Azido myristic acid

Myristoyl-CoA (CoA):protein N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) catalyzes protein modification through covalent attachment of a C14 fatty acid (myristic acid) to the N-terminal glycine of proteins, thus promoting protein-protein and protein-membrane interactions. NMT is essential for the viability of numerous human pathogens and is also up-regulated in several tumors. Here we describe a new, nonradioactive, ELISA-based method for measuring NMT activity. After the NMT-catalyzed reaction between a FLAG-tagged peptide and azido-dodecanoyl-CoA (analog of myristoyl-CoA), the resulting azido-dodecanoyl-peptide-FLAG was coupled to phosphine-biotin by Staudinger ligation, captured by plate-bound anti-FLAG antibodies and detected by streptavidin-peroxidase. The assay was validated with negative controls (including inhibitors), corroborated by HPLC analysis, and demonstrated to function with fresh or frozen tissues. Recombinant murine NMT1 and NMT2 were characterized using this new method. This versatile assay is applicable for exploring recombinant NMTs with regard to their activity, substrate specificity, and possible inhibitors as well as for measuring NMT-activity in tissues.

Myristoyl-CoA:protein N-myristoyltransferase (NMT; EC 2.3.1.97) catalyzes the cotranslational linkage of myristate to the N-terminal glycine residues of several cellular, viral, and oncoproteins. We have recently synthesized a series of sulfur- and oxygen-substituted analogs of myristic acid that are similar in length to the 14:0 fatty acid yet have hydrophobicities equivalent to dodecanoate or decanoate. Previous in vitro enzyme assays and metabolic labeling studies indicate that some of these analogs are excellent substrates for NMT and are incorporated into subsets of cellular N-myristoyl proteins. Their sequence-specific incorporation probably arises from cooperative interactions between the acyl CoA and peptide binding sites of NMT. The human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) and Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMLV) depend on myristoylation of gag polyprotein precursors for assembly. We have tested four analogs--12-methoxydodecanoic acid, 10-propoxydecanoic acid, 5-octyloxypentanoic acid, and 11-ethylthioundecanoic acid--for their ability to block replication of these retroviruses. All reduce HIV-1 replication when incubated with CD4+ H9 cells for 10 days at 10-100 microM. 12-Methoxydodecanoic acid is most effective, producing a concentration-dependent decrease in (i) reverse transcriptase activity (to levels that were 5-10% of control at 20-40 microM), (ii) p24 levels, and (iii) syncytia formation. This degree of inhibition of HIV-1 replication is equivalent to that seen with 5 microM 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine and is accomplished without apparent toxicity, as measured by cell viability, protein, and nucleic acid synthesis. 5-Octyloxypentanoic acid inhibits MoMLV assembly in a dose-dependent fashion without accompanying cellular toxicity, while 12-methoxydodecanoic acid has no effect. These data suggest that the use of cellular NMT activity to deliver analogs of myristate with altered physical-chemical properties to proteins that undergo this cotranslational modification may represent an effective anti-viral therapeutic strategy as well as a way to investigate the role of covalently bound fatty acid in viral assembly.

3'-Azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine (AZT, 1, zidovudine, RetrovirTM) is used to treat patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. AZT, after conversion to AZT-5'-triphosphate (AZT-TP) by cellular enzymes, inhibits HIV-reverse transcriptase (HIV-RT). The major clinical limitations of AZT are due to clinical toxicities that include bone marrow suppression, hepatic abnormalities and myopathy, absolute dependence on host cell kinase-mediated activation which leads to low activity, limited brain uptake, a short half-life of about one hour in plasma that dictates frequent administration to maintain therapeutic drug levels, low potential for metabolic activation and/or high susceptibility to catabolism, and the rapid development of resistance by HIV-1. These limitations have prompted the development of strategies for designing prodrugs of AZT. A variety of 5'-O-substituted prodrugs of AZT constitute the subject of this review. The drug-design rationale on which these approaches are based is that the ester conjugate will be converted by hydrolysis and/or enzymatic cleavage to AZT or its 5'-monophosphate (AZT-MP). Most prodrug derivatives of AZT have been prepared by derivatization of AZT at its 5'-O position to provide two prominent classes of compounds that encompass: A) 5'-O-carboxylic esters derived from 1) cyclic 5'-O-carboxylic acids such as steroidal 17b-carboxylic acids, 1-adamantanecarboxylic acid, bicyclam carboxylic acid derivatives, O-acetylsalicylic acid, and carbohydrate derivatives, 2) amino acids, 3) 1, 4-dihydro-1-methyl-3-pyridinylcarboxylic acid, 4) aliphatic fatty acid analogs such as myristic acid containing a heteroatom, or without a heteroatom such as stearic acid, and 5) long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid analogs such as retinoic acid, and B) masked phosphates such as 1) phosphodiesters that include monoalkyl or monoaryl phosphate, carbohydrate, ether lipid, ester lipid, and foscarnet derivatives, 2) a variety of phosphotriesters that include dialkylphosphotriesters, diarylphosphotriesters, glycolate and lactate phosphotriesters, phosphotriester approaches using simultaneous enzymatic and chemical hydrolysis of bis(4-acyloxybenzyl) esters, bis(S-acyl-2-thioethyl) (SATE) esters, cyclosaligenyl prodrugs, glycosyl phosphotriesters, and steroidal phosphotriesters, 3) phosphoramidate derivatives, 4) dinucleoside phosphate derivatives that possess a second anti-HIV moiety such as AZT-P-ddA, AZT-P-ddI, AZTP2AZT, AZTP2ACV), and 5) 5'-hydrogen phosphonate and 5'-methylene phosphonate derivatives of AZT. In these prodrugs, the conjugating moiety is linked to AZT via a 5'-O-ester or 5'-O-phosphate group. 5'-O-Substituted AZT prodrugs have been designed with the objectives of improving anti-HIV activity, enhancing blood-brain barrier penetration, modifying pharmacokinetic properties to increase plasma half-life and improving drug delivery with respect to site-specific targeting or drug localization. Bypassing the first phosphorylation step, regulating transport and conferring sustained release of AZT prolong its duration of action, decrease toxicity and improve patient acceptability. The properties of these prodrugs and their anti-HIV activities are now reviewed.