Abstract
Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) are the etiological agents responsible for botulism, a disease characterized by peripheral neuromuscular blockade and a characteristic flaccid paralysis of humans. The natural product toosendanin, a limonoid, is a traditional Chinese medicine that has reported anti-botulinum properties in animal models. Toosendanin effectively inhibits the biological activity of BoNT/A in neuronal cells at concentrations of 200 nM, and partial inhibition can be observed with concentrations as low as 8 nM. Mechanistically, toosendanin's inhibition is due to prevention of transduction of the BoNT LC through the HC channel. Intriguing questions as to the molecular architecture of toosendanin as related to its anti-botulinum properties have focused our attention on a synthesis of toosendanin's unusual AB-ring, containing a unique bridged hemi-acetal. Within the current work, a synthetic strategy allowing access to the AB-fragment of toosendanin was achieved from a trans-decalin system. In addition, this fragment was examined for its modulation of BoNT/A intoxication in a rat spinal cord cellular assay.