Design and biological characterization of novel cell-penetrating peptides preferentially targeting cell nuclei and subnuclear regions

• Anja Gronewold,
• Mareike Horn and
• Ines Neundorf

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 1378–1388, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.116

• cargo and CPP or by forming non-covalent complexes. Notably, the mechanism of cell entry is still not fully understood, and can only hardly, if in any case, be predicted [9]. In fact, whereas one of the main mechanisms is endocytosis, there exist also CPPs that translocate through cellular membranes by

• C-terminal aa of the cationic antimicrobial peptide CAP18 [18]. When it comes in contact with lipid membranes, it forms a helical structure, probably supporting membrane interaction [19]. However, the main uptake mechanism that was observed followed endocytotic processes, although we have seen that

Oligonucleotide analogues with cationic backbone linkages

• Melissa Meng and
• Christian Ducho

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 1293–1308, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.111

• bioactive agents. However, modifications of the nucleic acid structure are an essential prerequisite for their application in vivo or even in cellulo. The oligoanionic backbone structure of oligonucleotides mainly hampers their ability to penetrate biological barriers such as cellular membranes. Hence

• their oligoanionic phosphate diester backbone, severely hampers the penetration of biological barriers such as cellular membranes, thus leading to low cellular uptake. Second, unmodified ON structures are good substrates for nuclease-mediated degradation. Consequently, it is of vital importance to

An overview of recent advances in duplex DNA recognition by small molecules

• Sayantan Bhaduri,
• Nihar Ranjan and
• Dev P. Arya

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 1051–1086, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.93

• 1,4-piperazine residue in the oligomethylene linkers (DBP)n, making them tetracations instead of dications for (DB)n at neutral pH. By the virtue of their higher solubility in aqueous media, (DBP)n could easily penetrate cell and nuclear membranes of living cells and inhibit in vitro eukaryotic DNA

On the design principles of peptide–drug conjugates for targeted drug delivery to the malignant tumor site

• Eirinaios I. Vrettos,
• Gábor Mező and
• Andreas G. Tzakos

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 930–954, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.80

• potent, regarding the growth inhibition of hormone-dependent Dunning R-3327-H prostate cancers in rats, reaching up to 50% of the initial tumor volume in comparison with 2-pyrrolino-DOX. Shortly afterward, they tested the two conjugates in membranes of human breast cancer cells: MCF-7 hormone-dependent

Development of novel cyclic NGR peptide–daunomycin conjugates with dual targeting property

• Andrea Angelo Pierluigi Tripodi,
• Szilárd Tóth,
• Kata Nóra Enyedi,
• Gitta Schlosser,
• Gergely Szakács and
• Gábor Mező

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 911–918, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.78

• CM) up to the 1 mg/mL final concentration. Each conjugate was allowed to incubate at 37 °C. Samples were analyzed at experiment time of 0 h, 6 h and 72 h, respectively, and components were purified with Amicon Ultra Centrifugal Filters (cut off 10K Millipore). The membranes were washed with eluent A

Crystal structure of the inclusion complex of cholesterol in β-cyclodextrin and molecular dynamics studies

• Elias Christoforides,
• Andreas Papaioannou and
• Kostas Bethanis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 838–848, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.69

• shown by molecular modeling, proposing a tail–tail dimer [37] and finally MD calculations concluded that efficient removal of cholesterol from membranes requires the presence of β-CD dimers [27]. In this work, the crystallographic analysis of CHL/β-CD complex conclusively clarifies the inclusion mode of

Synthesis and in vitro biochemical evaluation of oxime bond-linked daunorubicin–GnRH-III conjugates developed for targeted drug delivery

• Sabine Schuster,
• Beáta Biri-Kovács,
• Bálint Szeder,
• Viktor Farkas,
• László Buday,
• Zsuzsanna Szabó,
• Gábor Halmos and
• Gábor Mező

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 756–771, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.64

• from normal human pituitary (anterior lobe) and human prostate cancer cells were obtained from a patient at the time of initial surgical treatment. The collection and the use of these specimens for our studies are approved by the local Institutional Ethics Committee. Membranes for receptor binding

