Applications of microscopy and small angle scattering techniques for the characterisation of supramolecular gels

• Connor R. M. MacDonald and
• Emily R. Draper

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2608–2634, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.220

• more complex braided structures observable by SEM (Figure 9) [44]. An important feature of self-assembled networks is the defects that arise in the fibre structures as shown in the characterisation of β-hairpin peptide hydrogels by Yucel et al. [47]. The cryo-TEM characterisation indicated that the

• show that the self-assembly occurred on these length scales [85]. This data was used to show that hydrophobicity was a key factor in controlling the self-assembly of these compounds. The work by Greenfield et al. shows the advantageous tuneability of peptide amphiphiles and their ability to form gels

• fibre width and the changing mechanical properties observed in the materials. The networks are peptide-dominated at low agarose concentrations, and agarose-dominated at high agarose concentrations, resulting in distinct changes in structural morphology. Instead the variation in mechanical properties

A review of recent advances in electrochemical and photoelectrochemical late-stage functionalization classified by anodic oxidation, cathodic reduction, and paired electrolysis

• Nian Li,
• Ruzal Sitdikov,
• Ajit Prabhakar Kale,
• Joost Steverlynck,
• Bo Li and
• Magnus Rueping

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2500–2566, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.214

Improved deconvolution of natural products’ protein targets using diagnostic ions from chemical proteomics linkers

• Andreas Wiest and
• Pavel Kielkowski

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2323–2341, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.199

• discuss the properties and applications of different chemical proteomics linkers with special focus on their fragmentation releasing diagnostic ions and how these may improve the confidence in identified active compound–peptide conjugates. The application of advanced search options improves the

• distinction of the probe–protein complex from the background. There are two levels on which the probe conjugates can be identified: either on the protein level as intact probe–protein conjugates or on the peptide level after protease digestion as a probe–peptide conjugate (Figure 1). Although the increased

• peptides or enhancement of the signal-to-noise ratio is necessary for successful analysis (Figure 1). The future challenge to complete the chemical proteomic analysis will include the absolute quantification of those identified NP–peptide conjugates to estimate protein occupancy (Figure 1). Although mass

Catalysing (organo-)catalysis: Trends in the application of machine learning to enantioselective organocatalysis

• Stefan P. Schmid,
• Leon Schlosser,
• Frank Glorius and
• Kjell Jorner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2280–2304, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.196

• be developed by considering active structures. This was demonstrated by Crawford et al. [86] in their investigation of a peptide-catalysed atroposelective bromination (Figure 5). The authors found that the peptidic catalysts can broadly be defined in two categories of β-turns: a type I’ pre-helical

• based on a manual analysis of the probed substrates. The inclusion of electronic parameters led to a considerable improvement in predicting the enantioselectivity of a peptide-catalysed bisphenol desymmetrisation compared to their omission, showcasing the importance of capturing relevant molecular

• screening approaches [107][144][145][146][147]. Thereby, experimental efforts can be focused on the most promising candidates predicted by the model. Denmark and co-workers utilised such an approach to design highly selective catalysts for a peptide-catalysed annulation reaction [68]. Using conformer

Cell-free protein synthesis with technical additives – expanding the parameter space of in vitro gene expression

• Tabea Bartsch,
• Stephan Lütz and
• Katrin Rosenthal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2242–2253, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.192

• the production of non-ribosomal peptide synthetases with a molecular weight higher than 100 kDa [57]. However, these enzymes are often of great interest for specific applications in biomanufacturing. Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) is one of these enzymes. cGAS and its biocatalytic product 2’3’-cyclic

Computational toolbox for the analysis of protein–glycan interactions

• Ferran Nieto-Fabregat,
• Maria Pia Lenza,
• Angela Marseglia,
• Cristina Di Carluccio,
• Antonio Molinaro,
• Alba Silipo and
• Roberta Marchetti

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2084–2107, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.180

