The synthesis of seven pyrano[3,2-a]carbazole alkaloids has been achieved using their putative biogenetic precursor 2-hydroxy-6-methylcarbazole as key intermediate.

Objective: To determine the ameliorative effect of the ethanolic extract of Chuquiraga spinosa (ChS) on 7,12-Dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-induced breast cancer in rats. Methods: 36 female Holztman rats were divided into 6 groups. I) The negative control group received physiological saline (PS). II) ChS-200 group received 200 mg/kg of ChS. III) DMBA group was induced with DMBA (20 mg/Kg) dissolved in PS and administrated orally for 15 weeks. IV) DMBA + ChS-50 group, V) DMBA + ChS-250 group, and VI) DMBA + ChS-500 group, which received the extract orally for 15 weeks after DMBA induction. All data were expressed as mean and standard deviation. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Dunnet test was carried out to compare the mean value of different groups Histopathological analysis was evaluated by using Image J software. Results: Hematology showed that the triglyceride level was significantly lowered (P< 0.01) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) level was significantly increased (P <0.01) in groups III, IV and V. Also, ChS extract significantly lowered the C reactive protein (CRP) level (P <0.01) and malondialdehyde level (P<0.05). There was a significant decrease in the frequency of DMBA-induced micronucleated polychromatic erythrocyte (P<0.01). Conclusions: Chuquiraga spinosa showed an ameliorative effect on DMBA-induced breast cancer in rats as well as antioxidant, antitumor and antigenotoxic properties. / Revisión por pares

La chimie des composés iodés hypervalents, ou organoiodanes, suscite un engouement croissant de la part de la communauté scientifique depuis maintenant près de 30 ans. Les efforts de recherche sont de nos jours orientés de manière prépondérante vers des applications en synthèse asymétrique, principalement au travers de l’utilisation d’architectures organoiodées chirales. À ce jour, seules les chiralités centrales et axiales sont exploitées dans l’élaboration de tels objets. L’emploi d’iodanes achiraux (i.e. en synthèse asymétrique) en présence d’additifs chiraux a par ailleurs été largement négligé par la communauté. La chiralité hélicoïdale est incarnée en chimie organique par les hélicènes. Ces composés polyaromatiques sont des objets fascinants de par leurs propriétés structurelles, électroniques et chiroptiques hors du commun. Ils sont le centre d’une attention considérable dans de nombreux domaines de recherches allant de la catalyse asymétrique à l’élaboration de diodes électroluminescentes organiques. Jamais la chiralité hélicoïdale n’a été exploitée en chimie de l’iode hypervalent. Ces travaux de thèse traitent en premier lieu de l’élaboration d’une méthodologie asymétrique de désaromatisation oxygénante de phénols faisant usage d’un iodane-3 achiral en présence d’un agent de transfert de phase issu des alcaloïdes du Quinquina. Dans une seconde partie de ces travaux est abordée la synthèse asymétrique d’un nouvel iodoarène hélicénique et ses premières applications dans des réactions de désaromatisation oxygénante de phénols. Cet ouvrage traite également dans un troisième chapitre d’une synthèse totale, collective et stéréodivergente de 12 alcaloïdes de Securinega. Il s’agit d’une classe métabolites secondaires retrouvés dans de multiples plantes des genres Securinega (Flueggea), Phyllanthus, Margaritaria et Breynia de la famille Phyllanthaceae. Depuis près d’un demi-siècle, la biogénèse de ces molécules naturelles demeure partiellement incomprise. La synthèse développée dans ce travail a pour vocation d’améliorer la compréhension du mécanisme biosynthétique à l’origine de ces substances. Il a ainsi été établi qu’une étape clé de condensation aldolique pourrait permettre d’expliquer la stéréodivergence observée dans la nature. / Hypervalent iodine chemistry has been arousing the interest of the scientific community for the last 30 years. Research efforts are now mainly directed towards applications in asymmetric synthesis, notably through the use of chiral organoiodine scaffolds. To this end, solely central and axial chiralities have been exploited to construct such objects. The use of achiral iodanes (i.e. hypervalent organoiodine compounds) in asymmetric synthesis has been largely neglected by the community. Helical chirality in organic synthesis is mainly found in polyaromatic compounds known as helicenes. These molecules exhibit fascinating structural, electronic and chiroptical properties. They are the center of considerable attention across many fields of research, spanning from asymmetric catalysis to organic light-emitting diodes. Helical chirality has never been exploited in the field of hypervalent iodine chemistry. In the first part of this doctoral work, a methodology for the asymmetric oxygenative dearomatization of phenols by an achiral 3-iodane in the presence of a Cinchona-alkaloid-based phase transfer agent was developed. The second part of this manuscript details the synthesis of a new helicenic organoiodine compound and its application to oxygenative phenol dearomatization reactions. In the last chapter of this doctoral dissertation is described the total, collective and stereodivergent synthesis of 12 Securinega alkaloids. These natural products are commonly found in plants belonging to the genera Securinega (Flueggea), Phyllanthus, Margaritaria and Breynia of the Phyllanthaceae family. Even after little less than half a century of research, the real biogenetic pathway used by nature to construct these molecules is still only partly understood. The chemical synthesis developed in this doctoral work provides a better understanding of the biosynthetic mechanism. It was established in the course of this work that a key aldol condensation step could shed light upon the stereodivergence observed in nature.

