Elbert E. Harris

Bio: Elbert E. Harris is an academic researcher from Merck & Co.. The author has contributed to research in topics: Angiotensin-converting enzyme & Alkyl. The author has an hindex of 15, co-authored 27 publications receiving 2970 citations.

Mevinolin: a highly potent competitive inhibitor of hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase and a cholesterol-lowering agent.

Abstract: Mevinolin, a fungal metabolite, was isolated from cultures of Aspergillus terreus. The structure and absolute configuration of mevinolini and its open acid form, mevinolinic acid, were determined by a combination of physical techniques. Mevinolin was shown to be 1,2,6,7,8,8a-hexahydro-beta, delta-dihydroxy-2,6-dimethyl-8-(2-methyl-1-oxobutoxy)-1-naphthalene-hepatanoic acid delta-lactone. Mevinolin in the hydroxy-acid form, mevinolinic acid, is a potent competitive inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase [mevalonate: NADP+ oxidoreductase (CoA-acylating), EC 1.1.1.34]; its Ki of 0.6 nM can be compared to 1.4 nM for the hydroxy acid form of the previously described related inhibitor, ML-236B (compactin, 6-demethylmevinolin). In the rat, orally administered sodium mevinolinate was an active inhibitor of cholesterol synthesis in an acute assay (50% inhibitory dose = 46 microgram/kg). Furthermore, it was shown that mevinolin was an orally active cholesterol-lowering agent in the dog. Treatment of dogs for 3 weeks with mevinolin at 8 mg/kg per day resulted in a 29.3 +/- 2.5% lowering of plasma cholesterol.

A new class of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors

Abstract: Much current attention focuses on the renin–angiotensin system in relation to mechanisms controlling blood pressure and renal function. Recent demonstrations (ref 1, ref. 2 and refs therein) that angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors show promising clinical antihypertensive properties have been of particular interest. We now report on the design of a novel series of substituted N-carboxymethyl-dipeptides which are active in inhibiting angiotensin-converting enzyme at nanomolar levels. We suggest that these compounds are transition-state inhibitors and that extensions of this design to other metalloendopeptidases merit further study.

Aminoacid derivatives as antihypertensives

Abstract: The invention relates to new carboxyalkyl dipeptide derivatives and related compounds which are useful as antihypertensives.

Carboxyalkyl dipeptide derivatives, process for preparing them and pharmaceutical composition containing them

Abstract: Carboxyalkyl dipeptide derivatives and related compounds which are useful as antihypertensives, and having the formulae: wherein R and R 6 are the same or different and are hydroxy, alkoxy, alkenoxy, dialkylamino alkoxy, acylamino alkoxy, acyloxy alkoxy, aryloxy, alkyloxy, substituted aryloxy or substituted aralkoxy wherein the substituent is methyl, halo, or niethoxy, amino, alkylamino, dialkylamino, aralkylamino or hydroxyamino; R 1 is hydrogen, alkyl of from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, including branched, cyclic and unsaturated alkyl groups; substituted alkyl wherein the substituent is halo, hydroxy, alkoxy, aryloxy amino, alkylamino, dialkylamino, acylamino, arylamino, guanidino, imidazolyl, indolyl, mercapto, alkylthio, arylthio, carboxy, carboxamido, carbalkoxy, phenyl, substituted phenyl wherein the substituent is alkyl, alkoxy or halo; aralkyl or heteroaralkyl, aralkenyl or heteroaralkenyl, substituted aralkyl, substituted heteroaralkyl, substituted aralkenyl or substituted hetereoaralkenyl, wherein the substituent is halo or dihalo, alkyl, hydroxy, alkoxy, amino, aminomethyl, acylamino, dialkylamino, alkylamino, carboxyl, haloalkyl, cyano or sulfonamido, aralkyl or hetereoaralkyl substituted on the alkyl portion by amino or acylamino; R 2 and R 7 are hydrogen or alkyl; R 3 is hydrogen, alkyl, phenylalkyl, aminomethylphenyl- alkyl, hydroxyphenylalkyl, hydroxyalkyl, acetylaminoalkyl, acylaminoalkyl, acylaminoalkyl aminoalkyl, dimethyl- aminoalkyl, haloalkyl, guanidinoalkyl, imidazolylalkyl, indolylalkyl, mercaptoalkyl and aikylthioalkyl; R 4 is hydrogen or alkyl; R 5 is hydrogen, alkyl, phenyl, phenylalkyl, hydroxyphenylalkyl, hydroxyalkyl, aminoalkyl, guanidinoalkyl, imidazolylalkyl, indolylalkyl, mercaptoalkyl or alkylthioalkyl; R and R 5 may be connected together to form an alkylene bridge of from 2 to 4 carbon atoms, an alkylene bridge of from 2 to 3 carbon atoms and one sulphur atom, an alkylene bridge of from 3 to 4 carbon atoms containing a double bond or an alkylene bridge as above, substituted with hydroxy, alkoxy or alkyl and the pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.