• refinement. Among them, PROCHEK [98] is an open-source program that permits to check the quality of the protein structure by analysing the Ramachandran plots, the planarity of peptide bonds, the bad non-bonded interactions, the distortions of the geometry around the Cα atoms, the energies of hydrogen bonds

Discovery of antimicrobial peptides clostrisin and cellulosin from Clostridium: insights into their structures, co-localized biosynthetic gene clusters, and antibiotic activity

• Moisés Alejandro Alejo Hernandez,
• Katia Pamela Villavicencio Sánchez,
• Rosendo Sánchez Morales,
• Karla Georgina Hernández-Magro Gil,
• David Silverio Moreno-Gutiérrez,
• Eddie Guillermo Sanchez-Rueda,
• Yanet Teresa-Cruz,
• Brian Choi,
• Armando Hernández Garcia,
• Alba Romero-Rodríguez,
• Oscar Juárez,
• Siseth Martínez-Caballero,
• Mario Figueroa and
• Corina-Diana Ceapă

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1800–1816, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.159

• spontaneously form in bovicin HJ50 to exert their natural activity and change spectra of antimicrobial effects when synthetically intramolecularly bound [17][18]. The biosynthesis of mature lanthipeptides involves the translation of lanA, which encodes a precursor peptide with two regions: a leader peptide that

• is recognized by post-translational enzymes and a core peptide where these enzymes produce the formation of Dha-Cys or Dhb-Cys residues. The post-translational modification enzymes involved span different functional domains (a cyclase and a dehydratase), and their activity is tightly controlled at

• catalyze the formation of Dha-Cys or Dhb-Cys [21]. Moreover, lanPt encodes a membrane protein with two ABC transporter domains and a C39 peptidase domain. The protein cleaves the leader peptide to generate mature lanthipeptides and exports them to the extracellular environment [22]. The diversity of

Ugi bisamides based on pyrrolyl-β-chlorovinylaldehyde and their unusual transformations

• Alexander V. Tsygankov,
• Vladyslav O. Vereshchak,
• Tetiana O. Savluk,
• Serhiy M. Desenko,
• Valeriia V. Ananieva,
• Oleksandr V. Buravov,
• Yana I. Sakhno,
• Svitlana V. Shishkina and
• Valentyn A. Chebanov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1773–1784, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.156

• prepared and characterized. Surprisingly, a well-documented approach to obtain peptide-containing carboxylic acids through acid hydrolysis of the convertible isocyanide moiety in the Ugi bisamides proceeded in an unexpected manner in our case, leading to the formation of derivatives of amides of

• attempt to apply a well-documented approach for the subsequent synthesis of peptide-containing carboxylic acids by acid hydrolysis of the convertible isocyanide moiety in the Ugi bisamides proceeded in an unexpected manner: their treatment with acids led to elimination of the 2-chloroacetamide moiety and

Chemo-enzymatic total synthesis: current approaches toward the integration of chemical and enzymatic transformations

• Ryo Tanifuji and
• Hiroki Oguri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1693–1712, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.151

• vitro enzymatic conversions (Scheme 9) [94]. The biosynthesis of 5 begins with the conversion of ʟ-tyrosine to tyrosine derivative 86 (Tyr*) by peroxygenase SfmD and the methyltransferases, SfmM2 and M3 [95][96]. Concurrently, two non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) modules, SfmA and SfmB, catalyze

Methyltransferases from RiPP pathways: shaping the landscape of natural product chemistry

• Maria-Paula Schröder,
• Isabel P.-M. Pfeiffer and
• Silja Mordhorst

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1652–1670, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.147

• within the context of ribosomally synthesised and post-translationally modified peptide (RiPP) natural products. Methyltransferases play a pivotal role in the biosynthesis of diverse natural products with unique chemical structures and bioactivities. They are highly chemo-, regio-, and stereoselective

• bioactivities [1]. RiPP natural products are typically encoded in a biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) and produced following defined biosynthetic rules. Initially, a precursor peptide encompassing a core peptide, a leader part and/or a follower part, is synthesised at the ribosome. Next, distinct maturases

