Azathioprine is a thiopurine prodrug clinically used for immunosuppression in the treatment of inflammatory diseases and in pharmacological regimens of organ transplantations. Its pharmacological action is based on the release of 6-mercaptopurine, but the biochemical processes underlying this biotransformation have remained obscure. In this investigation, human glutathione transferases (GSTs) from seven distinct classes were assayed with azathioprine. GSTs A1-1, A2-2, and M1-1, all abundantly expressed in human liver, displayed the highest activity among the 14 GSTs tested. The uncatalyzed reaction of azathioprine with glutathione was estimated to be less than 1% of the GST-catalyzed biotransformation. GST M1-1 is polymorphic with a frequently occurring null allele, and GSTs A1-1 and A2-2 show variable expression levels in human subjects, implying significant differences in the rate of 6-mercaptopurine release from azathioprine. Individuals expressing high GST activity are apparently predisposed for adverse reactions to azathioprine treatment, both by promoting excessively high concentrations of free 6-mercaptopurine and its toxic metabolites and by depleting cellular glutathione. These novel aspects of GST-dependent azathioprine biotransformation have not been considered previously.

Tripeptidyl-peptidase II (TPP II) is a subtilisin-like serine peptidase that forms a gigantic homooligomeric complex, and is involved in the degradation of peptides in the cytosol. In addition, TPP II has been implicated in specific cellular processes, such as apoptosis control and adipogenesis, but if this is dependent on its endo- or exopeptidase activity remains to be determined. This work is devoted to the structure and function of TPP II, and to finding connections between the two.

Evolutionarily conserved regions of TPP II have been identified, and sequence signatures have been constructed as an aid in identification of TPP II homologues. The conserved regions highlight amino acid residues of potential importance to structure, function or both. In addition, the first TPP II homologue in a prokaryote has been documented, which was likely the result of a horizontal gene transfer.

Substrate binding for the exopeptidase activity of TPP II has been studied through mutagenesis of Glu-331, which revealed a molecular ruler mechanism that positions substrates for cleavage at the third peptide bond from the N-terminus. Thus, the well-known tripeptidyl-releasing property of TPP II could be explained. The exopeptidase activity was also probed by pH dependence studies, which revealed that a substrate with a smaller residue in the P₁ position could bind non-productively to the active site. Furthermore, a difference in the pH dependence of K_M between TPP II from Drosophila and homologues from mammals indicated a difference in the configuration of the binding pockets between these species.

The endopeptidase activity of TPP II has also been investigated, and was found to differ from the exopeptidase activity. The endopeptidase activity appeared to be promiscuous and the preference for basic amino acid residues in the P₁ position reported earlier could not be substantiated.

In conclusion, many structural and mechanistic features have been observed in this work. This might be of value to future drug discovery efforts towards TPP II, and in elucidating the physiological role of this gigantic enzyme.

Tripeptidyl-peptidase II (TPP II) is a giant cytosolic peptidase with a proposed role in cellular protein degradation and protection against apoptosis. Beside its well-characterised exopeptidase activity, TPP II also has an endopeptidase activity. Little is known about this activity, and since it could be important for the physiological role of TPP II, we have investigated it in more detail. Two peptides, Nef(69-87) and LL37, were incubated with wild-type murine TPP II and variants thereof as well as TPP II from human and Drosophila melanogaster. Two intrinsically disordered proteins were also included in the study. We conclude that the endopeptidase activity is more promiscuous than previously reported. It is also clear that TPP II can attack longer disordered peptides up to 75 amino acid residues. Using a novel FRET substrate, the catalytic efficiency of the endopeptidase activity could be determined to be 5 orders of magnitude lower than for the exopeptidase activity.

Tripeptidyl-peptidase II (TPP II) is a subtilisin-like serine protease which forms a large enzyme complex (> 4 MDa). It is considered a potential drug target due to its involvement in specific physiological processes. However, information is scarce concerning the kinetic characteristics of TPP II and its active site features, which are important for design of efficient inhibitors. To amend this, we probed the active site by determining the pH dependence of TPP II catalysis. Access to pure enzyme is a prerequisite for kinetic investigations and herein we introduce the first efficient purification system for heterologously expressed mammalian TPP II. The pH dependence of kinetic parameters for hydrolysis of two different chromogenic substrates, Ala-Ala-Phe-pNA and Ala-Ala-Ala-pNA, was determined for murine, human and Drosophila melanogaster TPP II as well as mutant variants thereof. The investigation demonstrated that TPP II, in contrast to subtilisin, has a bell-shaped pH dependence of k_cat^app/K_M probably due to deprotonation of the N-terminal amino group of the substrate at higher pH. Since both the K_M and k_cat^app are lower for cleavage of AAA-pNA than for AAF-pNA we propose that the former can bind non-productively to the active site of the enzyme, a phenomenon previously observed with some substrates for subtilisin. Two mutant variants, H267A and D387G, showed bell-shaped pH-dependence of k_cat^app, possibly due to an impaired protonation of the leaving group. This work reveals previously unknown differences between TPP II orthologues and subtilisin as well as features that might be conserved within the entire family of subtilisin-like serine peptidases.

