Les réactions de type Ugi sont connues depuis une cinquantaine d’années. Ces réactions multicomposants mettent en jeu un aldéhyde, une amine, un isonitrile ainsi qu’un dérivé acide (acide carboxylique ou phénol activé). Dans ces travaux, la structure électronique des isonitriles, composé au coeur de ces réactions a été étudiée. La forme carbénique RN=C s’est révélée majoritaire contrairement à toute attente. La linéarité de la molécule a pu être interprétée grâce aux contributions des formes minoritaires. La seconde partie s’est focalisée sur l’étude théorique et expérimentale des couplages de type Ugi. Contrairement à la réaction de Ugi-Smiles, le réarrangement final de la réaction de Ugi, un réarrangement de Mumm, s’est révélé non cinétiquement déterminant. L’importance du rôle de l’environnement a été étudiée par le biais d’une microsolvatation. La compréhension accrue de la réaction de Ugi-Smiles a fait émerger deux nouveaux partenaires acides : les trichlorophenols et les nitrosophenols. Les premiers ont permis d’isoler pour la première fois desaryl-imidates de phénol. Les seconds ont été utilisés pour développer une nouvelle voie de synthèse debenzimidazoles à partir des adduits de Ugi-Smiles correspondants. Enfin, les adduits de type Ugi ont été mis à profit pour développer une nouvelle réaction palladocatalysée d’ouverture d’aminocyclopropanes. Cette ouverture conduit à l’accès rapide de produits hétérocycliques dont des tétracycles complexes suite à une réaction tandem impliquant un couplagede Heck. / Ugi type reactions are well known for decades. These multicomponent reactions involve an aldehyde,an amine, an isocyanide and an acid compound (carboxylic acid or activated phenol). Herein, electronicstructure of isocyanides, as key compounds of these reactions, was studied. Surprisingly, thecarbenic form RN=C was found to be the major one. Contribution of minor mesomeric structureexplains the linearity of the molecule. Then, Ugi and Ugi-Smiles couplings were studied theoreticallyand experimentally. Contrary to the Ugi-Smiles reaction, the final rearrangement of the Ugi coupling,a Mumm one, was not found to be a rate determining step. Importance of microsolvation was investigated.The comprehension of the mechanism of Ugi-Smiles reaction prompted us to investigatetheoretically new acidic partners. Trichlorophenols permitted to isolate the aryl-imidate for the firsttime with a phenol. Nitrosophenols were also considered. Confirmed experimentally, these new adductswere used to propose a new synthesis of benzimidazole. Finally, Ugi type adducts have been used todevelop a new palladium-catalyzed ring-opening of aminocyclopropanes. Rapid access to heterocycliccompounds, such as complex tetracycle with a tandem Heck coupling, can be obtained by this strategy.

Les isonitriles sont des espèces connues depuis longtemps, mais étudiées depuis peu. Une approche théorique a permis de s'intéresser en détails aux réactions de Nef et de Ugi. Nous nous sommes tout d'abord focalisés sur la première. Après en avoir élucidé le mécanisme, nous avons étudié l'effet du solvant et nous avons proposé de nouvelles conditions expérimentales. Nous avons ensuite étudié l'influence des groupements de l'acyl, de l'isonitrile et du groupe partant. L'ensemble des variations considérées a pu être rationalisé en reliant l'énergie d'activation au pKa du groupe partant. En parallèle, nous avons étudié la réaction de Ugi. Le mécanisme proposé par Ugi pour cette réaction complexe n'avait toujours pas été vérifié 50 ans après sa découverte. Une étude quasi-exhaustive des différents mécanismes possibles a été menée, en utilisant une approche originale mêlant théorie et expériences. Le mécanisme de cette réaction a ainsi été démontré, tant dans le méthanol que dans le toluène. Les étapes cinétiquement déterminantes et les forces motrices ont été mises en lumière et diffèrent de celles proposées par Ugi. Une variation de la réaction de Ugi est le couplage Ugi-Smiles pour lequel de nombreux résultats expérimentaux n'ont toujours pas trouvé d'explications. Nous nous sommes donc intéressés au réarrangement de