Aggregation of Islet Amyloid Polypeptide (IAPP) has been implicated in the development of type II diabetes. Because IAPP is a highly amyloidogenic peptide, it has been suggested that the formation of IAPP amyloid fibers causes disruption of the cellular membrane and is responsible for the death of β-cells during type II diabetes. Previous studies have shown that the N-terminal 1-19 region, rather than the amyloidogenic 20-29 region, is primarily responsible for the interaction of the IAPP peptide with membranes. Liposome leakage experiments presented in this study confirm that the pathological membrane disrupting activity of the full-length hIAPP is also shared by hIAPP [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] . The hIAPP 1-19 fragment at a low concentration of peptide induces membrane disruption to a near identical extent as the full-length peptide. At higher peptide concentrations, the hIAPP 1-19 fragment induces a greater extent of membrane disruption than the full-length peptide. Similar to the full-length peptide, hIAPP 1-19 exhibits a random coil conformation in solution and adopts an α-helical conformation upon binding to lipid membranes. However, unlike the full-length peptide, the hIAPP 1-19 fragment did not form amyloid fibers when incubated with POPG vesicles. These results indicate that membrane disruption can occur independently from amyloid formation in IAPP, and the sequences responsible for amyloid formation and membrane disruption are located in different regions of the peptide.

Cyclization reactions of donor-acceptor (D-A) cyclopropanes are recognized as versatile methods for construction of carbocyclic and heterocyclic scaffolds. In the literature, many examples of these polarized cyclopropanes' reactivity with nucleophiles, electrophiles, and radicals are prevalent. Although intermolecular reactivity of donor-acceptor cyclopropanes is widely reported, reviews that center on their intramolecular chemistry are rare. Thereupon, this tutorial review focalizes on new intramolecular transformations of donor-acceptor cyclopropanes for cycloisomerizations, formal cycloadditions, umpolung reactions, rearrangements and ring-opening lactonizations/lactamizations from 2009 to 2013. Furthermore, the role of D-A acceptor cyclopropanes as reactive subunits in natural product synthesis is underscored.

An efficient Lewis acid-catalyzed cyclopropane ring-opening/Friedel-Crafts alkylation sequence of methyl 1-(1H-indole-carbonyl)-1-cyclopropanecarboxylates is reported. The protocol affords functionalized hydropyrido[1,2-a]indole-6(7H)-ones in up to 99% yield.

A general protocol for the catalytic homo-Nazarov cyclization of cyclopropyl heteroaryl ketones has been developed, which employs indium triflate as the promoter. A range of heteroaromatic ring-fused cyclohexanones was synthesized in 56-91% yield using this protocol. An example of a tandem cyclopropanation/homo-Nazarov cyclization is also reported in which the one-pot yield is greater than the overall yield of the two individual steps.

Mutations in the olfactomedin domain of myocilin (myoc-OLF) are the strongest link to inherited primary open angle glaucoma. In this recently-identified protein misfolding disorder, aggregation-prone disease variants of myocilin hasten glaucoma-associated elevation of intraocular pressure, leading to vision loss. In spite of its well-documented pathogenic role, myocilin remains a domain of unknown structure or function. Here we report the first small-molecule ligands that bind to the native state of myoc-OLF. To discover these molecules, we designed a general label-free, mix-and-measure, high throughput chemical assay for restabilization (CARS), which is likely readily adaptable to discover ligands for other proteins. Of the 14 hit molecules identified from screening myoc-OLF against the Sigma-Aldrich Library of Pharmacologically Active Compounds using CARS, surface plasmon resonance binding studies reveal three are stoichiometric ligand scaffolds with low micromolar affinity. Two compounds, GW5074 and apigenin, inhibit myoc-OLF amyloid formation in vitro. Structure-activity-relationship-based soluble derivatives reduce aggregation in vitro as well as enhance secretion of full-length mutant myocilin in a cell culture model. Our compounds set the stage for a new chemical probe approach to clarify the biological function of wild-type myocilin, and represent lead therapeutic compounds for diminishing intracellular sequestration of toxic mutant myocilin.