Tripeptidyl-peptidase II (TPP II) is a large enzyme complex (>4 MDa) participating in the general protein turn-over in the cell downstream of the proteasome. In addition, there have been reports of involvement of TPP II in different physiological situations. To facilitate further investigations of the physiological role of TPP II and its enzymatic properties, a characterization at protein level is necessary. Therefore, an expression system for murine TPP II using Escherichia coli has been developed. The pH-optimum for cleavage of two different chromogenic substrates, Ala-Ala-Phe-pNA and Ala-Ala-Ala-pNA, was investigated for mTPP II, and compared with human TPP II and TPP II from Drosophila melanogaster. It was shown that the mouse enzyme had similar pH dependence as the human enzyme, while dTPP II had a slightly lower optimum. Surprisingly, the investigation also demonstrated that TPP II from all sources showed a different pH-profile for hydrolysis of AAA-pNA compared to AAF-pNA. To investigate this observation further, steady-state kinetic parameters were determined at various pH. Since both the K_M and V_max are lower for cleavage of AAA-pNA, a potential explanation could be that the substrate AAA-pNA is non-productively bound to the active site of the enzyme.

Quantum chemical studies on lowcoordinated group 14-16 compounds have been performed. This thesis focuses particularly on silenes influenced by reverse Si^δ-=C^δ+ bond polarization. Hypercoordinated carbon compounds are also studied.

The geometries from calculations with several common computationally inexpensive methods have been tested against high level CCSD/cc-pVTZ geometries for a series of substituted silenes. Hybrid HF/DFT methods performed best among the inexpensive methods tested for silenes.

Heavy alkenes strongly influenced by reverse polarization are found to have less exothermic dimerization energies for both head-to-head and head-to-tail dimerizations, and to have higher activation energies for water addition than naturally polarized heavy alkenes.

We also investigated solvated lithium, magnesium and potassium silenolates and found that lithium and magnesium ions coordinate preferably to O, giving their SiC bond some double bond character.

Reverse polarized 2-siloxy-, 2-thiosiloxy-, and 2-(N-sila-N-methyl)-silenes could according to calculations be formed thermolytically from the corresponding tetrasilanes as transient species. It was, however, found that silenes highly influenced by π-conjugative reverse polarization have low barriers for the back-reaction, and thus these silenes are more difficult to form as stable species than naturally polarized silenes.

It is also found that conjugated 1-siladienes, formed by electrocyclic ring-opening of 1-silacyclobut-2-enes, which are highly influenced by π-conjugative reverse polarization, have higher barriers for electrocyclization back to starting material than naturally polarized 1-siladienes.

It is found that CHe₅⁴⁺, CHe₆⁴⁺, CNe₅⁴⁺, and CNe₆⁴⁺ are the closest carbon analogs of SiH₅^-, SiH₆^2-, SiF₅^- and SiF₆^2-, respectively. However, due to their exothermic dissociation reaction, these very high-lying local minima will be impossible to reach experimentally.

A quantum chemical investigation of the reaction profiles for the thermal formation of silenes Z₂Si═C(XSiH₃)Y from silanes Z₂(H₃Si)Si−C(═X)Y (X = O, S, NMe; Y = NMe₂, OMe, SMe, Me; Z = SiH₃, Me) has been performed. Focus was put on the influence of the π-conjugative contribution to reversed Si═C bond polarization (Si^δ−═C^δ+) as determined by natural resonance theory (NRT) at the B3LYP density functional theory level. Good linear correlations between the weights of π-conjugated reverse polarized resonance structures (ΣΦ_RP(π)) in the electronic structure and the Si═C bond lengths were found for the two classes of silenes with Z = SiH₃ and Me (r² = 0.957 and 0.955, respectively). Silenes that are strongly influenced by the π-conjugative reverse polarization have low barriers for back-reaction to the silanes, making these silenes more difficult to isolate when formed through a [1,3]-silyl shift than those that are naturally polarized. Modest exponential dependencies of the activation barriers for the reverse reactions on ΣΦ_RP(π) are found (r² = 0.685 for Z = SiH₃ and r² = 0.699 for Z = Me). Species with the silyl groups replaced by trimethylsilyl groups, e.g., the Brook-type silene (Me₃Si)₂Si═C(OSiMe₃)t-Bu, have lower contributions of ΣΦ_RP(π) by 3−23% than the corresponding model silenes, a result of steric bulk. The weight ΣΦ_RP(π) to the electronic structure of (Me₃Si)₂Si═C(OSiMe₃)t-Bu was calculated to be 7.4%. With Z = Me, the silenes are in general not equally influenced by ΣΦ_RP(π) as with Z = SiH₃, their energies relative to the silanes are higher, and they have higher activation barriers for both forward and backward reactions.

A quantum chemical investigation of the reaction profiles for the thermal formation of silenes Z(2)Si=C(XSiH3)Y from silanes Z(2)(H3Si)Si-C(=X)Y (X = O, S, NMe; Y = NMe2, OMe, SMe, Me; Z = SiH3, Me) has been performed. Focus was put on the influence of the pi-conjugative contribution to reversed Si=C bond polarization (Si delta-=C delta+) as determined by natural resonance theory (NRT) at the B3LYP density functional theory level. Good linear correlations between the weights of pi-conjugated reverse polarized resonance structures (Sigma Phi(RP)(pi)) in the electronic structure and the Si=C bond lengths were found for the two classes of silenes with Z = SiH3 and Me (r(2) = 0.957 and 0.955, respectively). Silenes that are strongly influenced by the pi-conjugative reverse polarization have low barriers for back-reaction to the silanes, making these silenes more difficult to isolate when formed through a [1,3]-silyl shift than those that are naturally polarized. Modest exponential dependencies of the activation barriers for the reverse reactions on Sigma Phi(RP)(pi) are found (r(2) = 0.685 for Z = SiH3 and r(2) = 0.699 for Z = Me). Species with the silyl groups replaced by trimethylsilyl groups, e.g., the Brook-type silene (Me3Si)(2)Si=C(OSi-Me-3)t-Bu, have lower contributions of Sigma Phi(RP)(pi) by 3-23% than the corresponding model silenes, a result of steric bulk. The weight Sigma Phi(RP)(pi) to the electronic structure of (Me3Si)(2)Si=C(OSiMe3)t-Bu was calculated to be 7.4%. With Z = Me, the silenes are in general not equally influenced by Sigma Phi(RP)(pi) as with Z = SiH3, their energies relative to the silanes are higher, and they have higher activation barriers for both forward and backward reactions.