• encoded in the same BGC as the precursor peptide install post-translational modifications in the core peptide. Finally, a protease releases the modified core peptide, creating the mature natural product [2]. The transfer of a methyl group is a common post-translational modification in RiPP biosynthesis

Polymer degrading marine Microbulbifer bacteria: an un(der)utilized source of chemical and biocatalytic novelty

• Weimao Zhong and
• Vinayak Agarwal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1635–1651, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.146

• invertebrates and plants, perhaps hinting at these molecules being widely used alphabets in inter-organismal chemical cross talk. Non-ribosomally synthesized peptidic natural products Assembly line non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) are routinely detected to be encoded in Microbulbifer genomes [141]. An

• NRPS-derived macrolactam ureidopeptide, bulbiferamide (27, Figure 10), was isolated and characterized from a coral-derived Microbulbifer sp. C10-1 by Igarashi and co-workers [7]. The ureido linkage did not allow for the peptide main chain in 27 to possess a terminal primary amine and none of the side

Mining raw plant transcriptomic data for new cyclopeptide alkaloids

• Draco Kriger,
• Michael A. Pasquale,
• Brigitte G. Ampolini and
• Jonathan R. Chekan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1548–1559, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.138

• and post-translationally modified peptide (RiPP) natural products offer a valuable opportunity for bioinformatics-guided discovery in plants due to their short biosynthetic pathways and gene encoded substrates. Using a high-throughput approach to assemble and analyze 700 publicly available raw

• ; transcriptome mining; Introduction Plants are prolific producers of cyclic peptide natural products, making 1000s of different molecules [1]. While the orbitide [2] and cyclotide [3] classes of peptides are well known, it has been recently discovered that a new class of molecules called burpitides are also

• prevalent in plants [4]. Like all known plant peptides, burpitides fall under the ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) superclass of natural products (Figure 1). The typical pathway for a RiPP starts with a precursor peptide made by the ribosome that undergoes post

Bioinformatic prediction of the stereoselectivity of modular polyketide synthase: an update of the sequence motifs in ketoreductase domain

• Changjun Xiang,
• Shunyu Yao,
• Ruoyu Wang and
• Lihan Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1476–1485, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.131

• targeted for further analysis. Sequences with multiple modules on a peptide chain were cut into single-module sequences based on the boundaries annotated of modules. These sequences were then filtered according to the following rules: (a) The PKS sequences that produce the same final product but originate

A Diels–Alder probe for discovery of natural products containing furan moieties

• Alyssa S. Eggly,
• Namuunzul Otgontseren,
• Carson B. Roberts,
• Amir Y. Alwali,
• Haylie E. Hennigan and
• Elizabeth I. Parkinson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1001–1010, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.88

• ][16]. One probe has been developed capable of undergoing a Diels–Alder reaction with a peptide containing a terminal furan [17]. However, to date, no one has developed probes that have been demonstrated to work well with natural products containing furans. Therefore, we have developed a probe that can

Direct synthesis of acyl fluorides from carboxylic acids using benzothiazolium reagents

• Lilian M. Maas,
• Alex Haswell,
• Rory Hughes and
• Matthew N. Hopkinson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 921–930, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.82

• observed (yield = 72%) with analysis by chiral HPLC revealing no erosion of the enantiomeric ratio (er = 99:1). At this stage, the suitability of BT-SCF3-mediated deoxyfluorination for the one-pot formation of peptide linkages between amino acids was investigated (Scheme 3). Treatment of N-Boc-valine under

• under mild and operationally simple conditions while peptide coupling between two amino acids could be efficiently conducted using the longer-chain perfluoroalkyl reagent BT-SC5F11. Mechanistic studies revealed that each equivalent of the benzothiazolium reagent can feasibly generate two equivalents of

Activity assays of NnlA homologs suggest the natural product N-nitroglycine is degraded by diverse bacteria

• Kara A. Strickland,
• Brenda Martinez Rodriguez,
• Ashley A. Holland,
• Shelby Wagner,
• Michelle Luna-Alva,
• David E. Graham and
• Jonathan D. Caranto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 830–840, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.75

