Medicinal chemistry articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The inhibition of bacterial glycosyltransferase has the potential to be an effective therapeutic target against drug resistance bacteria. Here, the authors present a novel class of inhibitor compounds based on a monosaccharide scaffold, which are able to eliminate bacterial infections in mice.

    • Johannes Zuegg
    • , Craig Muldoon
    •  & Matthew A. Cooper

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The biological properties of dendrimers are thought to be largely dependent on the chemical nature of their surface. Here, the authors show that the internal scaffold of dendritic nanodrugs strongly influences their bioactivity, based on convergent information from biology and computation results.

    • Anne-Marie Caminade
    • , Séverine Fruchon
    •  & Rémy Poupot

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tuberculosis control is threatened by the continued emergence of drug-resistant strains. Here, Rybniker et al. screen a library of FDA-approved drugs and identify a gastric proton pump inhibitor that also has antituberculosis activity and targets the bacterial cytochrome bc1complex.

    • Jan Rybniker
    • , Anthony Vocat
    •  & Stewart T. Cole

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sirtuins are NAD+-dependent deacylases implicated in the regulation of stress responses, bioenergetics and epigenetic control. Here the authors describe the crystal structure of a sirtuin-activating compounds (STAC)-sirtuin complex and begin to elucidate the mechanism of sirtuins activation by STACs.

    • Han Dai
    • , April W. Case
    •  & James L. Ellis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Screening for new anthelmintic compounds that are active against parasitic nematodes is costly and labour intensive. Here, the authors use the non-parasitic nematode Caenorhabditis elegansto identify 30 anthelmintic lead compounds in an effective and cost-efficient manner.

    • Andrew R. Burns
    • , Genna M. Luciani
    •  & Peter J. Roy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fluoroalkenes are found widely in biologically active compounds, but their introduction can be difficult or laborious. Here, the authors report a C–H/C–F activation strategy to introduce monofluoroalkenes into organic molecules in one step with good to excellent yields.

    • Panpan Tian
    • , Chao Feng
    •  & Teck-Peng Loh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fatty acids are ancient lipids with numerous functions, from metabolic processes as a source of energy to structural and signalling roles within cell membranes. Here, the authors present azobenzene-modified fatty acids and their application as photoswitchable agonists of the Vanilloid Receptor 1.

    • James Allen Frank
    • , Mirko Moroni
    •  & Dirk Trauner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Iminosugars are biologically and medicinally important compounds but methods for their synthesis are often laborious. Here, the authors report a simple, rapid route for the enantioselective synthesis of multiple biologically active iminosugars and C-nucleoside analogues.

    • Milan Bergeron-Brlek
    • , Michael Meanwell
    •  & Robert Britton

  • Article |

    Inhibiting the interaction between the membrane protein P-selectin and its ligand PSGL-1 is thought to block inflammation. Here the authors report an efficient stereoselective synthesis for PSGL-1 glycopeptide mimics and show that these compounds inhibit PSGL-1/P-selectin in vitro and in vivo.

    • Venkata R. Krishnamurthy
    • , Mohammed Y. R. Sardar
    •  & Elliot L. Chaikof

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The emergence of resistant Plasmodiumstrains fuels the search for new antimalarials. Here, the authors present a new class of potent antimalarial compounds, the triaminopyrimidines, that display low toxicity and long half-life in animal models.

    • Shahul Hameed P.
    • , Suresh Solapure
    •  & Vasan K. Sambandamurthy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organometallic complexes are effective hydrogenation catalysts for organic reactions. Here the authors report for the first time that transfer hydrogenation catalysis can take place inside the cell and could be used as a novel anticancer strategy.

    • Joan J. Soldevila-Barreda
    • , Isolda Romero-Canelón
    •  & Peter J. Sadler

  • Article |

    Generating diverse structures with a minimum amount of synthetic effort is an important goal for drug discovery. Here, the authors report a two-phase synthesis for the generation of skeletally diverse small molecules—forming molecular scaffolds and subsequently diversifying each into multiple structures.