Smiles. Nous avons montré l'importance d'une liaison hydrogène intramoléculaire sur la faisabilité de la réaction, et nous avons étendu cette observation aux réactions intermoléculaires. Nous avons également étudié l'influence des substituants des quatre réactifs sur les barrières afin de construire un modèle prédictif. / Isocyanides are known for a long time, but have been studied only recently. A theoretical approach allowed us to investigate in details the Nef and the Ugi reactions. We first focused on the former. After elucidating its mechanism, we studied solvent effects and proposed new experimental conditions. We then studied the acyl moiety and isocyanide influences, such as the leaving group one. All the variations were rationalized by linking the activation energy to the leaving group pKa. Simultaneously, we studied the Ugi reaction. The mechanism proposed by Ugi for this complex reaction was still unverified 50 years after its discovery. A thorough and quasi-complete study of all the possible mechanisms were lead, using a mixed theoretical and experimental approach. The mechanism of this reaction was demonstrated, in both methanol and toluene. Rate determining steps and driving forces were highlighted and differ from those proposed by Ugi. A variation of the Ugi reaction is the Ugi-Smiles coupling, for which numerous experimental results are still unexplained. We thus studied the Smiles rearrangement. We showed the key-role of an intramolecular hydrogen bond on the reaction feasibility, and extended this observation to intermolecular reactions. We also studied the four substituent influence on the barrier, aiming to build a predictive model.

Le travail effectué au cours de cette thèse a porté sur trois thèmes différents. Le premier d'entre eux concerne la réactivité nucléophile des hydrazones, dont l'étude était déjà avancée au laboratoire : l'étude d'une nouvelle réactivité des a-cétohydrazones a ainsi élargi la connaissance des propriétés de ces composés. Dans un deuxième chapitre, nous aborderons plusieurs réactions radicalaires initiées par la formation de radicaux iminyles. Ces radicaux azotés peuvent être générés à partir de divers composés comme les hydrazones, les xanthates et les dithiocarbazones. Nous avons étudié le comportement des radicaux ainsi formés sur de nouveaux substrats, notamment des réactions de b-fragmentation. Enfin, le troisième volet de ces travaux s'intéresse à l'utilisation des isonitriles dans des réactions multicomposants. L'étude réalisée a abouti à la mise au point d'une méthode générale de synthèse d'amidophosphonates.

Les réactions de type Ugi sont connues depuis une cinquantaine d'années. Ces réactions multicomposants mettent en jeu un aldéhyde, une amine, un isonitrile ainsi qu'un dérivé acide (acide carboxylique ou phénol activé). Dans ces travaux, la structure électronique des isonitriles, composé au coeur de ces réactions a été étudiée. La forme carbénique RN=C s'est révélée majoritaire contrairement à toute attente. La linéarité de la molécule a pu être interprétée grâce aux contributions des formes minoritaires. La seconde partie s'est focalisée sur l'étude théorique et expérimentale des couplages de type Ugi. Contrairement à la réaction de Ugi-Smiles, le réarrangement final de la réaction de Ugi, un réarrangement de Mumm, s'est révélé non cinétiquement déterminant. L'importance du rôle de l'environnement a été étudiée par le biais d'une microsolvatation. La compréhension accrue de la réaction de Ugi-Smiles a fait émerger deux nouveaux partenaires acides : les trichlorophenols et les nitrosophenols. Les premiers ont permis d'isoler pour la première fois desaryl-imidates de phénol. Les seconds ont été utilisés pour développer une nouvelle voie de synthèse debenzimidazoles à partir des adduits de Ugi-Smiles correspondants. Enfin, les adduits de type Ugi ont été mis à profit pour développer une nouvelle réaction palladocatalysée d'ouverture d'aminocyclopropanes. Cette ouverture conduit à l'accès rapide de produits hétérocycliques dont des tétracycles complexes suite à une réaction tandem impliquant un couplagede Heck.