• . NNG is a non-proteinogenic amino acid, similar to other such N–N containing compounds such as piperazic acid and hydrazinoacetic acid [43]. These precursors are incorporated into larger NPs by non-ribosomal peptide synthases or polyketide synthases, and NNG may have a similar fate [44][45]. Another

Synthesis and characterization of water-soluble C₆₀–peptide conjugates

• Yue Ma,
• Lorenzo Persi and
• Yoko Yamakoshi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 777–786, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.71

• Yue Ma Lorenzo Persi Yoko Yamakoshi Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 3, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland 10.3762/bjoc.20.71 Abstract With the aim of developing biocompatible and water-soluble C60 derivatives, three types of C60–peptide conjugates consisting

• successfully provide C60–peptide conjugates with one C60 and two peptide anchors as water-soluble moieties. Among three C60–peptide conjugates prepared, C60–oligo-Lys was soluble in water at neutral pH, and C60–oligo-Glu was soluble in buffer with a higher pH value, but C60–oligo-Arg was insoluble in water and

• example, as a photosensitizer in photodynamic therapy. Keywords: biomaterial; fullerene; peptide; water-soluble; Introduction Since the seminal discovery in 1985 by Kroto, Smalley, Curl, and co-workers [1], fullerenes, specifically buckminsterfullerene C60, have intrigued the scientific community. The

Substrate specificity of a ketosynthase domain involved in bacillaene biosynthesis

• Zhiyong Yin and
• Jeroen S. Dickschat

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 734–740, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.67

• compound is made through a trans-AT polyketide synthase–non-ribosomal peptide synthase (PKS-NRPS) hybrid [9][10]. Instead of using the classical domain organisation KS-AT-ACP with AT domains integrated into the PKS, trans-AT PKSs utilize discrete ATs that are not an integral part of the PKS, but rather

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of macrocyclic peptides and polyketides via thioesterase-catalyzed macrocyclization

• Senze Qiao,
• Zhongyu Cheng and
• Fuzhuo Li

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 721–733, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.66

• and multifunctional enzymatic assembly, nonribosomal peptide synthases (NRPS), polyketide synthases (PKS), and hybrid NRPS/PKS systems, which are organized into sets of functional domains known as modules and function through a similar mechanism [9][10][11][12]. Each NRPS module is composed of three

• attention is given to the strategies of mimics formation to demonstrate how biocatalysis provides an elegant link between chemistry and biology. Review Macrocyclic peptides Since first being reported in the 1960s [26], solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) has been an invaluable tool for preparing numerous

• -workers developed an elegant chemoenzymatic route in 2000 [36]. The synthesis commenced to construct linear decapeptide 2 by global SPPS method on 2-chlorotrityl resin. After coupling 2 with N-acetylcysteamine (NAC, 3), the mimic of peptide-S-PCP, peptide-SNAC 4 was prepared. When incubated with purified

New variochelins from soil-isolated Variovorax sp. H002

• Jabal Rahmat Haedar,
• Aya Yoshimura and
• Toshiyuki Wakimoto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 692–700, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.63

• draft genome sequence of the H002 strain identified the variochelin biosynthetic gene cluster (var), which encodes PKS (polyketide synthase) and NRPS (non-ribosomal peptide synthetase) genes. Finally, the siderophores isolated in this study exhibited antibacterial activity against several bacteria

• siderophores 1–5 share the same amino acid residues containing a combination of two hydroxamates and α-hydroxycarboxylate functional groups, which are capable of forming a photoreactive Fe(III) complex [5]. The common peptide headgroup with the additional repertoire of hydrophobic tails at the N-termini (3–5

• by diamonds. EIMS of DMOX derivatized free fatty acids derived from variochelins C–E (3–5). (a) 3, (b) 4, and (c) 5. (a) Plausible biosynthetic pathway of variochelin A–E (1–5). The circles represent domains: A: adenylation domain, C: condensation domain, PCP: peptide carrier protein, E