The structures and charge distributions of substituted silenolates   [H2SiC(=O)X](-) (X-H, SiH3, Me, t-Bu, OMe, NMe2; group A),  [Y2SiC(=O)H](-) (Y=H, F, Me, Ph, SiH3, SiMe3; group B), and [Y2SiC(=O)X](-) (Y=Me, X=t-Bu, and Y=SiMe3; X=t-Bu, OMe, NMe2; group C)   were examined through density functional theory calculations. The effects of the solvated counterion (K+, Li+, or MgCl+) and coordination site (O or Si) on the properties of group C silenolates were also Studied. The variation in the degree of pi-conjugative reverse SiC bond   polarization, Sigma Phi(RP)(pi) calculated by natural resonance theory,   was determined. The Sigma Phi(RP)(pi) correlated with r(SiC) for both   group A and B silenolates, and the correlation between Sigma   Phi(RP)(pi) and the Sum of valence angles at Si, Sigma alpha(Si), was   good for group A but poor for group B due to strong influence of the   inductive effect. The SiC charge difference correlated well with Sigma   Phi(RP)(pi) for group A, but not for group B, again an effect of   inductive substituent effects. The group C silenolates were Coordinated   to Li(THF)(3)(+), MgCl(THF)(4)(+), and K(THF)(5)(+) either via the O or   Si atom. The coordination energies show that coordination to the hard O   is preferred for Li+ and MgCl+, but the K+ ion coordinated   simultaneously to Si and O. Coordination of the solvated metal ion to O  resulted in shorter SiC bond length, an increased Sigma alpha(Si)   value, and lower Delta q(SiC) when compared to the naked silenolate.  Choice Of counterion and substituent provides a means to extensively vary the properties of silenolates such as their reactivity.

Using H1 as substrate the protein kinase C activity of rat liver cell sap was increased about fourfold by treatment with DEAE-cellulose at pH 7.5 at an intermediate ionic strength due to removal of protein inhibitors. The activity of cell sap from rat spleen, brain or muscle was about doubled by the same treatment. In contrast, when a specific synthetic peptide substrate was used the corresponding increase of enzyme activity was not obtained when the inhibitors were removed. This shows that this type of substrates should be preferred for reliable assays of protein kinase C in crude extracts. The possible role of the protein inhibitors for the substrate specificity of protein kinase C is briefly discussed.

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectra (NEXAFS) of methylsilane, isolated and chemisorbed to a Au(1,1,1) surface, are determined in the fully relativistic four-component static exchange approximationboth the K- and the L-edge of silicon are addressed in this investigation. In the fully chemisorbed structure, three H(Si) atoms have been cleaved off when Si binds in the hollow site of Au forming three Si−Au bonds of normal length. As due to the tri-coordinated chemisorption, the onsets of the K- and L-edge NEXAFS absorption bands occur some 2.0 and 2.5 eV lower in energy, respectively. The spin−orbit splittings in the silicon 2p-shell are not significantly changed due to adsorption. A partly chemisorbed methylsilane with only one H(Si) bond cleaved was also studied, and it is shown that the polarization dependence in the surface spectra contains details that can be used experimentally to identify the surface coordination of silicon. The red-shifts in the XPS silicon 1s (2p) spectra upon surface binding are 0.95 (0.65) and 1.15 (0.83) eV for the mono- and tricoordinated system, respectively.

The kinetic mechanism of epoxide hydrolase (EC 3.3.2.3) from potato, StEH1 (Solanum tuberosum epoxide hydrolase 1), was studied by presteady-state and steady-state kinetics as well as by pH dependence of activity. The specific activities towards the different enantiomers of TSO (trans-stilbene oxide) as substrate were 43 and 3 mmol·min-1·mg-1 with the R,R- or S,S-isomers respectively. The enzyme was, however, enantioselective in favour of the S,S enantiomer due to a lower Km value. The pH dependences of kcat with R,R or S,S-TSO were also distinct and supposedly reflecting the pH dependences of the individual kinetic rates during substrate conversion. The rate-limiting step for TSO and cis- and trans-epoxystearate was shown by rapid kinetic measurements to be the hydrolysis of the alkylenzyme intermediate. Functional characterization of point mutants verified residues Asp105, Tyr154, Tyr235 and His300 as crucial for catalytic activity. All mutants displayed drastically decreased enzymatic activities during steady state. Presteady-state measurements revealed the base-deficient H300N (His300Asn) mutant to possess greatly reduced efficiencies in catalysis of both chemical steps (alkylation and hydrolysis).