Submitted by Deborah Santos (deborah.araujo89@gmail.com) on 2018-05-30T20:42:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese - Deborah Santos.pdf: 12203832 bytes, checksum: e193cc5eef9d1f8e0dd6df5a35d4cc55 (MD5) / Rejected by Ronildo Prado (ri.bco@ufscar.br), reason: Oi , Faltou enviar a Carta comprovante assinada pelo orientador. Solicite o modelo em sua Secretaria de Pós-graduação, preencha e colete a assinatura com o orientador e acesse novamente o sistema para fazer o Upload. Fico no aguardo para finalizarmos o processo. Abraços Ronildo on 2018-06-04T18:07:58Z (GMT) / Submitted by Deborah Santos (deborah.araujo89@gmail.com) on 2018-06-04T19:48:12Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Deborah Santos.pdf: 12203832 bytes, checksum: e193cc5eef9d1f8e0dd6df5a35d4cc55 (MD5) doc PPGQ.pdf: 706491 bytes, checksum: 90df4e7187c05b6824acb979f9f1cafd (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ri.bco@ufscar.br) on 2018-06-06T17:46:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Deborah Santos.pdf: 12203832 bytes, checksum: e193cc5eef9d1f8e0dd6df5a35d4cc55 (MD5) doc PPGQ.pdf: 706491 bytes, checksum: 90df4e7187c05b6824acb979f9f1cafd (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ri.bco@ufscar.br) on 2018-06-06T17:53:10Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Deborah Santos.pdf: 12203832 bytes, checksum: e193cc5eef9d1f8e0dd6df5a35d4cc55 (MD5) doc PPGQ.pdf: 706491 bytes, checksum: 90df4e7187c05b6824acb979f9f1cafd (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-06-06T17:53:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Deborah Santos.pdf: 12203832 bytes, checksum: e193cc5eef9d1f8e0dd6df5a35d4cc55 (MD5) doc PPGQ.pdf: 706491 bytes, checksum: 90df4e7187c05b6824acb979f9f1cafd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-01 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Cathepsin L is a lysosomal cysteine protease, that is related to many physiological processes, however overexpression and up- or downregulation may cause several pathologies. Therefore, cathepsin L became an interesting drug target. Peptidyl epoxides and aziridines are reported as potent cathepsin inhibitors.Previously, our research group has synthesized six new epoxi-α-acyloxycarboxamides through one-pot process starting with an organocatalyzed asymmetric epoxidation using catalyst I followed by Passerini reaction. Then, inhibitory assays against cathepsins K, L and V were performed, and the new compounds presented inhibition, mainly against cathepsin L. In order to further evaluate the structure-activity relationship of epoxi-α-acyloxycarboxamides 11 new compounds were synthesized. Among all, LPSN423 exhibited the best inhibitory activity. The mechanistic study showed that LSPN423 is a reversible tight binding uncompetitive inhibitor, which characterized by a high affinity enzyme-inhibitor complex. To further explore the application of 2,3-epoxi-aldehydes in multicomponent reactions, in addition to create a library of compounds to be evaluated against cathepsin L, Ugi reaction were performed sequentially to epoxidation. The 2-step procedure furnished the desired product with yields ranged from 22% to 68%. The new epoxi-α-acylaminocarboxamides were tested against cathepsin L and no significant activity was observed. The organocatalytic aziridination reaction is reported, however some drawbacks are associated with this reaction, such as the use of chlorinated solvents and large excess of base to promote the reaction. Thus, catalyst I allowed the use of the greener solvent mixture ethanol/water and a lower amount of base. Another drawback of this reaction is the unstable product, so to overcome this issue, the one-pot Passerini reaction was performed, right after the completion of the aziridination; the desired products were obtained from moderate to good yields. Preliminary evaluation of the new aziridine peptidomimetics indicates a potential activity of this class of compounds, although further studies are required. / A catepsina L é uma cisteíno protease lisossomal, que está envolvida em vários processos fisiológicos. Entretanto, falhas na sua expressão e regulação desencadeiam processos patológicos, por esse motivo, a catepsina L se tornou um alvo terapêutico interessante. Peptídeos contendo anéis epóxido e aziridina são reportados como inibidores potentes de catepsinas. Em um estudo prévio desenvolvido pelo nosso grupo de pesquisa, 6 epoxi-α-aciloxicarboxamidas foram sintetizadas de maneira one-pot via reação de epoxidação assimétrica organocatalisada utilizando o catalisador I seguida da reação de Passerini. Testes relacionados à atividade