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A related group of compounds belonging to the antimycin class of antibiotics was found in culture broth produced by a Streptomyces species. The group includes known antimycins A1, A2, A3 and A4, and new antimycins A7 and A8. These compounds inhibit ATP-citrate lyase with Ki values of 4 to 60 microM against the substrate magnesium citrate. The structures of the new antimycins were determined by spectroscopic analyses.

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Two new peptides, a diketopiperazine of N-methyltyrosine (1) and a tetrapeptide containing N-methyltyrosine (2), were isolated from an actinomycete strain Streptomyces griseus. These compounds inhibit the enzyme calpain in the micromolar range and were characterized on the basis of spectroscopic analysis, amino acid analysis and sequencing. The structure of the tetrapeptide N-methyltyrosyl-N-methyltyrosyl-leucyl-alanine (2), was also confirmed by total synthesis.

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WIN 66306 (1a), a cyclic peptide containing a novel amino acid, was isolated as a neurokinin antagonist from an Aspergillus species, labelled SC230. Conditions that maximized the production of 1a were developed, leading also to production of the related compound WIN 68577 (2) and rosellichalasin (3). Both 2 and 3 were more active in the rat NK1 than in the human NK1 receptor binding assay, while 1a was more active at the human receptor with an inhibitor affinity constant of 7 microM.

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In the course of screening natural products for antagonists of CD18-mediated cell adhesion, an extract with inhibitory activity was identified from the stem and leaves of Conobea scoparioides. Bioassay-guided fractionation led to a pure compound, identified by spectroscopy as cucurbitacin E [1]. Although many biological activities have been reported for the cucurbitacins, this is the first report of cell adhesion inhibition. Furthermore, closely related cucurbitacin analogues had different potencies, pointing to substructural features that are important for the activity.

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In the course of screening microbial broths for neurokinin receptor antagonists, a series of new benzodiazepines, benzomalvins A (1), B (2) and C (3), has been isolated from the culture broth of a fungus identified as a Penicillium sp. Benzomalvin A (1) showed inhibitory activity against substance P with Ki values of 12, 42 and 43 microM at the guinea pig, rat and human neurokinin NK1 receptors, respectively. Benzomalvins B (2) and C (3) were only weakly active. The structures of these compounds were determined by spectroscopic methods including MS measurements and NMR analysis.

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WIN 64821, a nonpeptide neurokinin antagonist, was isolated from a strain of Aspergillus sp., SC319. The compound was produced in different fermentation media with greatest yields observed when the culture was grown in a synthetic medium supplemented with L-tryptophan and L-phenylalanine. After 6 days fermentation, yields greater than 600 mg/liter were obtained. Two analogs of WIN 64821 were also identified in the culture extracts and subsequently tested for biological activity. WIN 64821 was the most potent compound isolated from this culture and exhibited activity as a substance P-binding inhibitor with submicromolar potency against the human neurokinin 1 receptor.

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WIN 64821, a secondary metabolite produced by Aspergillus sp. (ATCC 74177) was found to inhibit radiolabeled substance P (SP) binding in a variety of tissues, including those of human origin. This compound inhibited, in a competitive manner, the binding of SP with Ki values ranging from 0.24 microM in human astrocytoma U-373 MG cells to 7.89 microM in rat submaxillary membranes. Additionally, WIN 64821 was found to inhibit 125I-NKA binding to the NK2 receptor in human tissue at a concentration equivalent to its NK1 activity (0.26 microM). The inhibitory activity of WIN 64821 against an NK3 selective ligand, 3H-senktide, was found to be much weaker (Ki = 15.2 microM). WIN 64821 was also evaluated in NK1 functional assays and was found to be a competitive antagonist of SP-induced contractility in the guinea pig ileum (pA2 = 6.6) as well as an inhibitor of SP-induced 45Ca2+ efflux from human astrocytoma U-373 MG cells (IC50 = 0.6 microM). In a rat vas deferens model, WIN 64821 inhibited eledoisin-induced contractility with an IC50 of 3.4 microM indicating functional antagonism at the NK2 receptor. The data presented in this study provide biochemical, pharmacological and functional evidence supporting WIN 64821 as a competitive neurokinin antagonist.

