensitive techniques such as liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS). However, the choice of the derivatization protocol is not always clear, and a comparative evaluation is not feasible because detection limits from separate reports and determined with different instruments are hardly comparable. Consequently, for a systematic comparison, we tested 21 agents in one experimental setup for derivatization of RCCs prior to LC-MS analysis. This consisted of seven commonly employed reagents and 14 similar reagents, three of which were designed and synthesized by us. All reagents were probed for analytical responsiveness of the derivatives and stability of the reaction mixtures. The results showed that derivatives of 4-methoxyphenylenediamine and 3-methoxyphenylhydrazine—reported here for the first time for derivatization of RCCs—provided a particularly high responsiveness with ESI-MS detection. We applied the protocol to investigate MGO contamination of laboratory water and show successful quantification in a lipoxidation experiment. In summary, our results provide valuable information for scientists in establishing accurate analysis of RCCs.
Publications

Fechner, J.; Kaufmann, M.; Herz, C.; Eisenschmidt, D.; Lamy, E.; Kroh, L. W.; Hanschen, F. S.; The major glucosinolate hydrolysis product in rocket (Eruca sativa L.), sativin, is 1,3-thiazepane-2-thione: Elucidation of structure, bioactivity, and stability compared to other rocket isothiocyanates Food Chem. 261, 57-65, (2018) DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2018.04.023

Rocket is rich in glucosinolates and valued for its hot and spicy taste. Here we report the structure elucidation, bioactivity, and stability of the mainly formed glucosinolate hydrolysis product, namely sativin, which was formerly thought to be 4-mercaptobutyl isothiocyanate. However, by NMR characterization we revealed that sativin is in fact 1,3-thiazepane-2-thione, a tautomer of 4-mercaptobutyl isothiocyanate with 7-membered ring structure and so far unknown. This finding was further substantiated by conformation sampling using molecular modeling and total enthalpy calculation with density functional theory. During aqueous heat treatment sativin in general was quite stable, while the isothiocyanates erucin and sulforaphane were labile, having half-lives of 132 min and 56 min (pH 5, 100 °C), respectively. Moreover, using a WST-1 assay, we found that sativin did not reduce cell viability of HepG2 cells in a range of 0.3–30 µM, and, therefore, exhibited no cytotoxic effects in this cell line.
Publications

Farag, M. A.; Maamoun, A. A.; Meyer, A.; Wessjohann, L. A.; Salicylic acid and its derivatives elicit the production of diterpenes and sterols in corals and their algal symbionts: a metabolomics approach to elicitor SAR Metabolomics 14, 127, (2018) DOI: 10.1007/s11306-018-1416-y

IntroductionThe production of marine drugs in its normal habitats is often low and depends greatly on ecological conditions. Chemical synthesis of marine drugs is not economically feasible owing to their complex structures. Biotechnology application via elicitation represents a promising tool to enhance metabolites yield that has yet to be explored in soft corals.ObjectivesStudy the elicitation impact of salicylic acid (SA) and six analogues in addition to a systemic acquired resistance inducer on secondary metabolites accumulation in the soft coral Sarcophyton ehrenbergi along with the symbiont zooxanthellae and if SA elicitation effect is extended to other coral species S. glaucum and Lobophyton pauciliforum.MethodsPost elicitation in the three corals and zooxanthella, metabolites were extracted and analyzed via UHPLC-MS coupled with chemometric tools.ResultsMultivariate data analysis of the UHPLC-MS data set revealed clear segregation of SA, amino-SA, and acetyl-SA elicited samples. An increased level ca. 6- and 8-fold of the diterpenes viz., sarcophytonolide I, sarcophine and a C28-sterol, was observed in SA and amino-SA groups, respectively. Post elicitation, the level of diepoxy-cembratriene increased 1.5-fold and 2.4-fold in 1 mM SA, and acetyl-SA (aspirin) treatment groups, respectively. S. glaucum and Lobophyton pauciliforum showed a 2-fold increase of diepoxy-cembratriene levels.ConclusionThese results suggest that SA could function as a general and somewhat selective diterpene inducing signaling molecule in soft corals. Structural consideration reveals initial structure–activity relationship (SAR) in SA derivatives that seem important for efficient diterpene and sterol elicitation.
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