No description available.

Plant alkaloids are secondary metabolites that may be synthesized in an inducible defense response to herbivory (Baldwin 1999). Genetic engineering of secondary metabolic pathways in plants to enhance or reduce metabolite production is limited by the current understanding of these pathways and their regulation in response to environmental conditions. This study was intended to provide new insights into the mechanism and regulation of alkaloid biosynthesis in N. tabacum by identifying genes that are coordinately regulated during conditions that induce alkaloid biosynthesis and by comparing their expression in regulatory mutant backgrounds that differ at two quantitative alkaloid loci, A and B. In order to identify novel genes that are differentially expressed during alkaloid biosynthesis, the transcriptional profiling procedure, fluorescent differential display (FDD), was used to screen total RNA isolated from Burley 21 (WT, AABB) and LA21 (low alkaloid regulatory mutant, aabb) tobacco root cultures that were induced for alkaloid synthesis. Four of thirteen cloned FDD fragments showed sequence homology to genes with defense-related functions. The differential expression of genes represented by selected FDD gene fragments was confirmed by comparing Northern blots of transcripts of those genes to known alkaloid biosynthetic genes, putrescine methyl transferase (PMT3), ornithine decarboxylase (ODC3), arginine decarboxylase (ADC1), and quinolinate phosphoribosyltransferase (QPRT). The role of the A and B loci in differential expression of genes represented by FDD clones and of known nicotine biosynthetic genes was examined using quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR) to measure transcript levels of these genes in four tobacco genotypes differing in alkaloid content, Burley 21(AABB), HI21 (AAbb), LI21(aaBB), and LA21 (aabb). Results of this study suggest that the A/B regulon is not limited to alkaloid biosynthetic genes, but includes multiple genes with defense-related functions. QRT-PCR analysis of nicotine biosynthetic genes and genes represented by confirmed differentially expressed FDD clones showed increased mRNA accumulation in response to alkaloid induction in all the tested genotypes, which suggests that the A and B mutations affect overall mRNA accumulation levels, rather than gene inducibility, per se. Baldwin, I.T. 1999. Inducible nicotine production in native Nicotiana as an example of adaptive phenotypic plasticity. Journal of Chem. Ecol. 25: 3-30. / Master of Science

