Cyclosporin A, FK506, and rapamycin are inhibitors of specific signal transduction pathways that lead to T lymphocyte activation. These immunosuppressive agents bind with high affinity to cytoplasmic receptors termed immunophilins (immunosuppressant binding proteins). Studies in this area have focused on the structural basis for the molecular recognition of immunosuppressants by immunophilins and the biological consequences of their interactions. Defining the biological roles of this emerging family of receptors and their ligands may illuminate the process of protein trafficking in cells and the mechanisms of signal transmission through the cytoplasm.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/251/4991/283.full.pdf

Chemistry and biology of the immunophilins and their immunosuppressive ligands.

Histone deacetylase is a metallo-enzyme with zinc at the active site. Compounds having a zinc-binding moiety, such as, for example, a hydroxamic acid group or a carboxylic acid group, can inhibit histone deacetylase. Histone deacetylase can repress gene expression, including expression of genes related to tumor suppression. Accordingly, inhibition of histone deacetylase can provide an alternate route for treating cancer, hematological disorders, e.g., hemoglobinopathies, and genetic related metabolic disorders, e.g., cystic fibrosis and adrenoleukodystrophy.

Histone deacetylase inhibitors

Asymmetric catalysts, either chemical or biological, effect the reactions of enantiomeric substrates at unequal rates, allowing for the kinetic resolution of racemates. The asymmetric reaction of chirally labile compounds capable of undergoing in situ racemization can, in principle, afford a single stereoisomer in 100% ee and in 100% yield. The second-order reaction provides a powerful tool for the stereoselective synthesis of chiral compounds, as exemplified by, among others, the biochemical hydrolysis of hydantoins or oxazolinones and microbial reductions or BINAP–Ru(II) catalyzed hydrogenation of certain α-substituted β-keto esters. Such transformations are characterized by the presence of parallel reactions interrelated by the stereoinversion of the enantiomeric substrates. The efficiency is decisively affected by the kinetic parameters, particularly the relative rates of the stereoinversion and reaction as well as the intrinsic stereochemical parameters of the catalyst and substrate. Such stereoselec...

Stereoselective Organic Synthesis via Dynamic Kinetic Resolution

Chemical Genetics Resulting from a Passion for Synthetic Organic Chemistry

The immunosuppressants FK506 and rapamycin bind to the same immunophilin, FK506 binding protein (FKBP), and inhibit distinct signal transduction pathways in T lymphocytes. A nonnatural immunophilin ligand, 506BD, which contains only the common structural elements of FK506 and rapamycin, was synthesized and found to be a high-affinity ligand of FKBP and a potent inhibitor of FKBP rotamase activity. Whereas 506BD does not interfere with T cell activation, it does block the immunosuppressive effects of both FK506 and rapamycin. Thus, the common immunophilin binding element of these immunosuppressants, which is responsible for rotamase inhibition, is fused to different effector elements, resulting in the inhibition of different signaling pathways. Inhibition of rotamase activity is an insufficient requirement for mediating these effects.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/250/4980/556.full.pdf

Probing immunosuppressant action with a nonnatural immunophilin ligand

Total synthesis of FK506 and an FKBP probe reagent, [C(8),C(9)-13C2]-FK506

Studies relating to the synthesis of the immunosuppressive agent FK-506: coupling of fragments via a stereoselective trisubstituted olefin forming reaction sequence

John A. Ragan

Papers

Total synthesis of FK506 and an FKBP probe reagent, [C(8),C(9)-13C2]-FK506

Studies relating to the synthesis of the immunosuppressive agent FK-506: coupling of fragments via a stereoselective trisubstituted olefin forming reaction sequence