    • Miguel Garcia-Castro
    • , Lea Kremer
    •  & Kamal Kumar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Due to rising resistance, efficient routes to new antibiotics is a vital task for human health. Here, the authors report a short, convergent and elegant synthesis of a very recently reported antibiotic, successfully giving access to this material on scale.

    • Ming Yang
    • , Jian Li
    •  & Ang Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The study of HIV proteolysis during maturation and replication can be difficult since different steps in these processes occur simultaneously. Here, the authors present a photolabile HIV protease inhibitor which can be deactivated by light irradiation, allowing synchronized induction of viral maturation.

    • Jiří Schimer
    • , Marcela Pávová
    •  & Jan Konvalinka

  • Article |

    Perfluorinated organic molecules have shown many uses, including as imaging agents. Here, the authors report that fluorinated gold nanoparticles offer an effective means of mass spectrometry tissue imaging, in addition to facilitating X-ray analysis providing complementary information to mass spectral images.

    • Michael E. Kurczy
    • , Zheng-Jiang Zhu
    •  & Gary Siuzdak

  • Article |

    The ability to functionalize a C–H bond is useful in complex organic syntheses, but the scope of this approach is sometimes limited by its sensitivity to basic amines. Here, the authors achieve functionalization of amine-containing natural products by site-selective rhodium-carbene-mediated C–H insertion.

    • Jing He
    • , Lawrence G. Hamann
    •  & Rohan E. J. Beckwith

  • Article |

    It is known that some nanomaterials can exhibit enzyme-like activities, prompting interest in the novel applications this property may allow. Here, the authors show how vanadia nanowires possess glutathione peroxidase-like activity, and can effectively protect cells from oxidative damage.

    • Amit A. Vernekar
    • , Devanjan Sinha
    •  & Govindasamy Mugesh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Protein scaffolds can serve as alternatives to antibodies in a range of applications. Here, the authors report the design and development of Alphabody™, a protein scaffold featuring a single-chain antiparallel triple-helix coiled-coil fold that the authors use to develop Alphabodies that can neutralize human IL-23 with high specificity and affinity.

    • Johan Desmet
    • , Kenneth Verstraete
    •  & Savvas N. Savvides

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sulfonylureas are widely used anti-diabetic drugs, which promote insulin release by blocking a pancreatic ion channel. Here the authors create a photoswitchable sulfonylurea derivative and use it to control insulin release from cultured cells and isolated pancreatic islets by illumination with blue light.

    • Johannes Broichhagen
    • , Matthias Schönberger
    •  & Dirk Trauner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Compound 8-1-(3-chlorophenethyl)-3-cyclopentylpyrimidine-2,4,6(1H,3H,5H)-trione was previously reported to be a selective inhibitor of the CaV1.3 calcium channel. Now, Huang et al. demonstrate that selectivity towards CaV1.3 relative to CaV1.2 is dependent on the type of β-subunit and CaV1.3 splice variant assayed.

    • Hua Huang
    • , Cheng Yang Ng
    •  & Tuck Wah Soong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Identifying the site where a protein binds to another molecule is an important factor for the design of therapeutics intended to prevent this interaction. Here, the authors coat protein–receptor complexes with surface-binding molecules, and determine their interacting regions using mass spectrometry.

    • Alessandra Luchini
    • , Virginia Espina
    •  & Lance A. Liotta

  • Article |

    Fluorine-18 containing molecules are important for PET imaging, but due to the short half-life it is necessary to develop rapid methods for its introduction. Here, the authors use spirocyclic iodine(III) precursors, allowing direct 18F labelling of highly functionalized non-activated arenes and PET radiopharmaceuticals.