An alternative to hydrogenation processes. Electrocatalytic hydrogenation of benzophenone

• Cristina Mozo Mulero,
• Alfonso Sáez,
• Jesús Iniesta and
• Vicente Montiel

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 537–546, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.40

• medium as an optimal reaction medium [5]. Currently, developments in nanostructured materials and polymeric solid exchange membranes have led the field of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) to become a mature technology [18][19][20]. In this regard, a polymer electrolyte membrane

Stimuli-responsive oligonucleotides in prodrug-based approaches for gene silencing

• Françoise Debart,
• Christelle Dupouy and
• Jean-Jacques Vasseur

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 436–469, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.32

• shown to have an important impact on the siRNA solubility and duplex stability. Such designed siRNNs showed a high solubility and serum stability and are not recognized by the innate immune system. On the other hand, due to their large size, they do not passively cross cell membranes. Therefore, to

Microfluidic radiosynthesis of [¹⁸F]FEMPT, a high affinity PET radiotracer for imaging serotonin receptors

• Thomas Lee Collier,
• Steven H. Liang,
• J. John Mann,
• Neil Vasdev and
• J. S. Dileep Kumar

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 2922–2927, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.285

• ). Agonist properties of FEMPT on 5-HT1AR were estimated by [35S]GTPγS binding in membranes of CHO cells which stably express human 5-HT1AR. A dose-dependent increase in [35S]GTPγS binding was induced by FEMPT. Maximal FEMPT stimulated [35S]GTPγS binding Emax was 100% of that seen with 5-HT and an EC50 of 85

Binding abilities of polyaminocyclodextrins: polarimetric investigations and biological assays

• Marco Russo,
• Daniele La Corte,
• Annalisa Pisciotta,
• Serena Riela,
• Rosa Alduina and
• Paolo Lo Meo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 2751–2763, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.271

• dramatically decreased to approximately 5·102, 2·102 and 1.4·104 when the complexes of pDNA with CD1, CD2 and CD3, respectively, were used. This result suggested that the AmCDs may interact with cell membranes, e.g., by electrostatic interaction, or neutralize the anionic nature of pDNA, making the addition of

What contributes to an effective mannose recognition domain?

• Christoph P. Sager,
• Deniz Eriş,
• Martin Smieško,
• Rachel Hevey and
• Beat Ernst

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 2584–2595, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.255

• for the formation of a homodimer of A (Figure 8B) [40]. It is believed that this dimer enables transport of the lectin from the Golgi apparatus to cell membranes [73]. Due to a dislocated glutamate in the side chain of the homodimer (Figure 8B), the affinity for calcium binding and therefore also

¹⁵N-Labelling and structure determination of adamantylated azolo-azines in solution

• Sergey L. Deev,
• Alexander S. Paramonov,
• Tatyana S. Shestakova,
• Igor A. Khalymbadzha,
• Oleg N. Chupakhin,
• Julia O. Subbotina,
• Oleg S. Eltsov,
• Pavel A. Slepukhin,
• Vladimir L. Rusinov,
• Alexander S. Arseniev and
• Zakhar O. Shenkarev

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 2535–2548, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.250

• membranes. The conjugation of adamantane with heterocyclic compounds also provides a method to modify the pharmacological profile and frequently leads to a new type of bioactivity. For example, N-adamantyl tetrazoles 1 and 2 (Figure 1A) demonstrate lower toxicity and, simultaneously, more potent activity

Pyrene–nucleobase conjugates: synthesis, oligonucleotide binding and confocal bioimaging studies

• Artur Jabłoński,
• Yannic Fritz,
• Hans-Achim Wagenknecht,
• Rafał Czerwieniec,
• Tytus Bernaś,
• Damian Trzybiński,
• Krzysztof Woźniak and
• Konrad Kowalski

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 2521–2534, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.249

• granular staining pattern (Figure 6A and Figure 7A, respectively), which indicate their mitochondrial localization. Furthermore, a weaker (diffuse) emission of 4 and 5 was observed in cytoplasm and plasma membranes of HeLa cells. The mitochondrial staining was confirmed by a co-localization experiment with

