Although strain-promoted alkyne-azide cycloadditions (SPAAC) have found wide utility in biological and material sciences, the low polarity and limited water solubility of commonly used cyclooctynes represents a serious shortcoming. To address this problem, an efficient synthetic route has been developed for highly polar sulfated dibenzocyclooctynylamides (S-DIBO) by a Friedel-Crafts alkylation of 1,2-bis(3-methoxyphenyl)ethylamides with trichlorocyclopropenium cation followed by a controlled hydrolysis of the resulting dichlorocyclopropenes to give bis(3-methoxyphenyl)cyclooctacyclopropenones, which were subjected to methoxy group removal of the phenols, O-sulfation, and photochemical unmasking of the cyclopropenone moiety. Accurate rate measurements of the reaction of benzyl azide with various dibenzylcyclooctyne derivatives demonstrated that aromatic substitution and the presence of the amide function had only a marginal impact on the rate constants. Biotinylated S-DIBO 8 was successfully used for labeling azido-containing glycoconjugates of living cells. Furthermore, it was found that the substitution pattern of the dibenzylcyclooctynes influences subcellular location and in particular it has been shown that DIBO derivative 4 can enter cells thereby labeling intra- and extracellular azido-modified glycoconjugates, whereas S-DIBO 8 cannot pass the cell membrane and therefore is ideally suited for selective labeling of cell surface molecules. The ability to selectively label cell surface molecules will yield unique opportunities for glycomic analysis and the study of glycoprotein trafficking.

Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) carbohydrates provide a challenging analytical target for structural determination due to their polydisperse nature, non-template biosynthesis, and labile sulfate modifications. The resultant structures, although heterogeneous, contain domains which indicate a sulfation pattern or code that correlates to specific function. Mass spectrometry, in particular electron detachment dissociation Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (EDD FT-ICR MS), provides a highly sensitive platform for GAG structural analysis by providing cross-ring cleavages for sulfation location and product ions specific to hexuronic acid stereochemistry. To investigate the effect of sulfation pattern and variations in stereochemistry on EDD spectra, a series of synthetic heparan sulfate (HS) tetrasaccharides are examined. Whereas previous studies have focused on lowly sulfated compounds (0.5–1 sulfate groups per disaccharide), the current work extends the application of EDD to more highly sulfated tetrasaccharides (1–2 sulfate groups per disaccharide) and presents the first EDD of a tetrasaccharide containing a sulfated hexuronic acid. For these more highly sulfated HS oligomers, alternative strategies are shown to be effective for extracting full structural details. These strategies inlcude sodium cation replacement of protons, for determining the sites of sulfation, and desulfation of the oligosaccharides for the generation of product ions for assigning uronic acid stereochemistry.

Aberrant glycosylation of α-dystroglycan (α-DG) results in loss of interactions with the extracellular matrix and is central to the pathogenesis of several disorders. To examine protein glycosylation of α-DG, a facile synthetic approach has been developed for the preparation of unusual phosphorylated O-mannosyl glycopeptides derived from α-DG by a strategy in which properly protected phospho-mannosides are coupled with a Fmoc protected threonine derivative, followed by the use of the resulting derivatives in automated solid phase glycopeptide synthesis using hyper-acid sensitive Sieber amide resin. Synthetic efforts also provided a reduced phospho-trisaccharide and the NMR data of this derivative confirmed the proper structural assignment of the unusual phospho-glycan structure. The glycopeptides made it possible to explore factors that regulate the elaboration of critical glycans. It was established that a glycopeptide having a 6-phospho-O-mannosyl residue is not an acceptor for action by the enzyme POMGnT1, which attaches β(1,2)-GlcNAc to O-mannosyl moietes, whereas the unphosphorylated derivate was readily extended by the enzyme. This finding implies a specific sequence of events in determining the structural fate of the O-glycan. It has also been found that the activity of POMGnT1 is dependent on the location of the acceptor site in the context of the underlying polypeptide/glycopeptide sequence. Conformational analysis by NMR has shown that the O-mannosyl modification does not exert major conformational effect on the peptide backbone. It is, however, proposed that these residues, introduced at the early stages of glycoprotein glycosylation, have an ability to regulate the loci of subsequent O-GalNAc additions, which do exert conformational effects. The studies show that through access to discrete glycopeptide structures, it is possible to reveal complex regulation of O-glycan processing on α-DG that has significant implications both for its normal post-translational maturation, and the mechanisms of the pathologies associated with hypoglycosylated α-DG.