Plants produce a vast number of low-molecular-weight chemicals (so called secondary or specialized metabolites) that confer a selective advantage to the plant, such as defense against herbivory or protection from changing environmental conditions. Many of these specialized metabolites are used for their medicinal properties, as lead compounds in drug discovery, or to impart our food with different tastes and scents. These chemicals are produced by various pathways of enzyme-mediated reactions in plant cells. It is suspected that enzymes in plant specialized metabolism evolved from those in primary metabolism. Understanding how plants evolved to produce these diverse metabolites is of primary interest, as it can lead to the engineering of plants to be more resistant to both biotic and abiotic stress, or to produce more complex small molecule compounds that are difficult to derive. To that end, the first objective was to develop a schema for rational protein engineering using meta-analyses of a well-characterized sesquiterpene synthase family encoding two closely-related but different types of enzymes, using quantitative measures of natural selection on amino-acid positions previously demonstrated as important for neofunctionalization between two terpene synthase gene families. The change in the nonsynonymous to synonymous mutation rate ratio (dN/dS) between these two gene families was large at the sites known to be responsible for interconversion. This led to a metric (delta dN/dS) that might have some predictive power. This natural selection-oriented approach was tested on two related enzyme families involved in either nicotine/tropane alkaloid biosynthesis (putrescine N-methyltransferase) or primary metabolism (spermidine synthase) by attempting to interconvert a spermidine synthase to encode putrescine N-methyltransferase activity based upon past patterns of natural selection. In contrast to the HPS/TEAS system, using delta dN/dS metrics between SPDS and PMT and site directed mutagenesis of SPDS did not result in the desired neofunctionalization to PMT activity. Phylogenetic analyses were performed to investigate the molecular evolution of plant N-methyltransferases involved in three alkaloid biosynthetic pathways. The results from these studies indicated that unlike O-MTs that show monophyletic origins, plant N-MTs showed patterns indicating polyphyletic origins. To provide the foundation for future molecular-oriented studies of urushiol production in poison ivy, the complete poison ivy root and leaf transcriptomes were sequenced, assembled, and analyzed. / Ph. D.

The synthesis of seven pyrano[3,2-a]carbazole alkaloids has been achieved using their putative biogenetic precursor 2-hydroxy-6-methylcarbazole as key intermediate.

This thesis is focused on an investigation of the mechanisms of three enzymatically mediated carbon skeleton isomerisation reactions. Chapter 1 provides an overview of some representative examples of the carbon skeleton rearrangement reactions in enzymology. Chapter 2 describes the preparation and use of fluorolittorines to explore the mechanism of the rearrangement of the tropane alkaloid littorine to hyoscyamine which is a reaction mediated by the cytochrome P450 enzyme. Chapter 3 describes the synthesis of D-ribose-1-phosphonates and the cyclic phosphonates (phostone) that are candidate inhibitors of the enzymatic isomerisation of 5-fluoro-5-deoxy-ribose-1-phosphate (5-FDRP) to 5-fluoro-5-deoxy-ribulose-1-phosphate (5-FDRulP), an important step in fluorometabolite biosynthesis pathway in Streptomyces cattleya. Chapter 4 describes the synthesis of 5-hydroxy-3,4-dioxohexylphosphonate and [5-13C]-5-hydroxy-3,4-dioxohexylphosphonate. These compounds are proposed as candidates for the transition state of the retro-aldol/aldol mechanism of the enzymatic isomerisation of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate (DXP) to 2-C-methylerythitol-phophate-2-phosphate (MEP) in the biosynthesis of isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate (DMAPP). The influence of pH on tautomerisation of [5-13C]-5-hydroxy-3,4-dioxohexylphosphonate is also described. Chapter 5 describes the general chemical and biochemical methodologies utilised in this research project.