    • Benjamin H. Rotstein
    • , Nickeisha A. Stephenson
    •  & Steven H. Liang

  • Article |

    The ability to image the action of drugs in cells in real time could yield valuable information on their efficacy and mode of action. Here, the authors use multiphoton fluorescence anisotropy microscopy to image drug distribution and target engagement in real time at the cellular level in vivo.

    • J. M. Dubach
    • , C. Vinegoni
    •  & R. Weissleder

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ruthenium-cymene-based compounds are investigated as potential anticancer drugs. Here, Adhireksan et al.study two ruthenium-containing compounds with varying cytotoxicity and show that differences in ligand structure may explain their activity and binding to different subcellular targets.

    • Zenita Adhireksan
    • , Gabriela E. Davey
    •  & Curt A. Davey

  • Article |

    Activation of c-src kinase is associated with uncontrolled growth and metastasis of tumour cells. Shukla et al.model conformational changes in c-src during activation, and identify an allosteric site in an intermediate state that may provide a target for small molecule therapeutics.

    • Diwakar Shukla
    • , Yilin Meng
    •  & Vijay S. Pande

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A bioorthogonal organometallic reaction is a biocompatible and chemospecific process. Here, the authors report the bioorthogonal generation of 5-fluorouracil from a biologically inert alkylated precursor by extracellular palladium catalysis, and assess its antiproliferative properties in vitro.

    • Jason T. Weiss
    • , John C. Dawson
    •  & Asier Unciti-Broceta

  • Article |

    Peptide drugs are attractive as therapeutics for gut-based applications, although they may be susceptible to reduction and degradation. Here, the authors develop seleno-oxytocin analogues, with enhanced stability at no cost to potency, and demonstrate their efficacy at colonic nociceptor inhibition in a mouse model.

    • Aline Dantas de Araujo
    • , Mehdi Mobli
    •  & Paul F. Alewood

  • Article |

    PDZ domains facilitate numerous protein-binding interactions, and their prevalence in the human genome has led to their investigation as drug targets. Here, the authors generate semisynthetic PDZ domains containing backbone mutations for the identification of important ligand-binding interactions.

    • Søren W. Pedersen
    • , Stine B. Pedersen
    •  & Kristian Strømgaard

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Aminoglycoside antibiotics target the ribosome but their limited selectivity for the bacterial ribosome can cause side effects in humans. Here, the authors synthesize 4′-O-ether or 4′,6′-O-acetal modifications and show that these compounds possess increased selectivity against bacterial ribosomes.

    • Déborah Perez-Fernandez
    • , Dmitri Shcherbakov
    •  & Erik C. Böttger

  • Article |

    Efficient and pathogen-specific antifungal agents are required to mitigate drug resistance problems. Here the authors present a series of cationic small molecules, which are easy to isolate and characterize, and which can self-assemble to give polymer-like antifungal activity and specificity.

    • Kazuki Fukushima
    • , Shaoqiong Liu
    •  & James L. Hedrick

  • Article |

    Pipecolidepsin A—commonly isolated from a marine sponge—is a promising anticancer agent but is challenging to synthesise in the lab. Here the authors describe the first total synthesis of this cyclodepsipeptide using a versatile strategy applicable to other similar compounds.

    • Marta Pelay-Gimeno
    • , Yésica García-Ramos
    •  & Fernando Albericio

  • Article |

    Small interfering RNA is degraded by plasma and can’t cross the cell membrane due to its negative charge. Here, the authors present an influenza inspired polymer carrier, capable of local RNA delivery, which degrades to a non-toxic by-product, and is thus suitable for multiple doses.

    • Nghia P Truong
    • , Wenyi Gu
    •  & Michael J Monteiro

  • Article
    | Open Access

    AChBP is used as a structurally accessible prototype for studying ligand binding to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Stornaiuolo et al. report that a small molecule binds AChBP in an ordered p–p stack of three molecules per binding site, which may lead to new approaches in drug design.

    • Mariano Stornaiuolo
    • , Gerdien E. De Kloe
    •  & Titia K. Sixma

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