Patent Abstract:
a composition of matter comprising sophorolipids as antimicrobial agents , antifungal agents , biopesticides , for uses as drugs to treat hiv , septic shock , cancer , asthma , dermatological conditions , as spermicidal agents , as anti - inflammatory drugs , as ingredients in cosmetics and building blocks for monomers and polymers and self - assembled templates for further chemical elaboration .

Detailed Description:
embodiments of this invention are based on the discovery that the administration of sophorolipids , sophorolipid analogs , and mixtures thereof can reduce the proliferation of bacteria and fungi ; self - assemble and thereby direct or template the formation of new materials ; be used as therapeutics for the treatment of sepsis , cancer and viral infections such as hiv ; be applied and used as spermicidal agents ; be used as an ingredient in cosmetic formulations that function in various capacities such as emulsifiers , cleansing and foaming agents , targeting bacteria responsible for acne , dandruff , and body odors , stimulating collagen synthesis , inhibiting free radical formation , inhibiting elastase or stimulating skin fibroblast metabolism . embodiments of this invention include pure sophorolipids and / or new sophorolipid analogs as well as mixtures of sophorolipids and / or their derivatives . embodiments of this invention also include carrying out two or more of the described modification methods on sophorolipid molecule so that changes in structure are carried out at multiple sites of sophorolipid molecules . it is understood that by variation in the structure of modified sophorolipids it is expected that the corresponding properties of sophorolipids can by modified , regulated , improved or fine - tuned . thus , the modified sophorolipids disclosed herein will be useful in developing new products consisting of these modified sophorolipids and mixtures thereof . by proper selection from the modified sophorolipids described herein one can derive the desired self - assembly characteristics , biological properties in therapeutic applications , biological properties when in contact with skin for cosmetic formulations , and / or biological activity when in contact with various bacterial or fungal microorganisms . new sophorolipid derivatives are disclosed herein that further expand the range of modified sophorolipids that can be used in the above applications . it is understood that one skilled in the art will recognize that many variations can be made to the invention disclosed here without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention . the bio - based and modified sophorolipids that comprise the present invention are obtained from pure fatty acids , fatty acid mixtures , pure fatty acid ester , mixtures of fatty acid esters , and triglycerides along with triglyceride sources such as corn syrup , dextrins and glucose using a fermentation process comprising a wild - type or engineered yeast strain such as candida bombicola . these sophorolipids generally consist of a hydrophilic carbohydrate head , sophorose , and a hydrophobic fatty acid tail with 16 or 18 carbon atoms . sophorose is an unusual disaccharide that consists of two glucose molecules linked β - 1 , 2 . furthermore , sophorose in sophorolipids can be acetylated on the 6 ′- and / or 6 ″- positions ( fig1 ). one fatty acid hydroxylated at the terminal or subterminal positions is β - glycosidically linked to the sophorose molecule ( the polar head group ). the fatty acid carboxylic acid group is either free ( acidic or open form ) or internally esterified generally at the 4 ″- position ( lactonic form ). the hydroxy fatty acid component of sophorolipids generally has 16 or 18 carbon atoms with generally one unsaturated bond ( asmer et al . 1988 ; davila et al . 1993 ). however , the sophorolipid fatty acid can also be fully saturated . as such , sophorolipids synthesized by c . bombicola consist of a mixture of molecules that are related . differences between these molecules are found based on the fatty acid structure ( degree of unsaturation , chain length , and position of hydroxylation ), existing in the lactonic or ring - opened form , and the acetylation pattern . sophorolipids derivatives disclosed herein are described based on the predominant fatty acid constituent , 17 - hydroxyoleic acid , produced by c . bombicola when fed crude oleic acid as its fatty acid source . however , sophorolipid derivatives disclosed herein can be prepared by using sophorolipids prepared from a wide range of fatty acid and carbohydrate feedstocks by a fermentation process . one class of sophorolipid derivatives includes acidic sophorolipids esterified by the controlled alcoholysis of natural sophorolipid mixtures . esters of varying chain lengths and with varying degrees of branching and containing a variety of heteroatoms are included in this invention ( fig1 ). a second class of sophorolipid derivatives includes lactonic and acidic sophorolipids in which the c ═ c bond has been reduced by hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst ( fig1 ). an exemplary reaction , applied to the conversion of lactonic sophorolipid ( sl - l ) to hydrogenated lactonic sophorolipid ( sl - lh ), is shown below . under a blanket of nitrogen in a 250 ml parr bottle , a solution of lactonic sophorolipid mixture ( 5 . 