Publications

• Substrate specificity of Rv3378c, an enzyme from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and the inhibitory activity of the bicyclic diterpenoids against macrophage phagocytosis.

  Hoshino T., Nakano C., Ootsuka T., Shinohara Y., Hara T.

  The Rv3378c gene product from Mycobacterium tuberculosis encodes a diterpene synthase to produce tuberculosinol (3), 13R-isotuberculosinol (4a), and 13S-isotuberculosinol (4b) from tuberculosinyl diphosphate (2). The product distribution ratios are 1 : 1 for 3 to 4 and 1 : 3 for 4a to 4b. The subs ... >> More

  The Rv3378c gene product from Mycobacterium tuberculosis encodes a diterpene synthase to produce tuberculosinol (3), 13R-isotuberculosinol (4a), and 13S-isotuberculosinol (4b) from tuberculosinyl diphosphate (2). The product distribution ratios are 1 : 1 for 3 to 4 and 1 : 3 for 4a to 4b. The substrate specificity of the Rv3378c-encoded enzyme was examined. The 3 labdadienyl diphosphates, copalyl diphosphate (CDP) (7), ent-CDP (8), and syn-CDP (9), underwent the conversion reaction, with good yields (67-78%). Copalol (23) and manool (24) were produced from 7, ent-copalol (25) and ent-manool (26) from 8, and syn-copalol (27) and vitexifolin A (28) from 9. The ratio of 23 to 24 was 40 : 27, that of 25:26 was 22 : 50, and that of 27:28 was 16 : 62. Analysis on a GC-MS chromatograph equipped with a chiral column revealed that 24, 26, and 28 consisted of a mixture of 13R-(a) and 13S-stereoisomers (b) in the following ratio: ca. 1 : 1 for 24a to 24b, ca. 1 : 5 for 26a to 26b, and ca. 1 : 19 for 28a to 28b. The structures of these products indicate that the reactions of the 3 CDPs proceeded in the same fashion as that of 2. This is the first report on the enzymatic synthesis of natural diterpenes manool, ent-manool, and vitexifolin A. Both Rv3377c and Rv3378c genes are found in virulent Mycobacterium species, but not in avirulent species. We found that 3 and 4 inhibited the phagocytosis of opsonized zymosan particles by human macrophage-like cells. Interestingly, the inhibitory activity was synergistically increased by the coexistence of 3 and 4b. Other labdane-related diterpenes, 13-16 and 23-28, had little or no inhibitory activity. This synergistic inhibition by 3 and 4 may provide further advantage to the impairment of phagocyte function, which might contribute to pathogenicity of M. tuberculosis. << Less

  Org. Biomol. Chem. 9:2156-2165(2011) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

  This publication is cited by 9 other entries.

• Biosynthesis of bioactive diterpenoids in the medicinal plant Vitex agnus-castus.

  Heskes A.M., Sundram T.C.M., Boughton B.A., Jensen N.B., Hansen N.L., Crocoll C., Cozzi F., Rasmussen S., Hamberger B., Hamberger B., Staerk D., Moeller B.L., Pateraki I.

  Vitex agnus-castus L. (Lamiaceae) is a medicinal plant historically used throughout the Mediterranean region to treat menstrual cycle disorders, and is still used today as a clinically effective treatment for premenstrual syndrome. The pharmaceutical activity of the plant extract is linked to its ... >> More

  Vitex agnus-castus L. (Lamiaceae) is a medicinal plant historically used throughout the Mediterranean region to treat menstrual cycle disorders, and is still used today as a clinically effective treatment for premenstrual syndrome. The pharmaceutical activity of the plant extract is linked to its ability to lower prolactin levels. This feature has been attributed to the presence of dopaminergic diterpenoids that can bind to dopamine receptors in the pituitary gland. Phytochemical analyses of V. agnus-castus show that it contains an enormous array of structurally related diterpenoids and, as such, holds potential as a rich source of new dopaminergic drugs. The present work investigated the localisation and biosynthesis of diterpenoids in V. agnus-castus. With the assistance of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation-mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI), diterpenoids were localised to trichomes on the surface of fruit and leaves. Analysis of a trichome-specific transcriptome database, coupled with expression studies, identified seven candidate genes involved in diterpenoid biosynthesis: three class II diterpene synthases (diTPSs); three class I diTPSs; and a cytochrome P450 (CYP). Combinatorial assays of the diTPSs resulted in the formation of a range of different diterpenes that can account for several of the backbones of bioactive diterpenoids observed in V. agnus-castus. The identified CYP, VacCYP76BK1, was found to catalyse 16-hydroxylation of the diol-diterpene, peregrinol, to labd-13Z-ene-9,15,16-triol when expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Notably, this product is a potential intermediate in the biosynthetic pathway towards bioactive furan- and lactone-containing diterpenoids that are present in this species. << Less

  Plant J. 93:943-958(2018) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

  This publication is cited by 10 other entries.