Conformationally restricted inhibitors of angiotensin converting enzyme: synthesis and computations.

Abstract: A series of inhibitors of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE, dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase, EC 3.4.15.1) is described which addresses certain conformational aspects of the enzyme-inhibitor interaction. In this study the alanylproline portion of the potent ACE inhibitor enalaprilat (2) is replaced by a series of monocyclic lactams containing the required recognition and binding elements. In order to more fully assess the lactam ring conformations and the key backbone angle psi as defined in 3 with respect to possible enzyme-bound conformations, a series of model lactams was investigated with use of molecular mechanics. The results point to a correlation between inhibitor potency (IC50) and the computed psi angle for the lowest energy conformation of the model compounds. Thus the psi angle as defined in 3 is an important determinant in the binding of inhibitors to ACE. The inhibition data in conjunction with the computational data have served to define a window of psi angles from 130 degrees to 170 degrees which seems to be acceptable to the ACE active site.

A receptor-mediated pathway for cholesterol homeostasis.

Abstract: In 1901 a physician, Archibald Garrod, observed a patient with black urine. He used this simple observation to demonstrate that a single mutant gene can produce a discrete block in a biochemical pathway, which he called an “inborn error of metabolism”. Garrod’s brilliant insight anticipated by 40 years the one gene-one enzyme concept of Beadle and Tatum. In similar fashion the chemist Linus Pauling and the biochemist Vernon Ingram, through study of patients with sickle cell anemia, showed that mutant genes alter the amino acid sequences of proteins. Clearly, many fundamental advances in biology were spawned by perceptive studies of human genetic diseases (1). We began our work in 1972 in an attempt to understand a human genetic disease, familial hypercholesterolemia or FH. In these patients the concentration of cholesterol in blood is elevated many fold above normal and heart attacks occur early in life. We postulated that this dominantly inherited disease results from a failure of end-product repression of cholesterol synthesis. The possibility fascinated us because genetic defects in feedback regulation had not been observed previously in humans or animals, and we hoped that study of this disease might throw light on fundamental regulatory mechanisms. Our approach was to apply the techniques of cell culture to unravel the postulated regulatory defect in FH. These studies led to the discovery of a cell surface receptor for a plasma cholesterol transport protein called low density lipoprotein (LDL) and to the elucidation of the mechanism by which this receptor mediates feedback control of cholesterol synthesis (2,3). FH was shown to be caused by inherited defects in the gene encoding the LDL receptor, which disrupt the normal control of cholesterol metabolism. Study of the LDL receptor in turn led to the understanding of receptor-mediated endocytosis, a genera! process by which cells communicate with each other through internalization of regulatory and nutritional molecules (4). Receptor-mediated endocytosis differs from previously described biochemical pathways because it depends upon the continuous and highly controlled movement of membraneembedded proteins from one cell organelle to another in a process termed

Pleiotropic effects of statins

Abstract: ▪ Abstract Statins are potent inhibitors of cholesterol biosynthesis. In clinical trials, statins are beneficial in the primary and secondary prevention of coronary heart disease. However, the over...

Platforms for antibiotic discovery

Abstract: The spread of resistant bacteria, leading to untreatable infections, is a major public health threat but the pace of antibiotic discovery to combat these pathogens has slowed down. Most antibiotics were originally isolated by screening soil-derived actinomycetes during the golden era of antibiotic discovery in the 1940s to 1960s. However, diminishing returns from this discovery platform led to its collapse, and efforts to create a new platform based on target-focused screening of large libraries of synthetic compounds failed, in part owing to the lack of penetration of such compounds through the bacterial envelope. This article considers strategies to re-establish viable platforms for antibiotic discovery. These include investigating untapped natural product sources such as uncultured bacteria, establishing rules of compound penetration to enable the development of synthetic antibiotics, developing species-specific antibiotics and identifying prodrugs that have the potential to eradicate dormant persisters, which are often responsible for hard-to-treat infections.