Histidine alkylation

Glick et al. (134) and Goren and Barnard (135, 136) have shown that in the alkylation reaction with bromoacetate ion the principal alkylation at histidine occurs as described below but that in addition Met 30 is alkylated. This modification has no effect on enzymic activity and is not affected by the histidine alkylations. Phosphate and sulfate do not inhibit the reaction but pyrophosphate and 2 -CMP do. 

Mel, CH3CN morpholine or diethylamine, methanol, 76-95% yield. These conditions also cleave tlie 4 -pyridyl derivative. The Pet ester is stable to the acidic conditions required to remove the BOC and r-butyl ester groups, to the basic conditions required to remove the Fmoc and Fm groups, and to hydrogenolysis. It is not recommended for use in peptides that contain methionine or histidine since these are susceptible to alkylation with methyl iodide. 

Diethyl acetamidomalonate is useful in the synthesis of ce-amino acids by alkylation, as, for example, histidine and tryptophan. 

Other common five-membered heterocyclic amines include imidazole and thiazole. Imidazole, a constituent of the amino acid histidine, has two nitrogens, only one of which is basic. Thiazole, the five-membered ring system on which the structure of thiamin (vitamin Bt) is based, also contains a basic nitrogen that is alkylated in thiamin to form a quaternary ammonium ion. 

The development and use in peptide synthesis of the 1-adamantyloxymethyl protecting group for N -histidine 28 was reported <9 CS(P1)2139>. A procedure for the regiospecific alkylation of histidine and histamine at N-l(t) via the corresponding tetrahydro oximidazo[l,5-c]pyrimidines 29 was also developed <96T5363>. 

A different type of reactive bromo compound having a moderate resemblance to hexoses is represented by the bromoconduritols B (40) and F (41), named after the respective parent tetrahydroxycyclohexene. Even thou their hydroxylation pattern resembles that of D-glucose, only a few examples of D-glucosidase inhibition have been reported. The first was a-D-glucosi-dase from yeast, which is inhibited by bromoconduritol B (formerly called bromoconduritol A), having ki(max)/Kj 69,000 M" min", by alkylation of a histidine residue at the active site. 

The reaction of 1-amino-1-deoxyketoses, and their N-alkyl and N-aryl derivatives, with alkyl or aryl isothiocyanates (Huber et al, 1960) was studied in more detail, and new 4-(alditol-l-yl)-l-alkyl(aryl)-3-alkyl(aryl)-l,3-dihydro-2H-imidazole-2-thiones were obtained. These compounds were used as starting materials for the synthesis of OL-histidines, DL-histidine-2-thiol, and other imidazole derivatives of biological interest. 

Irreversible inhibition is probably due to the alkylation of a histidine residue.43 Chymotrypsin is selectively inactivated with no or poor inhibition of human leukocyte elastase (HLE) with a major difference the inactivation of HLE is transient.42,43 The calculated intrinsic reactivity of the coumarin derivatives, using a model of a nucleophilic reaction between the ligand and the methanol-water pair, indicates that the inhibitor potency cannot be explained solely by differences in the reactivity of the lactonic carbonyl group toward the nucleophilic attack 43 Studies on pyridyl esters of 6-(chloromethyl)-2-oxo-2//-1 -benzopyran-3-carboxylic acid (5 and 6, Fig. 11.5) and related structures having various substituents at the 6-position (7, Fig. 11.5) revealed that compounds 5 and 6 are powerful inhibitors of human leukocyte elastase and a-chymotrypsin thrombin is inhibited in some cases whereas trypsin is not inhibited.21... 

A group of peptide derivatives such as peptide arginals and boronic acid peptide derivatives belong to another class of reversible thrombin inhibitors. One such inhibitor is PPACK (D-Phe-Pro-Arg chloromethyl ketone), which functions as a powerful irreversible thrombin inhibitor by alkylating the histidine residue at the catalytic site of thrombin (58). It, however, is unstable in neutral solution, as it undergoes cyclization and inactivation. However, the D-methyl derivative of D-Phe-Pro-Arg-H (D-Mephe-Pro-Arg-H) called efegatran, with a molecular mass of 515 Da, is a stable selective reversible inhibitor of thrombin with a K. of approximately 100 nM. The basic amino terminus in this compound is responsible for promoting the specificity toward thrombin (63). 

The amine containing side chains in lysine, arginine, and histidine typically are exposed on the surface of proteins and can be derivatized with ease. The most important reactions that can occur with these residues are alkylation and acylation (Figure 1.8). In alkylation, an active... 

Crestfield, A.M., Stein, W.H., and Moore, S. (1963) Alkylation and identification of the histidine residues at the active site of ribonuclease. J. Biol. Chem. 238, 2413-2419. 

A number of a-aryl-A-alkyl nitrones and contrast enhancement compositions, which can be used to make contrast enhancement layer photoresist composites (230, 231), and inhibitors of free radical polymerization of monomers in nonexposed regions of the photoresist layer at selective actinic radiation (232). Histidine was used as a catalyst in the synthesis of a, A-diaryl nitrones in situ (233). To study diphenylborate chelates with mono- and bidentate ligands, a series of hydroxyl-containing nitrones have been synthesized (Fig. 2.7) (234-237). 

More specific evidence came from affinity labeling with molecules which could react with specific amino acid group sat or adjacent to the substrate site. These labels were substrate analogues and competitive inhibitors. Substituted aryl alkyl ketones were used. TV-p-toluene-sulphonyl-L-phenylalanine chloromethyl ketone (TPCK) blocked the activity of chymotrypsin. Subsequent sequence analysis identified histidine 57 as its site of binding (see Hess, 1971, p 213, The Enzymes, 3rd ed.). Trypsin, with its preference for basic rather than aromatic residues adjacent to the peptide bond, was not blocked by TPCK but was susceptible to iV-p-toluenesulphonyl-L-lysine chloromethyl ketone (TLCK) (Keil, ibid, p249). 

The active-site-directed inhibitor tosylphenylalanine chloromethyl ketone that specifically and irreversibly inhibits chymotrypsin. This chloroketone inhibitor relies on its toluene sulfonyl (or tosyl) group for binding into the aromatic binding pocket of chymotrypsin s active site. Inactivation occurs by alkylation of histidine-57 (pseudo-first order rate constant 0.2 min ). See Chymo-trypsin... 

Iron(n) is known to decompose hydrogen and dialkyl peroxides to free radicals by reductive cleavage of the 0—0 bond and early investigations established the parasite s sensitivity to these species. When treated with radiolabelled C-artemisinin, the hemin-hemozoin fraction of the lysed malaria-infected erythrocytes was shown to contain a radiolabel, though the mechanism of incorporation is not clear. Meshnick and coworkers demonstrated that uninfected cells did not contain radiolabelled proteins whereas six radiolabelled proteins were isolated from cells infected with the Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) strain of the parasite. It was suspected that one of the alkylated proteins was the Histidine Rich Protein (HRP) that was known to bind multiple heme monomers and therefore thought to be instrumental to the parasite s detoxification process. Moreover, iron chelators were found to inhibit the lethal effects of peroxides on the parasite. ... 

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