Palladium-catalyzed three-component radical-polar crossover carboamination of 1,3-dienes or allenes with diazo esters and amines

• Geng-Xin Liu,
• Xiao-Ting Jie,
• Ge-Jun Niu,
• Li-Sheng Yang,
• Xing-Lin Li,
• Jian Luo and
• Wen-Hao Hu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 661–671, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.59

• owing to their wide applications in medicinal chemistry [1][2][3][4][5]. γ- and ε-AA derivatives are widely distributed in peptide natural products, bioactive molecules, and drugs, such as pregabalin, baclofen, ε-aminocaproic acid and lysine (Scheme 1a) [6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. The number of reported

Entry to new spiroheterocycles via tandem Rh(II)-catalyzed O–H insertion/base-promoted cyclization involving diazoarylidene succinimides

• Alexander Yanovich,
• Anastasia Vepreva,
• Ksenia Malkova,
• Grigory Kantin and
• Dmitry Dar’in

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 561–569, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.48

• treatment of acute severe pain) [29] and an investigational drug NOP-1A (a ligand for the nociceptin/orphanin FQ peptide (NOP) receptor which is thought to be involved in several central nervous system disorders such as anxiety, depression, drug abuse, and seizures) [30]. A wide range of biological

Synthesis and biological profile of 2,3-dihydro[1,3]thiazolo[4,5-b]pyridines, a novel class of acyl-ACP thioesterase inhibitors

• Jens Frackenpohl,
• David M. Barber,
• Guido Bojack,
• Birgit Bollenbach-Wahl,
• Ralf Braun,
• Rahel Getachew,
• Sabine Hohmann,
• Kwang-Yoon Ko,
• Karoline Kurowski,
• Bernd Laber,
• Rebecca L. Mattison,
• Thomas Müller,
• Anna M. Reingruber,
• Dirk Schmutzler and
• Andrea Svejda

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 540–551, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.46

• (SORHA), Triticum aestivum (TRZAS), and Zea mays (ZEAMX). LpFAT A expression and purification: The fat a03 gene from Lemna paucicostata, in which the N-terminal amino acids representing the chloroplast transit peptide were replaced by an N-terminal 6xHis-tag, was cloned into a pET24 vector [3]. The LpFAT

Development of a chemical scaffold for inhibiting nonribosomal peptide synthetases in live bacterial cells

• Fumihiro Ishikawa,
• Sho Konno,
• Hideaki Kakeya and
• Genzoh Tanabe

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 445–451, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.39

• University, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan 10.3762/bjoc.20.39 Abstract The adenylation (A) domain is essential for non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs), which synthesize various peptide-based natural products, including virulence factors, such as siderophores and genotoxins. Hence, the inhibition of A

• synthetase A (GrsA) in the gramicidin S-producer Aneurinibacillus migulanus ATCC 9999, providing an alternative scaffold to develop novel A-domain inhibitors. Keywords: adenylation domain inhibitor; gramicidin S synthetase; natural product; nonribosomal peptide; nonribosomal peptide synthetase

• biosynthesis by using small molecules can help to elucidate their natural functions and their potential as therapeutic targets. NRPs are synthesized by large, versatile, and multifunctional proteins called nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs), which are composed of multiple modules and subdivided domains

Elucidating the glycan-binding specificity and structure of Cucumis melo agglutinin, a new R-type lectin

• Jon Lundstrøm,
• Emilie Gillon,
• Valérie Chazalet,
• Nicole Kerekes,
• Antonio Di Maio,
• Ten Feizi,
• Yan Liu,
• Annabelle Varrot and
• Daniel Bojar

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 306–320, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.31

• hexa-His tag, cleavable by TEV (Tobacco etch virus) protease. Despite the presence of the DsbC signal peptide, we did not observe periplasmic localization, and all proteins were instead purified from the cytoplasm. Ni-NTA affinity chromatography followed by TEV protease cleavage of the fusion construct