Mass spectrometry-based studies of proteins that are post-translationally modified by O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) are challenged in effectively identifying the sites of modification while simultaneously sequencing the peptides. Here we tested the hypothesis that a combination of high-energy C-trap dissociation (HCD) and electron transfer dissociation (ETD) could specifically target the O-GlcNAc modified peptides and elucidate the amino acid sequence while preserving the attached GlcNAc residue for accurate site assignment. By taking advantage of the recently characterized O-GlcNAc-specific IgG monoclonal antibodies and the combination of HCD and ETD fragmentation techniques, O-GlcNAc modified proteins were enriched from HEK293T cells and subsequently characterized using the LTQ Orbitrap Velos™ ETD (Thermo Fisher Scientific) mass spectrometer. In our dataset, 83 sites of O-GlcNAc modification are reported with high confidence confirming that the HCD/ETD combined approach is amenable to the detection and site assignment of O-GlcNAc modified peptides. Realizing HCD triggered ETD fragmentation on a linear ion trap/Orbitrap platform for more in-depth analysis and application of this technique to other post-translationally modified proteins are currently underway. Furthermore, this report illustrates that the O-GlcNAc transferase appears to demonstrate promiscuity with regards to the hydroxyl-containing amino acid modified in short stretches of primary sequence of the glycosylated polypeptides.

We have shown that 4-Dibenzocyclooctynol (DIBO), which can easily be obtained by a streamlined synthetic approach, reacts exceptionally fast in the absence of a CuI catalyst with azido-containing compounds to give stable triazoles. Chemical modifications of DIBO, such as oxidation of the alcohol to a ketone, increased the rate of strain promoted azide-alkyne cycloadditions (SPAAC). Installment of a ketone or oxime in the cyclooctyne ring resulted in fluorescent active compounds whereas this property was absent in the corresponding cycloaddition adducts, thereby providing the first example of a metal-free alkyne-azide fluoro-switch click reaction. The alcohol or ketone functions of the cyclooctynes offer a chemical handle to install a variety of different tags, thereby facilitating biological studies. It was found that DIBO modified with biotin combined with metabolic labeling with an azido-containing monosaccharide can determine relative quantities of sialic acid of living cells that have defects in glycosylation (Lec CHO cells). A combined use of metabolic labeling/SPAAC and lectin staining of cells that have defects in the Conserved Oligomeric Golgi (COG) complex revealed that such defects have a greater impact on O-glycan sialylation than galactosylation, whereas sialylation and galactosylation of N-glycans was similarly impacted. These results highlight that the fidelity of Golgi trafficking is a critical parameter for the types of oligosaccharides that are being biosynthesized by a cell. Furthermore, by modulating the quantity of biosynthesized sugar nucleotide, cells may have a means to selectively alter specific glycan structures of glycoproteins.

A significant need exists for improved biomarkers for differential diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of therapeutic interventions for mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS), inherited metabolic disorders that involve lysosomal storage of glycosaminoglycans. Here, we report a simple reliable method based on the detection of abundant non-reducing ends of the glycosaminoglycans that accumulate in cells, blood, and urine of MPS patients. In this method, glycosaminoglycans were enzymatically depolymerized releasing unique mono-, di-, or trisaccharides from the non-reducing ends of the chains. The composition of the released mono- and oligosaccharides depends on the nature of the lysosomal enzyme deficiency, and therefore they serve as diagnostic biomarkers. Analysis by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry allowed qualitative and quantitative assessment of the biomarkers in biological samples. We provide a simple conceptual scheme for diagnosing MPS in uncharacterized samples and a method to monitor efficacy of enzyme replacement therapy or other forms of treatment.

Electron transfer through gas-phase ion–ion reactions has led to the widespread application of electron-based techniques once only capable in ion trapping mass spectrometers. Although any mass analyzer can, in theory, be coupled to an ion–ion reaction device (typically a 3-D ion trap), some systems of interest exceed the capabilities of most mass spectrometers. This case is particularly true in the structural characterization of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) oligosaccharides. To adequately characterize highly sulfated GAGs or oligosac charides above the tetrasaccharide level, a high-resolution mass analyzer is required. To extend previous efforts on an ion trap mass spectrometer, negative electron transfer dissociation coupled with a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer has been applied to increasingly sulfated heparan sulfate and heparin tetrasaccharides as well as a dermatan sulfate octasaccharide. Results similar to those obtained by electron detachment dissociation are observed.