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Three new compounds, named fiscalins A, B, and C, were found in culture broth produced by a Neosartorya fischeri. These compounds inhibit the binding of radiolabeled substance P ligand to the human neurokinin (NK-1) receptor, with Ki values of 57, 174, and 68 microM, respectively. Detailed spectroscopic and amino acid analyses led to the elucidation of structures for the three fiscalins. The structures contain an indolyl moiety linked to an athranilic acid derived tricyclic system. The absolute configuration of fiscalin A was determined by X-ray crystallography and chiral amino acid analysis. The presence of fiscalins was detected directly in crude cellular extracts using LC-MS methods.

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Substance P (SP) is an undecapeptide belonging to a family of chemically related neurotransmitters and neuromodulators known as neurokinins. In our search for SP antagonists, we screened microbial broth extracts for the ability to inhibit radiolabeled SP binding to membranes prepared from rat forebrain. Anthrotainin was isolated from a fungal culture and determined to be a novel tetracyclic compound, with an IC50 of 3 microM against [125I]SP. The structure, spectroscopic, chemical, and pharmacological properties of anthrotainin are presented.

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The desirable features for a screening assay to detect antibacterial antibiotics include 1) high specificity for the desired antibiotic type 2) high sensitivity 3) lack of interference by other compounds likely to be associated with the antibiotic of interest and 4) ease of operation to allow a large number of samples to be tested. These characteristics are largely found in screens employing strains carrying fusions between antibiotic induced promoters and the structural genes for Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase. Screens were designed based upon fusions with three antibiotic induced promoters: the tetracycline induced tetA/tetR promoter from transposon Tn10, the erythromycin induced promoter from the Staphylococcus aureus ermC erythromycin-resistance gene and the chloramphenicol induced promoter from the S. aureus cat86 chloramphenicol-resistance gene. Because there have been no reports of vancomycin induced resistance determinants, a Tn903 random gene fusion pool was screened to isolate a vancomycin induced gene fusion. This gene fusion was induced fairly specifically by glycopeptide antibiotics and the fusion was used as the basis for a glycopeptide screen.

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A gene bank of Sau3A partially digested Candida albicans DNA in vector YEp13 was used to complement a ura3 mutation (orotidine-5'-phosphate decarboxylase, OMPdecase) in S. cerevisiae. Two plasmids which complemented ura3 and showed clear linkage of Ura+ and plasmid markers were selected for further study. Both plasmids also complemented the corresponding OMPdecase mutation (pyrF) in E. coli. Restriction mapping and subcloning studies localized the OMPdecase complementing activity to a region common to both plasmids. Probes prepared from this common region hybridized specifically to C. albicans DNA and not to E. coli or S. cerevisiae DNA. Southern blot analysis also showed that the restriction map of the ura3 complementing region of one plasmid was colinear with C. albicans genomic DNA. Expression of the OMPdecase complementing gene in E. coli and S. cerevisiae was not dependent upon orientation relative to vector sequences, suggesting that promotion could be occurring within the C. albicans fragment. Expression was sufficient to allow complementation in S. cerevisiae with integrating as well as high copy number vectors.