Catharanthus roseus produces a large array of terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIAs) that are an important source of natural or semi-synthetic anticancer drugs. Biosynthesis of TIAs is tissue-specific and induced by certain phytohormones and fungal elicitors, indicating the involvement of a complex transcriptional control network. However, the transcriptional regulation of the TIA pathway is poorly understood. This study reports the isolation and characterization of the G10H promoter and two WRKY transcription factors regulating TIA biosynthesis. Geraniol 10-hydroxylase (G10H) controls the first committed step in the biosynthesis of terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIA). The C. roseus G10H promoter sequence was isolated by a PCR-based genome walking method. Sequence analysis revealed that the G10H promoter contains several potential eukaryotic regulatory elements involved in regulation of gene expression. For functional characterization, fusion constructs of G10H promoter fragments with the GUS reporter gene were generated and expression was analyzed in a tobacco protoplast transient expression assay. Gain-of-function experiments revealed the presence of three potential transcriptional enhancers located in regions between -191 and -147, -266 and -188, and -318 and -266, respectively. The G10H promoter was capable of conferring stable GUS expression in transgenic tobacco plants and C. roseus hairy roots. In transgenic tobacco seedlings, GUS expression was tissue-specific, restricted to the leaf and actively growing cells around the root tip. GUS expression was not detected in the hypocotyls, root cap and older developing areas of the root. The GUS expression in both transgenic C. roseus hairy roots and tobacco seedlings were responsive to fungal elicitors and methyljasmonate. Compared to other known promoters of TIA pathway genes, the G10H promoter contains unique binding sites for several transcription factors, suggesting that the G10H promoter may be regulated by a different transcriptional cascade. The majority of TIA pathway gene promoters contain typical W-box elements, which are frequently found to be the binding sites of WRKY transcription factors. CrWRKY1 and CrWRKY2 transcription factors were isolated using a degenerate PCR method. The C. roseus WRKY transcription factor, CrWRKY1 is preferentially expressed in roots and induced by phytohormones, jasmonate, gibberellic acid and ethylene. Overexpression of CrWRKY1 in C. roseus hairy roots up-regulated several key TIA pathway genes, especially tryptophan decarboxylase (TDC), as well as transcriptional repressors ZCT1, ZCT2 and ZCT3. In contrast, CrWRKY1 overexpression repressed the transcriptional activators ORCA2, ORCA3 and CrMYC2. Overexpression of a dominant-repressive form of CrWRKY1, created by fusing the SRDX-repressor domain to CrWRKY1, resulted in down-regulation of TDC and ZCTs but up-regulation of ORCA3 and CrMYC2. CrWRKY1 bound to the W-box elements of the TDC promoter in electrophoretic mobility shift, yeast one-hybrid and C. roseus protoplast assays. In CrWRKY1 hairy roots, up-regulation of TDC increased TDC activity, tryptamine concentration and resistance to 4-methyl tryptophan inhibition. Compared to control roots, CrWRKY1 hairy roots accumulated up to 3-fold higher levels of serpentine. The preferential expression of CrWRKY1 in roots and its interaction with transcription factors, including ORCA3, CrMYC2 and ZCTs, may play a key role in determining the root-specific accumulation of serpentine in C. roseus plants. CrWRKY2 is induced by methyljasmonate induction. In plant, CrWRKY2 expression is mainly found in young leaves and the stem. The stable transformation of CrWRKY2 in C. roseus hairy roots up-regulated many pathway genes, especially the genes in vindoline biosynthesis. The accumulation of vindoline was observed in CrWRKY2 hairy roots.

L'objectif de ce travail était d'accéder au squelette des alcaloïdes de type Aspidosperma et Strychnos à partir d'arylcyclohexa-2,5-diènes. Ces derniers sont d'abord synthétisés par réaction de Birch alkylante, puis ont été désymétrisés dans un premier temps par des réactions de Michael. Cette réaction fournit la cétone de Büchi, le noyau tétracyclique des alcaloïdes Aspidosperma en seulement en 6 étapes et un rendement global de 17%. Dans un second temps, la réaction d'amination oxydante catalysée par des métaux (Pd, Cu) a été développée. Cette réaction a permis un accès rapide au squelette pentacyclique d’aza-aspidospermanes et au squelette tétracycliques des alcaloïdes de type Strychnos. En parallèle, nous avons décrit une approche vers le squelette pentacyclique de la mossambine et la strychnine. / The aim of this work was to access the skeleton of the Aspidosperma and the Strychnos alkaloids using arylcyclohexa-2,5-dienes as common synthetic precursors. Initially, these arylcyclohexadienes were synthesized through Birch reductive alkylation reactions. The desymmetrization of these cyclohexadienes was developed via the Michael addition reaction, providing the Büchi ketone, the tetracyclic core of Aspidosperma alkaloids, in only 6 steps and 17% overall yield. On the other hand, we described the oxidative amination reaction catalyzed by metals (Pd, Cu). The palladium oxidative amination reaction allowed a fast access to the pentacyclic framework of aza-aspidospermanes and the tetracyclic framework of the strychnos. In parallel, we have described an approach toward the pentacyclic skeleton of mossambine and strychnine.