The open reading frame YNR064c in Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes a protein tentatively assigned as similar to a bacterialdehalogenase. In this study we conclude that the YNR064c protein displays characteristics of an epoxide hydrolase belonging to the a/hhydrolasefold family of enzymes. Endogenous expression of the protein in S. cerevisiae was confirmed and a His-tagged variant of theprotein was heterologously expressed in both Escherichia coli and Pichia pastoris for isolation and characterization. The YNR064c proteindisplayed low but reproducible epoxide hydrolase activity with racemic phenanthrene 9,10-oxide and trans- or cis-stilbene oxide.Phylogenetic analysis of related gene products found in various microorganisms suggested that the YNR064c protein is a member of a newsubclass of a/h-hydrolase fold enzymes.

As of today, there are 25 drugs approved for the treatment of HIV and AIDS. Nevertheless, HIV continues to infect and kill millions of people every year. Despite intensive research efforts, both a vaccine and a cure remain elusive and the long term efficacy of existing drugs is limited by the development of resistant HIV strains. New drugs and preventive strategies that are effective against resistant virus are therefore still needed. In this thesis an enzymological approach, primarily using SPR-based interaction kinetic analysis, has been used for identification and characterization of compounds of potential use in next generation anti-HIV drugs.

By screening of a targeted non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) library, one novel and highly potent NNRTI was identified. The inhibitor was selected with respect to resilience to drug resistance and for high affinity and slow dissociation – a kinetic profile assumed to be suitable for inhibitors used in topical microbicides. In order to confirm the hypothesis that such a kinetic profile would result in an effective preventive agent with long-lasting effect, the correlation between antiviral effect and kinetic profile was investigated for a panel of NNRTIs. The kinetic profiles revealed that NNRTI efficacy is dependent on slow dissociation from the target, although the induced fit interaction mechanism prevented quantification of the rate constants.

To avoid cross-resistance, the next generation anti-HIV drugs should be based on chemical entities that do not resemble drugs in clinical use, either in structure or mode-of-action. Fragment-based drug discovery was used for identification of structurally new inhibitors of HIV-enzymes. One fragment that was effective also on variants of HIV RT with resistance mutations was identified. The study revealed the possibility of identifying structurally novel NNRTIs as well as fragments interacting with other sites of the protein.

The two compounds identified in this thesis represent potential starting points for a new generation of NNRTIs. The applied methodologies also show how interaction kinetic analysis can be used as an effective and versatile tool throughout the lead discovery process, especially when integrated with functional enzymological assays.

The NNRTI MIV-170 has been found to be a very efficient inhibitor of wtHIV and HIV mutant strains resistant to the NNRTIs used in the clinic. To better understand the interaction between MIV-170 and HIV-1 the details of this have been studied by different methods. The kinetics of the interaction between MIV-170 and HIV-1 RT was analysed using a biosensor assay. The association and dissociation rates were determined using immobilized wtRT or RT mutants and MIV-170 as analyte. The results demonstrated that MIV-170 had both a faster association and a slower dissociation rate than efavirenz, nevirapine and delavirdine, thus exhibiting a higher affinity than these compounds. The strength of the interaction between the NNRTIs and RT and RT mutants in the biosensor assay was compared to the reversibility of inhibition in cell culture experiments. In these experiments virus and infected cells were incubated with MIV-170 and other NNRTIs for various times and after removal of the compounds the remaining infectivity was assayed. X-ray analysis of the binding of MIV-170 to HIV-1 RT displayed extensive interactions, not only between the compound and the lining amino acids but also between these residues, turning the binding cavity into a rigid entity and explaining the tight binding in the biosensor assay and the inactivation of HIV.

A new fragment library for lead discovery has been designed and experimentally validated for use in surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor-based screening. The 930 compounds in the library were selected from 4.6 million commercially available compounds using a series of physicochemical and medicinal chemistry filters. They were screened against 3 prototypical drug targets: HIV-1 protease, thrombin and carbonic anhydrase, and a nontarget: human serum albumin. compound solubility was not a problem under the conditions used for screening. The high sensitivity of the sensor surfaces allowed the detection of interactions for 35% to 97% of the fragments, depending on the target protein. None of the fragments was promiscuous (i.e., interacted with a stoichiometry ≥5:1 with all 4 proteins), and only 2 compounds dissociated slowly from all 4 proteins. The use of several targets proved valuable since several compounds would have been disqualified from the library on the grounds of promiscuity if fewer target proteins had been used. The experimental procedure allowed an efficient evaluation and exploration of the new fragment library and confirmed that the new library is suitable for SPR biosensor-based screening.

A lead optimization library consisting of 800 HIV-1 nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) was screened in parallel against 4 clinically relevant variants of HIV-1 RT (Wt, L100I, Y181C, and K103N) using a surface plasmon resonance-based biosensor. the aim was to identify inhibitors suitable in specific topical microbicides efficient for preventing the transmission of a range of clinically significant strains of HIV-1. the authors hypothesized that such compounds should have high affinity and slow dissociation rates for multiple variants of the target. to efficiently analyze the large amount of real-time data (sensorgrams) that were generated in the  screening, they initially used signals from 3 selected time points to identify compounds with high affinity and slow dissociation for the   complete panel of enzyme variants. hits were confirmed by visually  inspecting the complete sensorgrams. two structurally unrelated   compounds fulfilled the hit criteria, but only 1 compound was found to   (a) compete with a known NNRTI for binding to the NNRTI site, (b)   inhibit HIV-1 RT activity, and (c) inhibit HIV-1 replication in cell culture, for all 4 enzyme variants. this novel screening methodology offers high-resolution real-time kinetic data for multiple targets in parallel. it is expected to have broad applicability for the discovery of compounds with defined kinetic profiles, crucial for optimal therapeutic effects.