Novel approach to hydroxy-group-containing porous organic polymers from bisphenol A

• Tao Wang,
• Yan-Chao Zhao,
• Li-Min Zhang,
• Yi Cui,
• Chang-Shan Zhang and
• Bao-Hang Han

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 2131–2137, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.211

• potential as heterogeneous catalysts [5][6][7], supports for catalysts [8][9], gas permeable membranes [10][11], and gas storage materials [12][13][14] have attracted much attentions from researchers all over the world as reviewed by Matyjaszewski [15]. During the past years, a large amount of porous

Remarkable functions of sn-3 hydroxy and phosphocholine groups in 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycerolipids to induce clockwise (+)-helicity around the 1,2-diacyl moiety: Evidence from conformation analysis by ¹H NMR spectroscopy

• Yoshihiro Nishida,
• Mengfei Yuan,
• Kazuo Fukuda,
• Kaito Fujisawa,
• Hirofumi Dohi and
• Hirotaka Uzawa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1999–2009, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.196

• ; deuterium labeling; sn-glycerol; glycerolipids; glycerophospholipids; helicity; Karplus equation; proton NMR spectroscopy; staggered conformers; Introduction Glycerophospholipids, constituting the basic elements of cytoplasm bilayer membranes, are responsible for several cell functions [1][2][3]. These

• those examined under physiological conditions. For example, glycerophospholipids are located in self-assembled lamellar structures that show liquid crystalline properties. Plasma membranes comprise glycerophospholipids which interact with other membrane components such as glycoproteins and sterols [38

Block copolymers from ionic liquids for the preparation of thin carbonaceous shells

• Sadaf Hanif,
• Bernd Oschmann,
• Dmitri Spetter,
• Muhammad Nawaz Tahir,
• Wolfgang Tremel and
• Rudolf Zentel

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1693–1701, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.163

• are applied as catalytic membranes, thermotropic liquid crystals [12], polymer electrolytes, ionic conductive materials, CO2 absorbing materials, microwave absorbing materials and porous materials [4]. Most of these polymers were synthesized by free radical polymerization. There are just few reports

• conductivity [16]. There are many different morphologies of carbon achievable, like hallow carbon spheres [17], nanotubes, membranes and fibers [18]. Due to their charged nature the PILs show a low vapor pressure and are non-volatile, leading to high carbon yields [19]. Furthermore, PILs offer the possibility

Chemical systems, chemical contiguity and the emergence of life

• Terrence P. Kee and
• Pierre-Alain Monnard

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1551–1563, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.155

• related to one aspect of cellular make-up, such as the formation of membranes or the build-up of information/catalytic apparatus. This approach is being gradually replaced by a more “systemic” approach that privileges processes inherent to complex chemical systems over specific isolated functional

• for the determination of environmental conditions conducive to the self-assembly of several cellular-like components, such as bilayer membranes [15] and simple energy systems [16], or dynamic processes, such as growth and division [17][18] and potential evolution [19]. However, the experimental set

• of RNAs for catalytic activity, which often requires the presence of high ion concentrations that are disruptive for the formation of primitive membrane models. Membranes composed of putatively prebiotic amphiphiles, such as single hydrocarbon chain species [20][21] may have been exemplars of such

2-Methyl-2,4-pentanediol (MPD) boosts as detergent-substitute the performance of ß-barrel hybrid catalyst for phenylacetylene polymerization

• Julia Kinzel,
• Daniel F. Sauer,
• Marco Bocola,
• Marcus Arlt,
• Tayebeh Mirzaei Garakani,
• Andreas Thiel,
• Klaus Beckerle,
• Tino Polen,
• Jun Okuda and
• Ulrich Schwaneberg

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1498–1506, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.148

• . Acknowledgements The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is kindly acknowledged for financial support in the framework of the BMBF-Forschertandem “Chiral Membranes”. T.M.G. thanks the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung for financial support. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support by the