The social amoeba Dictyostelium expresses a hypoxia inducible factor-α (HIFα)-type prolyl 4-hydroxylase (P4H1) and an α-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase (Gnt1) that sequentially modify proline-143 of Skp1, a subunit of the SCF (Skp1/Cullin/F-box protein)-class of E3 ubiquitin-ligases. Prior genetic studies have implicated Skp1 and its modification by these enzymes in O2-regulation of development, suggesting the existence of an ancient O2-sensing mechanism related to modification of the transcription factor HIFα by animal prolyl 4-hydroxylases (PHDs). To better understand the role of Skp1 in P4H1-dependent O2-signaling, biochemical and biophysical studies were conducted to characterize the reaction product and the basis of Skp1 substrate selection by P4H1 and Gnt1. 1H-NMR demonstrated formation of 4(trans)-hydroxyproline as previously found for HIFα, and highly purified P4H1 was inhibited by Krebs cycle intermediates and other compounds that affect animal P4Hs. However, in contrast to hydroxylation of HIFα by PHDs, P4H1 depended on features of full-length Skp1, based on truncation, mutagenesis, and competitive inhibition studies. These features are conserved during animal evolution, as even mammalian Skp1, which lacks the target proline, became a good substrate upon its restoration. P4H1 recognition may depend on features conserved for SCF complex formation as heterodimerization with an F-box protein blocked Skp1 hydroxylation. The hydroxyproline-capping enzyme Gnt1 exhibited similar requirements for Skp1 as a substrate. These and other findings support a model in which the protist P4H1 conditionally hydroxylates Skp1 of E3SCFubiquitin-ligases to control half-lives of multiple targets, rather than the mechanism of animal PHDs where individual proteins are hydroxylated leading to ubiquitination by the evolutionarily-related E3VBCubiquitin-ligases.

Although metal free cycloadditions of cyclooctynes and azides to give stable 1,2,3-triazoles have found wide utility in chemical biology and material sciences, there is an urgent need for faster and more versatile bioorthogonal reactions. We have found that nitrile oxides and diazocarbonyl derivatives undergo facile 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions with cyclooctynes. Cycloadditions with diazocarbonyl derivatives exhibited similar kinetics compared to azides whereas the reaction rates of cycloadditions with nitrile oxides were much faster. Nitrile oxides could conveniently be prepared by direct oxidation of the corresponding oximes with BAIB and these conditions made it possible to perform oxime formation, oxidation and cycloaddition as a one-pot procedure. The methodology was employed to functionalize the anomeric center of carbohydrates with various tags. Furthermore, oximes and azides provide an orthogonal pair of functional groups for sequential metal free click reactions and this feature makes it possible to multi-functionalize biomolecules and materials by a simple synthetic procedure that does not require toxic metal catalysts.

Activation of a glycosyl donor protected with a 2-O-(S)-(phenylthiomethyl)benzyl ether chiral auxiliary results in the formation of an anomeric β-sulfonium ion, which can be displaced with sugar alcohols to give corresponding α-glycosides. Sufficient deactivation of such glycosyl donors by electron withdrawing protecting groups is, however, critical to avoid glycosylation of an oxa-carbenium ion intermediate. The latter type of glycosylation pathway can also be suppressed by installing additional substituents in the chiral auxiliary.

Multifunctional dendrimers bearing two or more surface functionalities have the promise to provide smart drug delivery devices that can for example combine tissue targeting and imaging or be directed more precisely to a specific tissue or cell type. We have developed a concise synthetic methodology for efficient dendrimer assembly and heterobifunctionalization based on three sequential azide-alkyne cycloadditions. The methodology is compatible with biologically important compounds rich in chemical functionalities such as peptides, carbohydrates and fluorescent tags. In the approach, a strain promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC) between polyester dendrons modified at the focal point with an azido and 4-dibenzocyclooctynol (DIBO) moiety provided dendrimers bearing terminal and TMS-protected alkynes at the periphery. The terminal alkynes were outfitted with azido-modified polyethylene glycol (PEG) chains or galactosyl residues using CuI catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloadditions (CuAAC). Next, a one-pot TMS-deprotection and second click reaction of the resulting terminal alkyne with azido-containing compounds gave multifunctional dendrimers bearing complex biologically active moieties at the periphery.