The importance of slow dissociation of non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) for antiviral effect has been investigated. The kinetic characteristics of a series of NNRTIs interacting with wild type and drug resistant variants of HIV-1 RT (EC 2.7.7.49) were analyzed by SPR biosensor technology. The antiviral effect was determined in MT-4 and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Due to extremely slow dissociation rates and a complex interaction mechanism, rate constants could not be quantified. Instead, interaction characteristics were qualitatively analyzed using simulated sensorgrams. The simplest model describing these interactions adequately was an induced fit mechanism, i.e. a mechanism involving the formation of an initial enzyme-inhibitor complex subsequently transformed into a more stable complex. Differences in rates of dissociation from the initial complex and rates of relaxation from the induced complex explained (1) the differences in the amounts of formed complex, (2) the stability of the complex and (3) the antiviral efficacies of the compounds. The effect of NNRTI binding site mutations also correlated with these kinetic characteristics. MIV-170 was the most effective inhibitor of wild type and mutant HIV-1 in cell culture, a property that was associated with the formation of the largest amount of complex and the slowest relaxation and dissociation rates. This study supports the hypothesis that the efficacy of anti-HIV drugs is dependent on slow dissociation from the target, thereby maximizing the duration of the inhibitory effect. It also illustrates the strength of simulating interaction data for qualitative analysis of tight-binding drugs and the importance of resolving the kinetic mechanism of drug-target interactions.

Previous studies have suggested that hepatic production of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 may be suppressed by 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. However, the molecular details of these observations have not been clarified. In the current study, the 5´-flanking DNA sequence of CYP2D25, a porcine microsomal vitamin D 25-hydroxylase, was isolated and analyzed. The CYP2D25 promoter contains a putative vitamin D response element (VDRE). The promoter activity was markedly suppressed by 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in presence of vitamin D receptor (VDR). The data suggest that VDR-mediated inhibition of 25-hydroxylase(s) by vitamin D3 metabolites at the transcriptional level may play an important role in the regulation of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 production in liver and other tissues.

Molecular evolution is frequently portrayed by structural relationships, but delineation of separate functional species is more elusive. We have generated enzyme variants by stochastic recombinations of DNA encoding two homologous detoxication enzymes, human glutathione transferases M1-1 and M2-2, and explored their catalytic versatilities. Sampled mutants were screened for activities with eight alternative substrates, and the activity fingerprints were subjected to principal component analysis. This phenotype characterization clearly identified at least three distributions of substrate selectivity, where one was orthogonal to those of the parent-like distributions. This approach to evolutionary data mining serves to identify emerging molecular quasi-species and indicates potential trajectories available for further protein evolution.

GABA(A) receptor alpha 5-selective inverse agonists enhance cognitive performance in pre-clinical species. However, a key aspect of the clinical development of such compounds is the demonstration that in man such compounds are devoid of the anxiogenic-like activity associated with non-selective inverse agonists such as FG 7142. The triazolophthalazine alpha 5IA (3-(5-methylisoxazol-3-yl)-6-[(1-methyl-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl) methyloxy]-1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-a]phthalazine) is an alpha 5-selective inverse agonist which enhances cognitive performance in rodents and encouragingly in human Phase I Safety and Tolerability studies it was devoid of the anxiogenic-like activity associated with FG 7142. However, in order to appropriately interpret this latter observation, it was considered important to demonstrate that the absence of anxiogenic-like activity occurs at significant levels of receptor occupancy. Consequently, the occupancy of human brain GABAA receptors was measured using [C-11]flumazenil positron emission tomography in three healthy normal young male volunteers following a single oral dose of 2 mg alpha 5IA. One hour after dosing, mean occupancy levels were 53% and this fell to 16% by 8 h post-dose, with the plasma alpha 5IA concentration corresponding to 50% occupancy being 10 ng/mL. These data clearly show that an alpha 5-selective inverse agonist is not associated with anxiogenic-like side effects at doses that give 50% occupancy.

The aim of this study was to create polymeric materials with known properties to study the preconditions for complement activation. Initially, 22 polymers were screened for complement activating capacity. Based on these results, six polymers (P1-P6) were characterized regarding physico-chemical parameters, for example, composition, surface area, pore size, and protein adsorption from human EDTA-plasma. P2, P4, and reference particles of polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride, were hydrophobic, bound low levels of protein and were poor complement activators. Their accessible surface was limited to protein adsorption in that they had pore diameters smaller than most plasma proteins. P1 and P3 were negatively charged and adsorbed IgG and C1q. A 10-fold difference in complement activation was attributed to the fact that P3 but not P1 bound high amounts of C1-inhibitor. The hydrophobic P5 and P6 were low complement activators. They selectively bound apolipoproteins AI and AIV (and vitronectin), which probably limited the binding of complement activators to the surface. We demonstrate the usefulness of the modus operandi to use a high-throughput procedure to synthesize a great number of novel substances, assay their physico-chemical properties with the aim to study the relationship between the initial protein coat on a surface and subsequent biological events. Data obtained from the six polymers characterized here, suggest that a complement-resistant surface should be hydrophobic, uncharged, and have a small available surface, accomplished by nanostructured topography. Additional attenuation of complement can be achieved by selective enrichment of inert proteins and inhibitors.

The ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra of 9-hydroxyphenalenone (1) and 9-hydroxy-2-methylphenalenone (2) have been completely assigned. Primary and secondary deuterium isotope effects were determined in three solvents (chloroform, acetone and dimethyl sulphoxide), including the effect of temperature on the secondary isotope effects. Both negative and large long-range secondary isotope effects were found for both 1 and 2. The average secondary isotope effects for corresponding carbons follow the same sign and magnitude pattern in both compounds.

Beta amyloid is one of the major histopathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. We recently reported in vivo imaging of amyloid in 16 Alzheimer patients, using the PET ligand N-methyl[11C]2-(4'-methylaminophenyl)-6-hydroxy-benzothiazole (PIB). In the present study we rescanned these 16 Alzheimer patients after 2.0 +/- 0.5 years and have described the interval change in amyloid deposition and regional cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (rCMRGlc) at follow-up. Sixteen patients with Alzheimer's disease were re-examined by means of PET, using PIB and 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG) after 2.0 +/- 0.5 years. The patients were all on cholinesterase inhibitor treatment and five also on treatment with the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist memantine. In order to estimate the accuracy of the PET PIB measurements, four additional Alzheimer patients underwent repeated examinations with PIB within 20 days (test-retest). Relative PIB retention in cortical regions differed by 3-7% in the test-retest study. No significant difference in PIB retention was observed between baseline and follow-up while a significant (P < 0.01) 20% decrease in rCMRGlc was observed in cortical brain regions. A significant negative correlation between rCMRGlc and PIB retention was observed in the parietal cortex in the Alzheimer patients at follow-up (r = 0.67, P = 0.009). A non-significant decline in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score from 24.3 +/- 3.7 (mean +/- standard deviation) to 22.7 +/- 6.1 was measured at follow-up. Five of the Alzheimer patients showed a significant decline in MMSE score of >3 (21.4 +/- 3.5 to 15.6 +/- 3.9, P < 0.01) (AD-progressive) while the rest of the patients were cognitively more stable (MMSE score = 25.6 +/- 3.1 to 25.9 +/- 3.7) (AD-stable) compared with baseline. A positive correlation (P = 0.001) was observed in the parietal cortex between Rey Auditory Verbal Learning (RAVL) test score and rCMRGlc at follow-up while a negative correlation (P = 0.018) was observed between RAVL test and PIB retention in the parietal at follow-up. Relatively stable PIB retention after 2 years of follow-up in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease suggests that amyloid deposition in the brain reaches a plateau by the early clinical stages of Alzheimer's disease and therefore may precede a decline in rCMRGlc and cognition. It appears that anti-amyloid therapies will need to induce a significant decrease in amyloid load in order for PIB PET images to detect a drug effect in Alzheimer patients. FDG imaging may be able to detect a stabilization of cerebral metabolism caused by therapy administered to patients with a clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

BACKGROUND: N-methyl[11C]2-(4'methylaminophenyl)-6-hydroxy-benzothiazole (PIB) is a positron emission tomography (PET) tracer with amyloid binding properties which allows in vivo measurement of cerebral amyloid load in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a syndrome that can be clinically difficult to distinguish from AD, but in FTD amyloid deposition is not a characteristic pathological finding. PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to investigate PIB retention in FTD. METHODS: Ten patients with the diagnosis of FTD participated. The diagnosis was based on clinical and neuropsychological examination, computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging scan, and PET with 18 Fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG). The PIB retention, measured in regions of interest, was normalised to a reference region (cerebellum). The results were compared with PIB retention data previously obtained from 17 AD patients with positive PIB retention and eight healthy controls (HC) with negative PIB retention. Statistical analysis was performed with a students t-test with significance level set to 0.00625 after Bonferroni correction. RESULTS: Eight FTD patients showed significantly lower PIB retention compared to AD in frontal (p < 0.0001), parietal (p < 0.0001), temporal (p = 0.0001), and occipital (p = 0.0003) cortices as well as in putamina (p < 0.0001). The PIB uptake in these FTD patients did not differ significantly from the HC in any region. However, two of the 10 FTD patients showed PIB retention similar to AD patients. CONCLUSION: The majority of FTD patients displayed no PIB retention. Thus, PIB could potentially aid in differentiating between FTD and AD.

The mechanism of action of Ebselen differentiates between bacterial and mammalian thioredoxin reductase (TrxR). It displays fast oxidation of mammalian Trx and via the NADPH-TrxR catalyzed turnover of ebselen selenol with hydrogen peroxide, and therefore are mammalian antioxidants. Ebselen, and its diselenide, are strong competitive inhibitors of E. coli TrxR with K.sub.i of 0.14 .mu.M and 0.46 .mu.M, respectively. E. coli mutants lacking glutathione reductase or glutathione were much more sensitive to inhibition by ebselen. Since either glutaredoxin or thioredoxin systems are electron donors to ribonucleotide reductase, ebselen targets primarily glutathione and glutaredoxin-negative bacteria, a class which includes major pathogens. Ebselen, and similar compounds are therefore useful as antibacterial agents, even for multiresistant strains. Two major pathogenic bacteria, which previously had not been known to be sensitive to ebselen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (tuberculosis) and Helicobacter pylori (stomach ulcer and cancer), were shown to be excellent targets. Helicobacter pylori was also sensitive to ebsulfur.

