α‐Synuclein is an intrinsically disordered protein of 140 residues that switches to an α‐helical conformation upon binding phospholipid membranes. We characterize its residue‐specific backbone structure in free solution with a novel maximum entropy procedure that integrates an extensive set of NMR data. These data include intraresidue and sequential HNHα and HNHN NOEs, values for 3JHNHα, 1JHαCα, 2JCαN, and 1JCαN, as well as chemical shifts of 15N, 13Cα, and 13C′ nuclei, which are sensitive to backbone torsion angles. Distributions of these torsion angles were identified that yield best agreement to the experimental data, while using an entropy term to minimize the deviation from statistical distributions seen in a large protein coil library. Results indicate that although at the individual residue level considerable deviations from the coil library distribution are seen, on average the fitted distributions agree fairly well with this library, yielding a moderate population (20–30%) of the PPII region and a somewhat higher population of the potentially aggregation‐prone β region (20–40%) than seen in the database. A generally lower population of the αR region (10–20%) is found. Analysis of 1H1H NOE data required consideration of the considerable backbone diffusion anisotropy of a disordered protein.
27 June 2017 in Angewandte Chemie International Edition
A series of hybrid compounds with triazole and thiazolidine nuclei connected by a linker has been synthesized and extensively studied. Various synthetic methods for the target compounds have been tested. A microbiological assessment of the obtained compounds was carried out on strains of pathogenic fungi C. albicans, C. non-albicans, multidrug-resistant C. auris, Rhizopus arrhizus, Aspergillus spp. and some dermatophytes and other yeasts. The lowest obtained MIC values for target compounds lie between 0.003 µg/mL and 0.5 µg/mL and therefore the compounds are not inferior or several times better than commercial azole drugs. The length of the acylpiperazine linker has a limited effect on antifungal activity. Some bioisosteric analogues were tested in microbiological analysis, but turned out to be weaker than the leader in activity. The highest activity was demonstrated by a compound with para-chlorobenzylidene substituent in the thiazolidine fragment. Molecular modelling was used to predict binding modes of synthesized molecules and rationalize experimentally observed SAR. The leader compound is twice more effective in inhibiting the formation of germ tubes by Candida albicans yeast cells compared to voriconazole. An increased level of Pdr5, an azoles drug efflux pump was observed, but the increase is lower than that caused by azoles. The results can be useful for further development of more powerful and safe antifungal agents.