Organomicelles modified by surface dibenzylcyclooctyne moieties can conveniently be functionalized by strain-promoted alkyne-azide cycloadditions. The ligation approach is highly efficient, does not require toxic reagents and is compatible with a wide variety of functional modules. Interactions of proteins with surface ligands of the micelles have been studied by AFM, which revealed that it leads to disassembly of the particles thereby providing a mechanism for triggered drug release.

Mammalian Peptidoglycan Recognition Proteins (PGRPs), similar to antimicrobial lectins, bind to bacterial cell wall and kill bacteria through an unknown mechanism. We show that PGRPs enter Gram-positive cell wall at the site of daughter cell separation during cell division. In Bacillus subtilis PGRPs activate the CssR-CssS two-component system that detects and disposes of misfolded proteins exported out of bacterial cells. This activation results in membrane depolarization, cessation of intracellular peptidoglycan, protein, RNA, and DNA synthesis, and production of hydroxyl radicals, which are responsible for bacterial death. PGRPs also bind to the outer membrane in Escherichia coli and activate functionally homologous CpxA-CpxR two-component system, which results in bacterial death. We excluded other potential bactericidal mechanisms (inhibition of extracellular peptidoglycan synthesis, hydrolysis of peptidoglycan, and membrane permeabilization). Thus we reveal a novel mechanism of bacterial killing by innate immunity proteins that bind to cell wall or outer membrane and exploit bacterial stress defense response to kill bacteria.

A microwave-assisted one-pot, three-step Sonogashira cross coupling-desilylation-cycloaddition sequence was developed for the convenient preparation of 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles starting from a range of halides, acyl chlorides, ethynyltrimethylsilane and azides.

A strategy has been developed to deliver selectively chemotherapeutic drugs to B-cells by employing doxorubicin loaded liposomes modified by a ligand for the B cell-specific cell-surface protein CD22 also known as Siglec-2. The liposomes bound rapid and saturable to the human Burkitt lymphoma Daudi B-cell line and exhibited significantly higher cytotoxicity in vitro and in vivo compared to similar untargeted liposomes. The CD22-targeted liposome bound to B cells isolated from lymphoma patients and although binding was proportional to CD22 expression on the cell surface, low levels of expression on CLL cells were sufficient to effect cell neutralization. The glycan-based strategy for delivery chemotherapeutic agents may provide a new strategy for the treatment of B-cell lymphomas.

The Bacillus anthracis exosporium protein BclA contains an O-linked antigenic tetrasaccharide whose terminal sugar is known as anthrose (J. M. Daubenspeck et al., J. Biol. Chem. 279:30945–30953, 2004). We hypothesized that serologic responses to anthrose may have diagnostic value in confirming exposure to aerosolized B. anthracis. We evaluated the serologic responses to a synthetic anthrose-containing trisaccharide (ATS) in a group of five rhesus macaques that survived inhalation anthrax following exposure to B. anthracis Ames spores. Two of five animals (RM2 and RM3) were treated with ciprofloxacin starting at 48 hours postexposure and two (RM4 and RM5) at 72 h postexposure; one animal (RM1) was untreated. Infection was confirmed by blood culture and detection of anthrax toxin lethal factor (LF) in plasma. Anti-ATS IgG responses were determined at 14, 21, 28, and 35 days postexposure, with preexposure serum as a control. All animals, irrespective of ciprofloxacin treatment, mounted a specific, measurable anti-ATS IgG response. The earliest detectable responses were on days 14 (RM1, RM2, and RM5), 21 (RM4), and 28 (RM3). Specificity of the anti-ATS responses was demonstrated by competitive-inhibition enzyme immunoassay (CIEIA), in which a 2-fold (wt/wt) excess of carbohydrate in a bovine serum albumin (BSA) conjugate of the oligosaccharide (ATS-BSA) effected >94% inhibition, whereas a structural analog lacking the 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-butyryl moiety at the C-4" of the anthrosyl residue had no inhibition activity. These data suggest that anti-ATS antibody responses may be used to identify aerosol exposure to B. anthracis spores. The anti-ATS antibody responses were detectable during administration of ciprofloxacin.

A new set of orthogonal protecting groups has been developed based on the use of a diethylisopropylsilyl (DEIPS), methylnaphthyl (Nap), allyl ether and levulinoyl (Lev) ester. The protecting groups are ideally suited for the preparation of highly branched oligosaccharides and their usefulness has been demonstrated by the chemical synthesis of a β-d-Man-(1→4)-d-Man disaccharide, which is appropriately protected for making a range of part-structures of the unusual core region of the lipopolysaccharide of Francisella tularensis.

