Competitive inhibitors of type B ribose 5-phosphate isomerases: design, synthesis and kinetic evaluation of new D-allose and D-allulose 6-phosphate derivatives.

This study reports syntheses of d-allose 6-phosphate (All6P), D-allulose (or D-psicose) 6-phosphate (Allu6P), and seven D-ribose 5-phosphate isomerase (Rpi) inhibitors. The inhibitors were designed as analogues of the 6-carbon high-energy intermediate postulated for the All6P to Allu6P isomerization reaction (Allpi activity) catalyzed by type B Rpi from Escherichiacoli (EcRpiB). 5-Phospho-D-ribonate, easily obtained through oxidative cleavage of either All6P or Allu6P, led to the original synthon 5-dihydrogenophospho-D-ribono-1,4-lactone from which the other inhibitors could be synthesized through nucleophilic addition in one step. Kinetic evaluation on Allpi activity of EcRpiB shows that two of these compounds, 5-phospho-D-ribonohydroxamic acid and N-(5-phospho-D-ribonoyl)-methylamine, indeed behave as new efficient inhibitors of EcRpiB; further, 5-phospho-D-ribonohydroxamic acid was demonstrated to have competitive inhibition. Kinetic evaluation on Rpi activity of both EcRpiB and RpiB from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MtRpiB) shows that several of the designed 6-carbon high-energy intermediate analogues are new competitive inhibitors of both RpiBs. One of them, 5-phospho-D-ribonate, not only appears as the strongest competitive inhibitor of a Rpi ever reported in the literature, with a K(i) value of 9 microM for MtRpiB, but also displays specific inhibition of MtRpiB versus EcRpiB.