Nuriá A. Solé

ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEPREVArticleNEXTOptimization of solid-phase synthesis of [Ala8]-dynorphin ANuria A. Sole and George BaranyCite this: J. Org. Chem. 1992, 57, 20, 5399–5403Publication Date (Print):September 1, 1992Publication History Published online1 May 2002Published inissue 1 September 1992https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jo00046a022https://doi.org/10.1021/jo00046a022research-articleACS PublicationsRequest reuse permissionsArticle Views1029Altmetric-Citations206LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail Other access optionsGet e-Alertsclose Get e-Alerts

Disulfide bridges play a crucial role in the folding and structural stabilization of many important extracellular peptide and protein molecules, including hormones, enzymes, growth factors, toxins, and immunoglo-bulins (1–10). In addition, the artificial introduction of extra disulfide bridges into peptides or proteins allows the creation of conformational constraints that can improve biological activity (11–15) or confer ther-mostability (5, 16–19). Given this intrinsic biological interest, disulfide-con-taining peptides have long been attractive targets for chemical synthesis. Starting with the pioneering work of du Vigneaud on oxytocin (20), the challenge to reproduce and engineer increasingly complex arrays of disulfide bridges as are found in natural peptides and proteins (7, 10, 21– 23) has stimulated the efforts and ingenuities of many peptide chemists. Table 1 provides a representative, but by no means exhaustive, listing of noteworthy syntheses of peptides or small proteins with one or more disulfides. The methods can be readily generalized to analogs in which cysteine residues are replaced by homologs, such as homocysteine, or by sterically restricted derivatives, such as penicillamine (β,β-dimethylcysteine).

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has historically been used as a means to treat cancerous tumors but has recently been used to kill bacterial cells through the use of targeted photosensitizers. PDT is a potential adjunct to scaling and root planing in the treatment of periodontal disease. However, the effectiveness of porphyrin derivatives against microorganisms has been limited because some gram-negative bacteria are refractory to photodynamic treatment with these agents. We have designed a porphyrin derivative conjugated to a pentalysine moeity that endows the molecule with activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Whereas the porphyrin, chlorin e6, showed in vitro activity against a limited spectrum of bacteria, chlorin e6 conjugated to pentalysine showed in vitro activity against all oral microorganisms tested, including Porphyromonas gingivalis, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Bacteroides forsythus, Campylobacter rectus, Eikenella corrodens, Fusobacterium nucleatum subsp. polymorphum, Actinomyces viscosus, and the streptococci. Potent antimicrobial activity (>/=5-log-unit reduction in the numbers of CFU per milliliter) was retained in the presence of up to 25% whole sheep blood. The use of potent, selective agents such as this chlorin e6-pentalysine conjugate to more effectively reduce the pathogenic bacteria in the periodontal pocket may be a significant tool for the treatment of periodontal disease.

Antimicrobial peptides are a source of novel agents that could be useful for treatment of the chronic lung infections that afflict cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Efficacy depends on antimicrobial activity against the major pathogens of CF patients, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Haemophilus influenzae, in the environment of the CF patient's airway. We describe the in vitro efficacies of derivatives of histatins, which are histidine-rich peptides produced by the salivary glands of humans and higher primates. P-113, a peptide containing 12 of the 24 amino acid residues of the parent molecule, histatin 5, retained full antibacterial activity and had a good spectrum of activity in vitro against the prominent pathogens of CF patients. However, P-113 was not active in the presence of purulent sputum from CF patients. In contrast, P-113D, the mirror-image peptide with the amino acid residues in the D configuration, was stable in sputum, was as active as P-113 against pathogens of CF patients in the absence of sputum and retained significant activity in the presence of sputum from CF patients. Recombinant human DNase, which effectively liquefies sputum, enhanced the activity of P-113D in undiluted sputum against both exogenous (added) bacteria and endogenous bacteria. Because of its properties, P-113D shows potential as an inhalant in chronic suppressive therapy for CF patients.