The structural characterization of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) carbohydrates by mass spectrometry has been a long standing analytical challenge due to the inherent heterogeneity of these biomolecules, specifically polydispersity, variability in sulfation, and hexuronic acid stereochemistry. Recent advances in tandem mass spectrometry methods employing threshold and electron-based ion activation have resulted in the ability to determine the location of the labile sulfate modification as well as assign the stereochemistry of hexuronic acid residues. To facilitate the analysis of complex electron detachment dissociation (EDD) spectra, principal component analysis (PCA) is employed to differentiate the hexuronic acid stereochemistry of four synthetic GAG epimers whose EDD spectra are nearly identical upon visual inspection. For comparison, PCA is also applied to infrared multiphoton dissociation spectra (IRMPD) of the examined epimers. To assess the applicability of multivariate methods in GAG mixture analysis, PCA is utilized to identify the relative content of two epimers in a binary mixture.

Purpose

The objective of the present study is to identify proteins that change in the extent of the modification with O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAcylation) in the kidney from diabetic model Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats, and to discuss the relation between O-GlcNAcylation and the pathological condition in diabetes.

Methods

O-GlcNAcylated proteins were identified by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, immunoblotting and peptide mass fingerprinting. The level of O-GlcNAcylation of these proteins was examined by immunoprecipitation, immunoblotting and in situ Proximity Ligation Assay (PLA).

Results

O-GlcNAcylated proteins that changed significantly in the degree of O-GlcNAcylation were identified as cytoskeletal proteins (α-actin, α-tubulin, α-actinin 4, myosin) and mitochondrial proteins (ATP synthase β, pyruvate carboxylase). The extent of O-GlcNAcylation of the above proteins increased in the diabetic kidney. Immunofluorescence and in situ PLA studies revealed that the levels of O-GlcNAcylation of actin, α-actinin 4 and myosin were significantly increased in the glomerulus and the proximal tubule of the diabetic kidney. Immunoelectron microscopy revealed that immunolabeling of α-actinin 4 is disturbed and increased in the foot process of podocytes of glomerulus and in the microvilli of proximal tubules.

Conclusion

These results suggest that changes in the O-GlcNAcylation of cytoskeletal proteins are closely associated with the morphological changes in the podocyte foot processes in the glomerulus and in microvilli of proximal tubules in the diabetic kidney. This is the first report to show that α-actinin 4 is O-GlcNAcylated. α-Actinin 4 will be a good marker protein to examine the relation between O-GlcNAcylation and diabetic nephropathy.

Although studies have been performed to characterize responses of macrophages from individual anatomical sites (e.g., alveolar macrophages) or of murine-derived macrophage cell lines to microbial ligands, few studies compare these cell types in terms of phenotype and function. We directly compared the expression of cell surface markers and functional responses of primary cultures of three commonly used cells of monocyte-macrophage lineage (splenic macrophages, bone-marrow derived macrophages, and bone-marrow derived dendritic cells) with those of the murine-leukemic monocyte-macrophage cell line, RAW 264.7. We hypothesized that RAW 264.7 cells and primary bone marrow-derived macrophages would be similar in phenotype and would respond similarly to microbial ligands that bind to either Toll-like receptors 2, 3, and 4. Results indicate that RAW 264.7 cells most closely mimic bone marrow-derived macrophages in terms of cell surface receptors and response to microbial ligands that initiate cellular activation via Toll-like receptors 3 and 4. However, caution must be applied when extrapolating findings obtained with RAW 264.7 cells to those of other primary macrophage-lineage cells, primarily because phenotype and function of the former cells may change with continuous culture.

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis Ser/Thr kinase PknB has been implicated in the regulation of cell growth and morphology in this organism. The extracytoplasmic domain of this membrane protein comprises four penicillin binding protein and Ser/Thr kinase associated (PASTA) domains, which are predicted to bind stem peptides of peptidoglycan. Using a comprehensive library of synthetic muropeptides, we demonstrate that the extracytoplasmic domain of PknB binds muropeptides in a manner dependent on the presence of specific amino acids at the second and third positions of the stem peptide, and on the presence of the sugar moiety N-acetylmuramic acid linked to the peptide. We further show that PknB localizes strongly to the mid-cell and also to the cell poles, and that the extracytoplasmic domain is required for PknB localization. In contrast to strong growth stimulation by conditioned medium, we observe no growth stimulation of M. tuberculosis by a synthetic muropeptide with high affinity for the PknB PASTAs. We do find a moderate effect of a high affinity peptide on resuscitation of dormant cells. While the PASTA domains of PknB may play a role in stimulating growth by binding exogenous peptidoglycan fragments, our data indicate that a major function of these domains is for proper PknB localization, likely through binding of peptidoglycan fragments produced locally at the mid-cell and the cell poles. These data suggest a model in which PknB is targeted to the sites of peptidoglycan turnover to regulate cell growth and cell division.

