Prolyl 4-hydroxylase (P4H) catalyzes the post-translational hydroxylation of (2S)-proline (Pro) residues in procollagen strands. The resulting (2S,4R)-4-hydroxyproline (Hyp) residues are essential for the folding, secretion, and stability of the collagen triple helix. Even though its product (Hyp) differs from its substrate (Pro) by only a single oxygen atom, no product inhibition has been observed for P4H. Here, we examine the basis for the binding and turnover of substrates by human P4H. Synthetic peptides containing (2S,4R)-4-fluoroproline (Flp), (2S,4S)-4-fluoroproline (flp), (2S)-4-ketoproline (Kep), (2S)-4-thiaproline (Thp), and 3,5-methanoproline (Mtp) were evaluated as substrates for P4H. Peptides containing Pro, flp, and Thp were found to be excellent substrates for P4H, forming Hyp, Kep, and (2S,4R)-thiaoxoproline, respectively. Thus, P4H is tolerant to some substitutions on C-4 of the the pyrrolidine ring. In contrast, peptides containing Flp, Kep, or Mtp did not even bind to the active site of P4H. Each proline analog that does bind to P4H is also a substrate, indicating that discrimination occurs at the level of binding rather than turnover. As the iron(IV)-oxo species that forms in the active site of P4H is highly reactive, P4H has an imperative for forming a snug complex with its substrate, and appears to do so. Most notably, those proline analogs with a greater preference for a C γ -endo pucker and cis peptide bond were the ones recognized by P4H. As Hyp has a strong preference for C γ -exo pucker and trans peptide bond, P4H appears to discriminate against the conformation of proline residues in a manner that diminishes product inhibition during collagen biosynthesis.Collagens are the major structural proteins in the extracellular matrix. All collagens are comprised of three polypeptide strands that coil together into a right-handed triple helix. Each strand contains a repeating three amino-acid sequence in which every third residue is a glycine (Gly 1 ): Xaa-Yaa-Gly. The Xaa position is often (2S)-proline (Pro), and the Yaa position is often (2S,4R)-4-hydroxyproline (Hyp) (1). Hyp is produced by the action of prolyl 4-hydroxylase (P4H; EC 1.14.11.2). This post-translational modification is the most prevalent † This work was supported by Grants AR044276 (NIH to R.T.R) and CHE 0515635 (NSF to G.R.K.). K.L.G. was supported by ChemistryBiology Interface Training Grant T32 BM008505 (NIH). MALDI-MS experiments were performed at the University of WisconsinMadison Biophysics Instrumentation Facility, which was established with Grants BIR-9512577 (NSF) and RR13790 (NIH).*To whom correspondence should be addressed: Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 433 Babcock Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1544. Telephone: 608-262-8588. Fax: 608-262-3453. rtraines@wisc.edu. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptBiochemistry. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 January 22. in the kingdom Animalia, where Hyp is more common than seven of the "common" aminoacid residues: Cys, Gln, His, Met, P...

N-Acetylmethanopyrrolidine and its four 5-syn/anti-fluoro and hydroxy derivatives have been synthesized from 2-azabicyclo[2.2.0]hex-5-ene, a 1,2-dihydropyridine photoproduct. These conformationally constrained mimics of idealized Cβ-gauche and Cβ-anti conformers of pyrrolidines were prepared in order to determine the inherent bridge bias and subsequent heteroatom substituent effects upon trans/cis amide preferences. The bridgehead position and also the presence of gauche(syn)/anti-5-fluoro or 5-hydroxy substituents have minimal influence upon KT/C values of N-acetylamide conformers in both CDCl3 (43–54% trans) and D2O (53–58% trans). O-Benzoylation enhances the trans amide preferences in CDCl3 (65% for a syn-OBz, 61% for a trans-OBz) but has minimal effect in D2O. The synthetic methods developed for N-BOC-methanopyrrolidines should prove useful in the synthesis of more complex derivatives containing α-ester substituents. The KT/C results obtained in this study establish baseline amide preferences that will enable determination of contributions of α-ester substituents to trans-amide preferences in methanoprolines.

Sulfinimine-derived α,β-unsaturated pyrrolidine nitrones, on heating with Al(O-t-Bu)(3), undergo a highly stereoselective intramolecular [3 + 2] cycloaddition to give tricyclic isoxazolidines, which are transformed in three-steps to give C-1 substituted cocaine analogs.

Sulfinimine-derived N-sulfinyl beta-amino ketone ketals on heating with NH(4)OAc:HOAc undergo a four-step intramolecular Mannich cyclization cascade reaction to give homotropinones, such as (-)-euphococcinine, in excellent yields as single isomers.