Tetrahedron Letters
Mechanism-specified 5-exo termini differentiation of a
C32-desmethyl C28–C34 aplyronine A analog segment
⇑
Thomas P. Bobinski, Philip L. Fuchs
Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, United States
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
A new mild, high yielding oxidative cleavage method allows access to a critical lactone aplyronine A
analog precursor. Enhanced termini selectivity is achieved, granting access to a previously unavailable
C28–C34 C-32-desmethyl actin binding tail fragment via vinyl sulfone polypropionate methodology.
Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Received 14 April 2015
Accepted 23 April 2015
Available online 29 April 2015
Keywords:
Aplyronine A
Polyketide
Vinyl sulfone
Ozonolysis
Osmium catalysis
a-Hydroxy lactol
Introduction
A requires a concentration of 31 l
M.10–13 Aplyronine A increases
the lifespan of mice between 201% and 566% in 5 different tumor
models (566%: Lewis lung; 545%: P388 leukemia; 398% Ehrlich car-
cinoma; 255%: Colon 26 carcinoma; and 201%: B16 melanoma).9
These results provide convincing evidence that actin activity is
not the sole determinant of antineoplastic activity.
Recent seminal work by Kigoshi and co-workers has provided
definitive mechanistic insight into the antineoplastic properties of
aplyronine A (ApA). These results indicate that the potent cytotox-
icity of ApA is not solely due to its F-actin severing properties.
Photolabelling experiments revealed that the C7 trimethylserine
ester group binds to b-tubulin, leading to the formation of a
1:1:1 tubulin/aplyronine A/actin complex (Fig. 1) that exhibits its
antineoplastic activity at far lower concentrations than that of
the aplyronine A–actin complex. Evidence suggests that the
existence of this ternary complex in the interior of the cell
inhibits tubulin polymerization and enhances microtubule
depolymerization.
Aplyronine A (Fig. 1) is an exceptionally scarce (3 Â 10À7 wt %)
1
macrolide originally isolated from the sea hare Aplysia kurodai. It
2,3
has actin binding and depolymerizing properties,
as well as
potent in vivo antitumor activity.1 The initial inquiry into the
mechanism of aplyronine A’s antineoplastic properties strongly
focused upon its interaction with actin. Actin is the most abundant
protein in the eukaryotic cytoskeleton and is essential for the reg-
ulation of various cellular functions, such as muscle contraction,
cell division, and the migration of tumor cells. Various additional
small agents have been discovered that target actin show cytotox-
1
4
2
4
icity at concentrations above 100 nM. For example, ulapualides,
5
6
7
mycalolides, kabiramides, sphinxolides/reidispongiolides, swin-
holides,7 and bistramides8 are all actin-depolymerizing agents.
Complexes between these macrolides and actin are similar to the
aplyronine A–actin complex.
While aplyronine A’s ability to bind/depolymerize actin is sim-
ilar to other macrolides, its exceptional cytotoxicity is starkly
apparent. For example, jasplakinolide exhibits an IC50 of 100 nM
Results and discussion
9
,7
against HL-60 cells, Mycalolide B has an IC50 of 4.7 nM; but aply-
ronine A has an IC50 of 0.0029 nM after 72 h of incubation.
A primary goal of the Fuchs vinyl sulfone program is to access
biorelevant intermediates containing contiguous chiral carbon
7
Swinholide A depolymerizes actin at 4 nM–1
l
M while aplyronine
1
5
centers. While the vinyl sulfone strategy has successfully enabled
the construction of key intermediates of a number of natural prod-
⇑
P.L. Fuchs).
1
5
ucts, the aplyronine A approach has also revealed several limita-
tions. The design for synthesis of the aplyronine A core features
(
040-4039/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
0