dos compostos como inibidores de catepsinas K, V e L mostraram o potencial da nova classe, sobretudo frente à catepsina L. Neste trabalho, a coleção de epoxi-α-aciloxicarboxamidas foi ampliada com a síntese de mais 11 exemplos, a fim de melhor avaliar a relação estrutura-atividade desta classe de compostos frente à catepsina L. De toda a série, o LPSN423 apresentou a melhor inibição. Estudos sobre o mecanismo de inibição demonstraram que o LSPN423 é um inibidor reversível do tipo tight binding incompetitivo. Neste modo de inibição, o complexo enzima-inibidor apresenta elevada afinidade. Com o intuito de explorar a aplicação dos 2,3-epoxi-aldeídos assimétricos preparados pela metodologia desenvolvida no grupo de pesquisa, bem como criar uma biblioteca de compostos candidatos a inibidores de catepsina L, novas epoxi-α- acilaminocarboxamidas foram sintetizadas, desta vez empregando de forma sequencial a reação multicomponente de Ugi. Os rendimentos em duas etapas variaram de 22-68% para os cinco exemplos sintetizados. Os compostos desta série foram avaliados frente à catepsina L, porém, nenhum deles apresentou atividade inibitória significativa. A síntese de aziridinas assimétricas via organocatálise é reportada tendo como desvantagem a utilização de solventes clorados e excessos de base. O emprego do organocatalisador I proporcionou o uso de etanol:água como solvente e diminuição da quantidade de base. Uma limitação na síntese de β-formilaziridinas está na dificuldade de isolar os produtos, por esse motivo, aplicou-se a funcionalização da aziridina na reação de Passerini one-pot, na qual obteve-se o produto desejado com rendimentos moderados. A avaliação preliminar das aziridinas obtidas frente à inibição da catepsina L indica uma potencial atividade dessa classe de compostos, no entanto estudos mais aprofundados serão necessários. / CNPq: 144095/2014-9

Les réactions multicomposants représentent un axe de recherche important en chimie organique. La capacité de regrouper en une même réaction plus de trois produits départs est la base de synthèse de molécules complexes proches de composés bioactifs. Par ailleurs, de part leur diversité, ces réactions sont des outils précieux pour la réalisation de librairies dans la recherche pharmaceutique. Les réactions multicomposants à base d'isonitrile, particulièrement la réaction Ugi, sont largement utilisées. Malgré les nombreuses applications de cette réaction, elle souffre encore de nombreuses limitations notamment lorsque des fonctionnalisations des adduits de Ugi sont recherchées sur la nouvelle position peptidyle crée. Du fait de fort encombrement stérique autour de cette position, seules des réactions intramoléculaires étaient décrites dans la littérature. Ainsi nous avons développé des stratégies efficaces pour la réalisation d'addition intermoléculaires sur des adduits d’Ugi. Nous avons exploré la formation de dianions 1,3-amide permettant d'augmenter la nucléophilie de nos composés et de réaliser des alkylations avec différents agents électrophiles à température ambiante et avec d'excellents rendements. Une application très simple de cette approche a été réalisée en couplant l'allylation de la position peptidyle à une réaction de metathèse cyclisante. Ceci pourrait être réalisé en introduisant un fragment allylique dans les produits de départ d’Ugi, nécessaire pour la métathèse. Les piperidines et pipéridones formées appartiennent à des classes de produits très exploitées dans le domaine pharmaceutique. Par ailleurs, poursuivant sur le potentiel de ces dianions 1,3-amides, nous avons voulu piéger ces intermédiaires par des électrophiles plus complexes nous permettant de former des dérivés cycliques. L'utilisation du diiodométhane en particulier, nous a permis d'ouvrir une voie très prometteuse dans la synthèse de β-lactames. Non limitée aux produits d’Ugi, des amides beaucoup plus simples issus d'esters maloniques ont pu être aussi transformés en β-lactames. En plus, les activités biologiques de ces β-lactames nouvellement synthétisées ont été examinées. Enfin, nous avons étendu cette approche à la formation de pyrrolidinones en une séquence monotope d'alkylation/cyclisation en travaillant sur la propargylation de ces adduits d’Ugi. La fonction énamine des 5-méthylène-pyrrolidin-2-ones synthétisées a pu être exploitée dans la reaction de Pictet-Spengler permettant la synthèse de dérivés de benzoindolizidine proches de différents alcaloïdes naturels. Néanmoins, la cascade propargylation/Pictet-Spengler a pu être réalisée avec succès dans une seule étape avec de bons rendements. / Multicomponent reactions represent an important line