Author Summary

Regulation of growth by Mycobacterium tuberculosis is important in the pathogenesis of tuberculosis (TB), including asymptomatic latent TB infection and active TB disease. The M. tuberculosis kinase PknB regulates cell growth and cell division by phosphorylating proteins involved in these processes to modify their function. The activity of PknB is thought to respond to extracellular stimuli by binding specific molecules with its extracytoplasmic domain. In this work we show that cell wall fragments bind to this domain, and that strong binding requires that these interacting molecules have specific molecular features. We demonstrate that a peptidoglycan fragment that binds strongly can stimulate growth of dormant bacteria, but that it does not affect growth of non-dormant bacteria. We also show that PknB localizes to the site of cell division and to the growing tip of the bacterium, where cell wall synthesis and degradation occur, and that the extracytoplasmic domain is required for this localization. These findings indicate that a major function of the extracytoplasmic domain of PknB is to place it at the sites of cell wall turnover, and suggest a model by which PknB can regulate growth and cell division, and thereby contribute to the pathogenesis of TB.

The recent development of metabolic oligosaccharide engineering combined with bioorthogonal reactions is providing unique opportunities to detect, image, and isolate glycoconjugates of living cells, tissues, and model organisms. In this methodology, exogenously-supplied non-natural sugars are fed to cells and employed by the biosynthetic machinery for the biosynthesis of neoglycoconjugates. In this way, reactive functional groups such as ketones, azides, and thiols have been incorporated into sialic acid, galactosamine, glucosamine, and fucose moieties of glycoconjugates. A range of bioorthogonal reactions have been described that functionalize the chemical ‘tags’ for imaging, isolation, and drug delivery.

Studies of post-translational modification by β-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (O-GlcNAc) are hampered by a lack of efficient tools such as O-GlcNAc specific antibodies that can be employed for detection, isolation, and site localization. We have obtained a large panel of O-GlcNAc-specific IgG MAbs having a broad spectrum of binding partners by combining three-component immunogen methodology with hybridoma technology. Immunoprecipitation followed by large-scale shotgun proteomics led to the identification of more than 200 mammalian O-GlcNAc modified proteins, including a large number of novel glycoproteins. A substantial number of the glycoproteins were only enriched by one of the antibodies and this observation combined with results of inhibition ELISAs suggests that the antibodies in addition to their O-GlcNAc-dependence also appear to have different, but overlapping, local peptide determinants. The MAbs made it possible to delineate differentially modified proteins of liver in response to trauma-hemorrhage and resuscitation in a rat model.

Lipopolysaccharides (LPS), which are structural components of the outer surface membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, trigger innate immune responses through activation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). Such responses may be exploited for the development of adjuvants and in particular monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA) obtained by controlled hydrolysis of LPS of Salmonella minnesota, exhibits low toxicity yet possesses beneficial immuno-stimulatory properties. We have developed an efficient synthetic approach for the preparation of a major component of MPLA (1), which has as a key feature the use of allyloxycarbonates (Alloc) as permanent protecting groups for the C-3 and C-4 hydroxyls of the proximal glucosamine unit. The latter protecting groups greatly facilitated deprotection of the fully assembled compound. Furthermore, the amino functions were protected as N-2,2,2-trichloroethoxycarbamates (Troc), which performed efficient neighboring group participation to give selectively 1,2-trans-glycosides and could easily be removed under mild conditions without affecting the permanent Alloc carbonates and anomeric dimethylthexylsilyl (TDS) ether. The synthetic methodology was also employed for the preparation of a monophosphoryl lipid A (2) derivative that has the anomeric center of the proximal sugar modified as a methyl glycoside. Compound 1 was not able to induce cytokine production in mouse macrophages whereas methyl glycoside 2 displayed activity, however it has a lower potency and efficacy than lipid A obtained by controlled hydrolysis S. minnesota. This indicates compound 2 is an attractive candidate for adjuvant development and that 1 is not the active substance of MPLA obtained by controlled hydrolysis of LPS.