The crystal structure of 2-[(N,N-dimethylamino)methyl]benzenetellurenyl chloride (2), a compound previously formulated as bis [[2-(N,N-dimethylamino)methyl]phenyl] ditelluride bis hydrochloride (1a), was determinded. In the molecule 2, tellurium is bonded to the carbon of the phenyl group [2.120(3)Å], the nitrogen o fthe ortho dimethylamino substituent [2.362(3)Å], and the chlorine atom [2.536[1]Å]. There also is an intermolecular interaction of the tellurium atom with the phenyl ring of a neighbouring molecule [3.655(1)Å], resulting in the formation of zigzag chains along the b axis. The noncentorsymmetric space group of the crystal can be explained by the chiral surrounding of tellurium.

The asymmetric hydrogenation of olefins is a facile and popular method of reaching chiral products. Whereas ruthenium- and rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenations have a long history, the use of iridium in this area is new but fast-growing. Since the first chiral N,P-ligated iridium catalyst was created in the late 1990s, the growing pool of N,P ligands has filled up rapidly, but most have been tested with a limited range of standard olefins. To extract the full potential of these complexes, new methods using substrates having many possible applications must be developed. This thesis focuses on the iridium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of three different new substrate classes to yield very high conversions and enantiomeric excesses (ee's). As the use of fluorine has recently become common in many different fields of chemistry, the asymmetric reduction of fluoroolefins to reach chiral products having fluorine at the stereogenic centers is highly interesting. We studied this reaction and eventually obtained very high ee values and lower degree of defluorination (Paper I and Paper II). The hydrogenations of trifluoromethylated olefins to reach products useful in applications reaching from pharmaceuticals to additives in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) were also challenging, but fruitful (Paper III). As asymmetric hydrogenation usually demands differences in the substituents of the double bond, the highly selective reduction of 1,1-diaryl olefins having similar aryls give a new perspective on the broad scope of substrates that N,P-ligated iridium complexes can reduce selectively (paper IV).

Fluorine-containing compounds are useful in many applications ranging from pharmaceuticals to ferroelectric crystals. We have developed a new, highly enantioselective synthetic route to trifluoromethyl-bearing stereocenters in up to 96% ee via asymmetric hydrogenation using N,P-ligated iridium catalysts. We also hydrogenated an isomeric mixture of olefins; this reaction gave the hydrogenation product highly enantioselectively (87% ee), and only the E isomer was present after the reaction had reached 56% conversion.

Fluorine-containing compounds are useful in many applications ranging from pharmaceuticals to ferroelectric crystals. We have developed a new, highly enantioselective synthetic route to trifluoromethyl-bearing stereocenters in up to 96% ee via asymmetric hydrogenation using N,P-ligated iridium catalysts. We also hydrogenated an isomeric mixture of olefins; this reaction gave the hydrogenation product highly enantioselectively (87% ee), and only the E isomer was present after the reaction had reached 56% conversion.

To broaden the substrate scope of asymmetric iridium-catalyzed hydrogenation, fluorine-functionalized olefins were synthesized and hydrogenated with iridium complexes. Preliminary results showed high levels of fluorine elimination together with low selectivity. The loss of vinylic fluorine at first seemed difficult to handle, but further studies revealed that a catalyst with an azanorbornyl scaffold in the ligand gave more promising results. With this in mind, a new ligand was developed. This gave among the best results published to date for fluorine asymmetric hydrogenation, yielding high conversion and very high ee's with very little fluorine elimination. Further increasing the selectivity, the trials also revealed that tetrasubstituted fluorine-containing olefins can be hydrogenated with high ee's, despite that this class of compounds has usually shown low reactivity in this reaction type.

A microwave-assisted, rapid solid phase peptide synthesis procedure is presented. It has been applied to the coupling of sterically hindered Fmoc-protected amino acids yielding di- and tripeptides. Optimized conditions for a variety of coupling reagents are reported. Peptides were obtained rapidly (1.5-20 min) and without racemization.

A microwave-enhanced, rapid and efficient homogeneous-phase version of the Sonogashira reaction is presented. It has been applied to the coupling of aryl iodides, bromides, triflates, and aryl chloride, as well as pyridine and thiophene derivatives with trimethylsilylacetylene. Excellent yields (80−95%) for substrates containing a large variety of substituents in different positions are obtained in 5−25 min.

Optimized synthetic strategies for the preparation of photoswitchable molecular scaffolds based on stilbene or on thioaurone chromophores and their conformationally directing properties, as studied by computations and by NMR spectroscopy, are addressed. For the stilbene peptidomimetics 1, 2 and 3, the length of connecting linkers between the chromophore and the peptide strands was varied, resulting in photochromic dipeptidomimetics with various flexibility. Building blocks of higher rigidity, based on para-substituted thioaurone ( 4 and 6) and meta-substituted thioaurone chromophores ( 5 and 7) are shown to have a stronger conformationally directing effect. Design, synthesis, theoretical and experimental conformational analyses are presented.