of research in organic chemistry. It permits the reaction between three or more starting materials, providing adducts which are considered as synthons for the syntheses of complex molecules close to bioactive compounds. As a result of their diversity, these reactions are considered as valuable tools for the preparation of libraries of organic structures in the pharmaceutical research field. The isonitrile-based multicomponent reactions, particularly the Ugi reaction, are the most frequently employed. Despite the wide applications of this reaction, it still suffers from numerous limitations, particularly when the newly formed peptidyl position is involved in the post-condensation reactions. Due to the steric hindrance around this position, only intramolecular reactions were described in the literature. Thus we have developed effective strategies for the intermolecular reactions involving Ugi adducts through the formation of 1,3-amide dianions to increase their nucleophilicity. Accordingly, such intermediates undergo alkylation reactions with different electrophilic agents at room temperature and with excellent yields. A very simple application of this approach has been attained by coupling the allylation at the peptidyl position to a ring closure metathesis reaction. This could be achieved by introducing an allylic fragment into the starting Ugi materials, necessary for metathesis. Such protocol allowed the synthesis of various piperidines and piperidones derivatives. Moreover, examining the potential of these 1,3-amide dianion intermediates by employing more complex electrophiles, allowed us to prepare cyclic derivatives. The use of diiodomethane in particular, has opened an access to a very promising way in the synthesis of β-lactams. Simpler malonic ester amides and their derivatives could also be converted to β-lactams following the same strategy, hence, it is not only limited to Ugi adducts. Additionally, the biological activities of such newly synthesized β-lactams were examined. Finally, we extended this approach to the preparation of pyrrolidinones through an alkylation/cyclization sequence via the propargylation of these Ugi adducts. The enamine functional group in the synthesized 5-methylene-pyrrolidin-2-ones could be exploited in a Pictet-Spengler reaction allowing the synthesis of benzoindolizidine derivatives, which are close in structure to natural alkaloids. Nevertheless, the propargylation/Pictet-Spengler cascade could be successfully performed in a one-pot reaction with good yields.

Mångfunktionell grön infrastruktur har en betydande roll för städers resiliens tackvare de ekosystemtjänsterna de bidrar med. På grund av den snabba expansionen avstäder skapas ofta målkonflikter gällande markanvändning vilket har lett till att dengröna infrastrukturen i många fall bortprioriterats. För att motverka denna utvecklingär det viktigt att beakta den gröna infrastrukturen och dess ekosystemtjänster tidigt iplaneringsskedet. Syftet med arbetet är att skapa en modell för att utvärderamångfunktionalitet samt hur ekosystemtjänster påverkas vid förändring i urban miljö.Metoden som legat till grund för arbetet har varit analyser av öppna rumsliga datakombinerat med multikriterieanalys. Arbetet har avgränsats till endast inkluderamiljömångfald, konnektivitet, klimatreglering, samt rekreation. Resultatet av arbetetvisar att genom kombinationen av rumsliga analyser och multikriterieanalys kan fleraekosystemtjänster och ekologiska funktioner analyseras samtidigt. Vidare kanmodellen användas som planeringsunderlag för att identifiera styrkor och utmaningarvid förändring av den gröna infrastrukturen i urbana miljöer. / Multifunctional green infrastructure (GI) is central for the resilience of cities, due tothe ecosystem services (ES) it provides. The rapid expansion of cities often createsconflicting interests regarding the land use, which has led to the undermining of theurban green infrastructure (UGI). It’s, therefore, important to consider GI and ES inthe early stages of urban planning. The aim of this study is to develop a model for GImultifunctionality and ES evaluation. The method used to accomplish this is acombination of a multi-criteria analysis (MCA) and spatial analyses. This study’sscope only incorporates environmental variety, connectivity, climate regulation andrecreation. The results of this study show that the combination of MCA and spatialanalyses allow the evaluation of several ES and ecological functions simultaneously.Furthermore, the model can be used as a basis for the urban planning process throughthe identification of strengths and challenges of the UGI.