A new member of the fusaricidin family – structure elucidation and synthesis of fusaricidin E

• Marcel Reimann,
• Louis P. Sandjo,
• Luis Antelo,
• Eckhard Thines,
• Isabella Siepe and
• Till Opatz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1430–1438, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.140

• chain is of key importance for the antibiotic activity of the fusaricidins and their selective inhibition of bacterial cells due to the interaction with phospholipid cell membranes [1]. Genetic analysis of the producing organisms suggests that the biosynthesis of this essential part of the fusaricidins

Framing major prebiotic transitions as stages of protocell development: three challenges for origins-of-life research

• Ben Shirt-Ediss,
• Sara Murillo-Sánchez and
• Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1388–1395, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.135

• variety of processes that take place across their boundaries – lipid membranes in/on which highly sophisticated mechanisms of transport and energy transduction reside, making possible the maintenance of the system, as a whole, in open, far-from-equilibrium conditions. In a metaphoric sense, a cell is a

• inside semi-permeable membranes [43]. For these reasons, an early ‘co-evolutionary’ scenario in which membranes and internal chemistries develop ‘hand-in-hand’, tightly linked and supportive to each other, makes more sense (see also [44]). Hence our first corollary, expressed in terms of a challenge for

• stability, the permeability/fluidity of their membranes) and displacing them, as a result, from their primary quasi-equilibrium states (e.g., inducing their growth and potential reproduction). In turn, vesicle dynamics should prove supportive of – or at least compatible with – that chemistry. Cell

Biomimetic molecular design tools that learn, evolve, and adapt

• David A Winkler

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1288–1302, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.125

• the sterol and fatty acid biosynthetic pathways were activated in the MSCs, and subsequent experiments validated the model predictions of increased levels of proteins in these pathways and the formation of lipid rafts on the cell membranes. In silico sparse feature selection thus revealed a hitherto

Glycoscience@Synchrotron: Synchrotron radiation applied to structural glycoscience

• Serge Pérez and
• Daniele de Sanctis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1145–1167, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.114

• constitution and dynamics of plasma membranes, the structural and physicochemical features of gangliosides have been somehow neglected presumably because of the lack of appropriate experimental techniques. X-ray reflectometry is a surface-sensitive analytical technique based on the measure of the intensity of

From chemical metabolism to life: the origin of the genetic coding process

• Antoine Danchin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1119–1135, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.111

• is not a fight against the second principle of thermodynamics), using the global distribution of water molecules as a driving force to order lipids into cell-like structures (of a considerable variety, even in bacteria [12]). Membranes also contain proteins as essential components. It took very long

• inserted into membranes is a thriving domain of research [13]. Membranes serve a variety of functions such as transport, sensing, protection or supporting movement. They are also involved in energy production via vectorial transport of ions, generally protons. Transport and management of energy imply

• implies the management of construction and maintenance within a 2D structure, while the metabolism that develops in the cytoplasm and produces the building blocks for membranes and their proteins is expressed in three dimensions (3D). Matching the syntheses in both compartments is not a trivial matter

Correlation of surface pressure and hue of planarizable push–pull chromophores at the air/water interface

• Frederik Neuhaus,
• Fabio Zobi,
• Gerald Brezesinski,
• Marta Dal Molin,
• Stefan Matile and
• Andreas Zumbuehl

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1099–1105, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.109

• directionally into lipid bilayer membranes. In order to use fluorescent flipper mechanophores for biological measurements, it is crucial to understand the exact relation between surface pressure and their spectroscopic properties. In earlier studies [8], the fluorescence was qualitatively determined in

• . Monolayers at the air/water interface are well known models for biological membranes, avoiding trans-bilayer leaflet correlation effects [11][12][13][14]. Various techniques exist to probe the surface pressure and the lateral organization of the monolayer [14]. Using monolayers of pure flipper probes, we

• probes in bilayer membranes of increasing order [8]. Similar interpretations have been made for the spectral changes observed upon planarization of self-assembled mechanosensitive twisted phenylethynyl polymers [26]. Conclusion In conclusion, we have presented the first measurement correlating the hue of