Jietacin A

Jietacins, an azoxy antibiotic class of chemicals, were isolated from the culture broth of Streptomyces sp. KP-197. They have a unique structural motif, including a vinyl azoxy group and a long acyclic aliphatic chain, which is usually branched but non-branched in the case of jietacin C. During a drug discovery program, we found that jietacins display potent anthelmintic activity against parasitic nematodes and that jietacin A has a moderate or low acute toxicity (LD50 > 300 mg/kg) and no mutagenic potential in a mini Ames screen. This suggests that jietacins have potential for drug discovery research. In order to create a novel anthelmintic agent, we performed design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of jietacin derivatives against parasitic nematodes. Of these derivatives, we found that a fully synthesized simplified derivative exhibited better anthelmintic activity against three parasitic nematodes than natural jietacins. In addition, it had a better efficacy in vivo through oral administration against a mouse nematode. This indicated that the azoxy motif could prove useful as a template for anthelmintic discovery, possibly creating a class of anthelmintic with novel skeletons, a potential new mode of action, and providing further insight for rational drug design.

Simple, efficient syntheses of jietacin A, a nematocidal antibiotic, and its analogs have been developed in order to study structure-activity relationships. A series of alpha,beta-unsaturated azoxy compounds was prepared from phenylselenomethyl azoxy compounds as key intermediates and its nematocidal activity was determined.

Deregulation of NF-κB plays an important role in various diseases by controlling cell growth, inflammation, the immune response, and cytokine production. Although many NF-κB inhibitors have been developed, to the best of our knowledge, none of them have been successfully translated into clinical practice as medicines. To overcome this issue, we aimed to develop a new class of NF-κB inhibitors. Previous reports indicated that the N-terminal cysteine is a promising target for NF-κB. Based on this, we first selected 10 natural products or their derivatives from the natural product library that we developed and examined the effect on NF-κB and the viability of cancer cells with constitutively strong NF-κB activity. Among them, we found that an azoxy natural product, jietacin A, with a vinylazoxy group and an aliphatic side chain, reduced cell viability and inhibited nuclear translocation of free NF-κB. In addition, we performed design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of jietacin derivatives for development of a novel NF-κB inhibitor. Of these derivatives, a fully synthesized derivative 25 with vinylazoxy and ynone groups had a potent effect. We clarified the structure-activity relationship of this compound. Jietacin A and 25 also inhibited tumor necrosis factor-α-mediated induction of NF-κB. The NF-κB inhibitory effect depended on the N-terminal cysteine and the neighboring Arg-Ser-Ala-Gly-Ser-Ile (RSAGSI) domain of NF-κB. We also found that 25 inhibited the association between NF-κB and importin α, suggesting inhibition of NF-κB at an early step of nuclear translocation. Overall, this study indicated that the vinylazoxy motif may compose a new class of NF-κB inhibitors, providing further insight for rational drug design and rendering a unique mode of action.