To maintain the genomic integrity, cell has evolved various DNA repair pathways. Base Excision Repair pathway (BER) is one such DNA repair pathway which is dedicated to protect DNA from small lesions such as oxidation, alkylation, deamination and loss of bases. Uracil is a promutagenic base which appears in the genome as a result of misincorporation of dUTP or due to oxidative deamination of cytosine. Uracil-DNA glycosylases (UDGs) are DNA repair enzymes that initiate multistep base excision repair (BER) pathway to excise uracil from DNA. Excision of uracil generates an abasic site (APDNA). AP-sites are cytotoxic and mutagenic to the cell. AP endonucleases act downstream to UDG in this pathway and generate substrates for DNA polymerase to fill in the correct bases. The cytotoxicity of AP-sites raises the question whether uracil excision activity is coupled to AP endonuclease activity. Also, there is transient formation of single stranded DNA (ssDNA) during DNA metabolic processes such as replication, repair and recombination. ssDNA is more prone to various nucleases and DNA damaging agents. All the living organisms encode single stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) that binds to ssDNA and protects it from various damages. In addition, SSB plays a vital role during DNA replication, repair and recombination. Studies on SSBs from prototype Escherichia coli and an important human pathogen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis have shown that despite significant variations in their quaternary structures, the DNA binding and oligomerization properties of the two are similar. My PhD thesis consists of four Chapters. Chapter 1 summarizes the relevant literature review on DNA damage and repair with an emphasis on uracil DNA glycosylase and its interacting protein, SSB. Chapters 2 and 3 describe my studies on the mechanism of uracil excision repair in E. coli. Chapter 4 describes my findings on the structure-function relationship of single stranded DNA binding proteins from E. coli and M. tuberculosis. Specific details of my research are summarized as follows: (1) Analysis of the impact of allelic exchange of ung with a mutant gene encoding Uracil DNA Glycosylase attenuated in AP-DNA binding in the maintenance of genomic integrity in Escherichia coli. There are five families of UDGs. Of these, Ung proteins (family 1 UDGs) represent highly efficient and evolutionary conserved enzymes. Structural and biochemical analysis of Ung proteins has identified two conserved motif, motif A (62GQDPY66) and motif B (187HPSPLS192) in E. coli that are important for the catalysis by Ung enzyme. Y66 of motif A is in van der Waals contact with the C5 position of the uracil and prevents entry of other bases. Earlier study from the laboratory showed that the Y66W and Y66H mutants of Ung were compromised by ~7 and ~170 fold, respectively in their uracil excision activities. However, unlike the wild-type and Y66H proteins, Y66W was not inhibited by its product (uracil or AP-DNA). In this study, by fluorescence anisotropy measurements I have shown that compared with the wild-type protein, the Y66W mutant is moderately compromised and attenuated in binding to AP-DNA. Allelic exchange of ung in E. coli with ung::kan, ungY66H:amp or ungY66W:amp alleles showed ~5, ~3.0 and ~2.0 fold, respectively increase in mutation frequencies. Analysis of mutations in the rifampicin resistance determining region (RRDR) of rpoB revealed that the Y66W allele resulted in an increase in A to G (or T to C) mutations. However, the increase in A to G mutations was mitigated upon expression of wild-type Ung from a plasmid borne gene. Biochemical and computational analyses showed that the Y66W mutant maintains strict specificity for uracil excision from DNA. Interestingly, a strain deficient in AP-endonucleases also showed an increase in A to G mutations. These findings have been discussed in the context of a proposal that the residency of DNA glycosylase(s) onto the AP-sites they generate shields them until recruitment of AP-endonucleases for further repair. It is proposed that an error prone replication against AP-sites (as a result of uracil excision activities on A:U pair) may result in A to G mutations. 