Synthesis, structural elucidation and biological evaluation of Pipecolidepsin A and Phakellistatin 19

Abstract

Pipecolidepsin A is a cyclodepsipeptide produced by a Homophymia marine sponge that has shown interesting anticancer properties against several human cancer cell lines. From a structural point of view, it is a “head-to-side-chain” cyclodepsipeptide, in which the ester bond links the C-terminal and the side-chain of the unprecedented amino acid AHDMHA. This linkage provides a beta-branched arrangement that comprises a 25-membered macrolactone, and an exocyclic peptidic arm terminated with a polyketide moiety. Furthermore, Pipecolidepsin A contains up to 6 synthetic building blocks with several potential side reactions during the SPPS. The syntheses of the suitable protected derivatives of the amino acids L-threo-beta-EtO-Asn, AHDMHA and DADHOHA have been developed in our laboratory. Additionally, an already described procedure to synthesize the beta-hydroxyacid HTMHA was also adapted and reproduced. The biggest synthetic challenge of Pipecolidepsin A’s synthesis is the construction of the ester bond over an extremely hindered secondary alcohol. Thus, incorporation of the Alloc-pipecolic-OH moiety was studied at different growing stages of the peptide chain, meaning, after coupling of Fmoc-AHDMHA-OH, Fmoc-diMeGln-OH and Fmoc-DADHOHA(Acetonide, Trt)-OH residues. Moreover, when developing the synthetic scheme, some main potential side reactions and synthetic challenges were considered: consecutive coupling of extremely bulky residues, racemization, intramolecular lactamization of unprotected beta-amino diMe-Gln, aspartimides formation and dehydration to nitrile of the unprotected side-chain amides. A robust and reproducible synthetic strategy for Pipecolidepsin A has been developed for the first time. The chemical, structural and biological equivalence between natural and synthetic Pipecolidepsin A has been satisfactorily proved by means of HPLC-PDA co-elution, 1H and 13C NMR spectral assignment comparison, and biological evaluation of both compounds employing a colorimetric assay based on the sulforhodamine B reaction. Importantly, the synthetic scheme has been proved useful to provide straightforward access to analogs that will facilitate valuable structure-activity relationships (SARs). In addition, the synthesis of the cytotoxic proline-rich peptide Phakellistatin 19 was successfully achieved by using a combination of solid-phase and solution techniques. After chemical and spectral validation of the synthetic compound, biological evaluation revealed that synthetic Phakellistatin 19 did not display the same cytotoxicity of the natural counterpart. Thus, two different hypotheses were suggested and studied. The first one points out that preparations of natural Phakellistatins could contain a spectrally undetectable amount of a contamination (structurally related, eg. an epimer, or a totally different compound), which would be responsible for the biological activity. The second one argue that the presence of several Pro residues capable of cis-trans isomerism in a constrained macrocycle provides structures with a complex conformational profile. Individual conformers at Pro linkages bearing different biological properties could be stabilized in different conditions.

Dos productes naturals marins de naturalesa peptídica han estat sintetitzats i estudiats estructuralment en la present tesi doctoral. El Pipecolidepsin A és un ciclodepsipèptid “cap-cadena lateral” que ha mostrat uns valors de citotoxicitat molt prometedors. Té una disposició estructural molt característica en la que un enllaç èster uneix l’extrem carboxil-terminal amb la cadena lateral de l’aminoàcid AHDMHA, originant d’aquesta manera una macrolactona de 25 membres i un braç peptídic exocíclic acabat amb un beta-hidroxiàcid. A més a més, la seva complexitat sintètica es veu incrementada per la presència en la seva estructura de fins a 6 aminoàcids sintètics no comercials. Les síntesis dels derivats correctament protegits dels residus L-threo-beta-EtO-Asn, AHDMHA, DADHOHA i HTMHA han estat desenvolupades i verificades al nostre laboratori. L’etapa crítica de la síntesi del Pipecolidepsin A és la formació de l’enllaç èster sobre un alcohol extremadament impedit. A més a més, són moltes les reaccions secundàries associades als diferents residus sintètics (deshidratació d’amides laterals a nitrils, racemització, formació d’aspartimides, lactamització intramolecular del residu DiMe-Gln quan l’amina està desprotegida...). Tot això es tindrà en compte durant el desenvolupament i validació de l’estratègia sintètica que donarà accés al Pipecolidepsin A, i obrirà la porta a la síntesi d’altres anàlegs i compostos relacionats. El Phakellistatin 19 és un pèptid cíclic homodètic ric en residus prolina. Un esquema sintètic que combina fase sòlida i solució ha estat satisfactòriament desenvolupat. No obstant i malgrat haver verificat l’equivalència química i espectral del Phakellistatin 19 sintètic, aquest no presenta el mateix comportament biològic que el natural. La possibilitat que una impuresa (en especial un epimer) espectralment no detectable sigui la responsable de la citotoxicitat, o bé que la presència de residus Pro capaços d’establir un equilibri cis-trans real generin un complex equilibri conformacional en el que els diferents confòrmers tinguin un perfil biològic diferent, han estat extensivament estudiades.