Primary- and secondary-alkyl aryl tellurides, prepared by arenetellurolate ring-opening of epoxides/O-allylation, were, found to undergo rapid (3-10 min) group-transfer cyclization to afford tetrahydrofuran derivatives in 60-74% yield when heated in a microwave cavity at 250C in ethylene glycol or at 180C in water. To go to completion, similar transformations had previously required extended photolysis in refluxing benzene containing a substantial amount of hexabutylditin. The only drawback of the microwave-assisted process was the loss in diastereoselectivity wich is a consequence of the higher reaction temperature. Substitution in the Te-aryl moiety of the secondary-alkyl aryl tellurides (4-OMe, 4-H, 4-CF3) did not affect the outcome of the group-transfer reaction in ethylene glycol. However, at lower temperature, using water as a solvent, the CF3 derivative failed to react. The microwave-assisted grouptransfer cyclization was extended to benzylic but not to primary- and secondary-alkyl phenyl selenides.

Positron emission tomography (PET) makes it possible to study effects of medical treatment in vivo. Carcinoid tumors with liver metastases, especially those of midgut origin, produce serotonin via the precursors tryptophan and 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) and this overproduction contributes to the clinical symptoms of the carcinoid syndrome. Seven patients with histopathologically verified neuroendocrine tumors and liver metastases, five of whom with ileal carcinoids, one a lung carcinoid and one an endocrine pancreatic tumor, were included in the study. All patients had elevation of urinary 5-HIAA with the exception of one patient with a solitary liver metastasis of midgut origin. After an intravenous injection of 11C-5-HTP, PET was performed and the uptake of radioactivity in tumor tissue, normal liver and plasma were compared. All patients with elevated urinary 5-HIAA and also the patient with a solitary liver metastasis and normal urinary 5-HIAA had high accumulation and signs of a high rate of binding of 5-HTP in the liver metastases. The uptake was relatively homogeneous in midgut carcinoid liver metastases but in large necrotic metastases the radioactivity was localized to the periphery. In three patients PET examination was repeated after 3 months of interferon treatment and in agreement with circulating tumor markers and ultrasonography the uptake of 5-HTP was unchanged. Another patient who received the somatostatin analog somatuline progressed on treatment and accordingly the uptake of 5-HTP also increased. The experience with PET in neuroendocrine gastrointestinal tumors is very limited. Our results so far indicate that 5-HTP can be used to visualize serotonin-producing neuroendocrine tumors and furthermore it might prove to be of value to monitor the effects of treatment, possibly also as an early predictive test of the outcome of treatment.

A method to prepare [1-C-11]propyl iodide and [1-C-11]butyl iodide from [C-11]carbon monoxide via a three step reaction sequence is presented. Palladium mediated formylation of ethene with [C-11]carbon monoxide and hydrogen gave [1-C-11]propionaldehyde and [1-C-11]propionic acid. The carbonylation products were reduced and subsequently converted to [1-C-11]propyl iodide. Labelled propyl iodide was obtained in 58 +/- 4% decay corrected radiochemical yield and with a specific radioactivity of 270 +/- 33 GBq/mu mol within 15 min from approximately 12 GBq of [C-11]carbon monoxide. The position of the label was confirmed by C-13-labelling and C-13-NMR analysis. [1-C-11]Butyl iodide was obtained correspondingly from propene and approximately 8 GBq of [C-11]carbon monoxide, in 34 +/- 2% decay corrected radiochemical yield and with a specific radioactivity of 146 +/- 20 GBq/mu mol. The alkyl iodides were used in model reactions to synthesize [O-propyl-1-C-11]propyl and [O-butyl-1-C-11]butyl benzoate. Propyl and butyl analogues of etomidate, a (beta-11-hydroxylase inhibitor, were also synthesized.

A method and an apparatus for preparing [C-11]methyl iodide from [C-11]methane and iodine in a single pass through a non-thermal plasma reactor has been developed. The plasma was created by applying high voltage (400 V/31 kHz) to electrodes in a stream of helium gas at reduced pressure. The [C-11]methane used in the experiments was produced from [C-11]carbon dioxide via reduction with hydrogen over nickel. [C-11]methyl iodide was obtained with a specific radioactivity of 412 +/- 32 GBq/mu mol within 6 min from approximately 24 GBq of [C-11]carbon dioxide. The decay corrected radiochemical yield was 13 +/- 3% based on [C-11]carbon dioxide at start of synthesis. [C-11]Flumazenil was synthesized via a N-alkylation with the prepared [C-11]methyl iodide.

Two methods are presented for the synthesis of acrylamides labelled with C-11 (beta(+), t(1/2) = 20.4 min) and C-11 in the carbonyl position. In the first method, [1-C-11]acrylic acid is synthesised from [C-11]carbon monoxide by palladium-mediated hydroxy-carbonylation of acetylene. The labelled carboxylic acid is converted into the acyl chloride and subsequently treated with amine to yield N-benzyl[carbonyl(11)C]acrylamide, The second method utilizes [C-11]carbon monoxide in a palladium-mediated carbonylative cross-coupling of vinyl halides and amines. A higher radiochemical yield is achieved with the latter method and the amount of amine needed is decreased to 1/20. The C-11-labelled acrylamides were isolated in up to 81 % decay-corrected radiochemical yield. Starting from 10 +/- 0.5GBq of [C-11]carbon monoxide, N-benzyl[carbonyl-C-11]acrylamide was obtained in 4 min with a specific radioactivity of 330 +/- 4 GBq mu mol-(1). Co-labelling with C-11 and C-13 enabled confirmation of the labelled position by C-13 NMR spectroscopy.