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The biosynthesis of monobactams by strains of Chromobacterium violaceum, Acetobacter sp., and Agrobacterium radiobacter was studied. Monobactams were produced during logarithmic growth by C. violaceum and Acetobacter sp. and during late log growth on glycerol and in stationary phase by A. radiobacter. The addition of various amino acids failed to significantly stimulate monobactam production in any of the producing organisms. Several 14C-amino acids and pyruvate were incorporated in vivo into monobactams. Serine, glycine, and cysteine were better incorporated than alanine or aspartate, whereas an excess of nonradioactive serine depressed the incorporation of labelled cysteine, glycine, and pyruvate. A comparison of [1-14C] glycine and [2-14C] glycine incorporation data suggests that glycine was first converted to serine. With a mixture of [U-14C[serine and [3-3H]serine, C. violaceum synthesized a monobactam with a complete retention of tritium, whereas with a [U-14C] cystine and [3-3H] cystine mixture, there was an extensive loss of C-3 tritium. Acetobacter sp. and A. radiobacter also utilized the double-labeled serine without the loss of tritium in their respective monobactams. It appears, therefore that in the three organisms, the carbon atoms of the beta-lactam ring of the monobactam are derived directly from serine without the loss of the C-3 hydrogen atoms, probably by an SN2 ring closure mechanism. With [methyl-14C] methionine, most of the radioactivity in the monobactam from Acetobacter sp. was in the methyl moiety of the beta-lactam ring methoxyl group.

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The single-stranded mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) displacement-loop initiation sequence (7S mtDNA) is hydrogen-bonded at the origin of replication in animal cell mtDNA. Analysis of 7S mtDNA from several cell sources indicates that this initiation sequence exists as a family of fragments of relatively discrete lengths. mtDNA from both mouse L cells and mouse liver has four major sizes of 7S mtDNA fragments, ranging from 500 to 580 nucleotides in length. The 5'-end region of each of these species is the same; thus, the size heterogeneity is due primarily to differences in length at the 3'-end of these molecules. By contrast, 7S mtDNA from both human KB cells and human liver exists in three major forms, ranging from 555 to 615 nucleotides in length, due to differences at both terminal regions. The mtDNA initiation sequence from Xenopus laevis oocytes also exists in at least two forms, 1350 and 1510 nucleotides in length. Thus, the maintenance of multiple forms of mtDNA initiation sequence appears to be a general phenomenon of animal cells, although the precise mechanism of synthesis or processing of these forms is variable. The sequence of 42 nucleotides at the 5'-end of 7S mtDNA from mouse L cells has been determined and found to be rich in dGuo and dThd residues, with no apparent palindromes or potential secondary structures. We thus present sequence information on the replication origin of mtDNA, as defined by the naturally occurring 7S mtDNA.

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Initiator methionine tRNA from the cytoplasm of Neurospora crassa has been purified and sequenced. The sequence is: pAGCUGCAUm1GGCGCAGCGGAAGCGCM22GCY*GGGCUCAUt6AACCCGGAGm7GU (or D) - CACUCGAUCGm1AAACGAG*UUGCAGCUACCAOH. Similar to initiator tRNAs from the cytoplasm of other eukaryotes, this tRNA also contains the sequence -AUCG- instead of the usual -TphiCG (or A)- found in loop IV of other tRNAs. The sequence of the N. crassa cytoplasmic initiator tRNA is quite different from that of the corresponding mitochondrial initiator tRNA. Comparison of the sequence of N. crassa cytoplasmic initiator tRNA to those of yeast, wheat germ and vertebrate cytoplasmic initiator tRNA indicates that the sequences of the two fungal tRNAs are no more similar to each other than they are to those of other initiator tRNAs.

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A method is described for the direct sequence analysis of 20-25 nucleotides from the termini of 5'- or 3'-end-group [32P] labeled RNA. The method involves partial endonucleolytic digestion of the labeled RNA with nuclease P1 (from Penicillium citrinum) followed by separation of the partial digestion products by two-dimensional homochromatography, the nucleotide sequence being determined by mobility shift analysis. This procedure has been applied to the sequence analysis of the terminal regions of tRNAs and of high molecular weight RNA, such as messenger RNA or viral RNA. A further application involves its use in conjunction with snake venom phosphodiesterase to determine the sequence of 5'-end group labeled oligonucleotides, containing modified bases, derived from T1 or pancreatic RNase digestion of tRNA.

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