2. Mechanism of appearance of A to G mutations in ungY66W:amp strain of Escherichia coli. In this part of my study, I have investigated the role of error prone DNA polymerases in the mutational specificity of ungY66W:amp strain. It was observed from various studies in E. coli that, DNA polymerase IV (Pol IV) and DNA polymerase V (Pol V) are involved in error-prone replication on damaged or AP-site containing DNA. E. coli strains containing deletion of either dinB (encoding DNA Pol IV) or umuDC (encoding DNA Pol V) were generated and used to study mutation frequency and mutation spectrum. Deletion of DNA Pol V resulted in a decrease in A to G mutations in ungY66W:amp E. coli strain, suggesting that increase in A to G mutations were a consequence of error prone incorporation by DNA Pol V. 3. Structure and Function studies on Single Stranded DNA Binding Proteins from Escherichia coli and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. SSB from M. tuberculosis (MtuSSB) has similar domain organization as the EcoSSB. Moreover, the biochemical properties such as oligomerization, DNA binding affinity and minimum binding site size requirements were shown to be similar to EcoSSB. However, structural studies suggested that quaternary structures of these two SSBs are variable. In this study I have used X-ray crystal structure information of these two SSBs to generate various chimeras after swapping at various regions of SSBs. Chimeras mβ1, mβ1’β2, mβ1-β5, mβ1-β6, and mβ4-β5 SSBs were generated by substituting β1 (residues 611), β1’β2 (residues 21-45), β1-β5 (residues 1 to 111), β1-β6 including a downstream sequence (residues 1 to 130), and β4-β5 (residues 74-111) regions of EcoSSB with the corresponding sequences of MtuSSB, respectively. Additionally, mβ1’β2ESWR SSB was generated by mutating the MtuSSB specific ‘PRIY’ sequence in the β2 strand of mβ1’β2 SSB to EcoSSB specific ‘ESWR’ sequence. Biochemical characterization revealed that except for mβ1 SSB, all chimeras and a control construct lacking the C-terminal domain (ΔC SSB) efficiently bound DNA in modes corresponding to limited and unlimited modes of binding. The mβ1 SSB was also hypersensitive to chymotrypsin treatment. The mβ1-β6, MtuSSB, mβ1’β2 and mβ1-β5 constructs complemented E. coli Δssb in a dose dependent manner. Complementation by the mβ1-β5 SSB was poor. In contrast, mβ1’β2ESWR SSB complemented E. coli as well as EcoSSB. Interestingly, the inefficiently functioning SSBs resulted in an elongated cell/filamentation phenotype of E. coli. Taken together, our observations suggest that specific interactions within the DNA binding domain of the homotetrameric SSBs are crucial for their biological function.

Infectious diseases remain a threat to critically ill patients, particularly with the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Septic shock carries a mortality of up to ∼40% with no compelling evidence of promising therapy to reduce morbidity or mortality. Septic shock survivors are also prone to nosocomial infections. Treatment with toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) agonists have demonstrated significant protection against common nosocomial pathogens in various clinically relevant models of infection and septic shock. TLR4 agonists are derived from a bacteria cell wall or synthesized de novo, and more recently novel small molecule TLR4 agonists have also been developed. TLR4 agonists augment innate immune functions including expansion and recruitment of innate leukocytes to the site of infection. Recent studies demonstrate TLR4-induced leukocyte metabolic reprogramming of cellular metabolism to improve antimicrobial function. Metabolic changes include sustained augmentation of macrophage glycolysis, mitochondrial function, and tricarboxylic acid cycle flux. These findings set the stage for the use of TLR4 agonists as standalone therapeutic agents or antimicrobial adjuncts in patient populations vulnerable to nosocomial infections.