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Updated: Jul 25, 2025

Sequence-specific Labeling of Nucleic Acids and Proteins with Methyltransferases and Cofactor Analogues
Published on: November 22, 2014
C-Methylated Spermidine Derivatives: Convenient Syntheses and Antizyme-Related Effects
Maxim A Khomutov1, Arthur I Salikhov1, Vladimir A Mitkevich1
1Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vavilov Street 32, Moscow 119991, Russia.
Abstract:
The biogenic polyamines, spermidine (Spd) and spermine (Spm), are present at millimolar concentrations in all eukaryotic cells, where they participate in the regulation of vitally important cellular functions. Polyamine analogs and derivatives are a traditional and important instrument for the investigation of the cellular functions of polyamines, enzymes of their metabolism, and the regulation of the biosynthesis of antizyme-a key downregulator of polyamine homeostasis. Here, we describe convenient gram-scale syntheses of a set of C-methylated analogs of Spd. The biochemical properties of these compounds and the possibility for the regulation of their activity by moving a methyl group along the polyamine backbone and by changing the stereochemistry of the chiral center(s) are discussed.
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