00 g , 7 . 50 mmol in 75 ml 95 % ethanol ) was charged with 100 mg 10 wt % pd / c added . the reactor was degassed and charged with 1 atm hydrogen . the reaction was allowed to run for 48 hours ( the hydrogen pressure was periodically increased to 1 atm during this time ). after 48 hours , the reaction mixture was filtered to remove the bulk of the pd / c and the solution concentrated to dryness to afford white waxy crystals . 1 h and 13 c spectra indicate that the c ═ c bond has been reduced . ( m / z = 690 . 4 , 648 . 4 , 606 . 4 ). a third class of sophorolipids includes amides of acidic sophorolipids , representative examples of which are shown in fig1 . in one exemplary reaction shown below , sophorolipid amides can be synthesized from an acidic sophorolipid methyl ester by treatment with an amine at elevated temperature . it is contemplated that a variety of amines , diamines , triamines of differing chain lengths containing aliphatic , olefinic , acetylenic , and aromatic substituents can be used to synthesize the corresponding amide derivatives . additionally , inclusive of this invention are amines bearing ionic groups such as sulfate , sulfonate , phosphate , and quarternary ammonium salts that result in cationic or anionic charged head groups . additionally , it is contemplated that a variety of substituted amino - containing compounds can be used as a platform for further functionalization and that amino acid and polypeptides of varying chain lengths can be incorporated ( fig1 ). to 700 mg ( 1 . 1 mmol ) sophorolipid methyl ester ( sl - e1 ) was added n , n - dimethylethylenediamine ( 950 mg , 11 mmol , 10 equiv .). the reaction mixture was heated to 70 ° c . for 12 hours and concentrated to dryness ( excess n , n - dimethylethylenediamine was removed in this step ). the product was purified by flash chromatography ( 1 : 9 meoh / chcl 3 ) to afford 0 . 64 g ( 90 % yield ) yellow powder . m / z = 692 . 59 . a fourth class of sophorolipids includes ammonium salts derived from n , n - dimethylethylamides . in one exemplary reaction shown below , a sophorolipid , n ′, n ′- dimethylethylamide is converted into the corresponding ammonium salt by treatment of the amine with methyl iodide at elevated temperature . to 300 mg ( 0 . 43 mmol ) sophorolipid n ′, n ′- dimethylethylamide ( sl - am - 3 ) was added methyl iodide ( 0 . 037 ml , 0 . 60 mmol , 1 . 4 equiv ) in 2 ml methanol . the reaction mixture was heated to reflux temperature for 24 hours and concentrated in vacuo . the product was purified by flash chromatography ( 1 : 9 meoh / chcl3 ) to afford 0 . 255 g ( 85 % yield ) yellow powder . m / z = 709 ( m - i ). a fifth class of sophorolipids include those modified at the sophorose 6 ′ or 6 ″ positions by , inter alia , an activated acyl molecule such as the vinyl ester or alkyl ester of propionic acid catalyzed by an enzyme catalyst such as a lipase in conjunction with one or more of the modifications described herein . in one exemplary reaction ( bisht et al ., 1999 ), the unsubstituted acidic sophorolipid is acetylated at the sophorose 6 ′ hydroxyl position . it is contemplated that carbonyl compounds of varying chain lengths and degrees of branching can be incorporated and that a variety of carbonyl - containing functional groups can be incorporated including succinate , malate and citrate . additionally , it is contemplated that esters of amino acids and oligopeptides can be incorporated at the 6 ′ and / or 6 ″ positions of the sophorose ring . finally , it is contemplated that the 6 ′ and / or 6 ″ positions of the sophorose ring may be alkylated ( fig1 ) by ethylene oxide or a substituted alkylene oxide such as 2 , 3 - epoxypropyl - 1 , 1 , 1 - trimethylammonium chloride ( quab151 ) or related electrophiles as described in d . b . solarek : cationic starches , in modified starches : properties and uses ( ed . o . b . wurzburg ), 1989 . such substitutions will likely occur at the 1 ° 6 ′ and / or 6 ″ positions but may also occur at the 2 ° sophorose ring hydroxyls to generate mixtures of sophorolipid derivatives . to a suspension of lactonic sophorolipid mixture ( 4 compounds : 6 ′, 6 ″- dihydroxy , 6 ′- acetyl , 6 ″- acetyl , 6 ′, 6 ″- diacetyl ( which can be generally acyl groups with variable carbon chain lengths ), 200 mg total , ca . 0 . 310 mmol , based on monoacetylated derivative mass ) in 10 ml 1 : 1 tert - butanol / h 2 o at 0 ° c . was added methane sulfonamide ( 29 . 5 mg , 0 . 310 mmol ), followed by 434 mg ad mix α , ( a formulation consisting of potassium osmate dihydrate , potassium ferrocyanide , potassium carbonate , and a chiral auxiliary ligand ). the reaction mixture was maintained at 0 ° c . overnight . after 15 hours , the reaction mixture was allowed to warm to room temperature and sodium thiosulfate ( 450 mg ) was added . the reaction mixture was extracted in 3 × 15 ml diethyl ether , dried over mgso 4 , and evaporated to produce 145 mg ( 70 %, based on the monoacetyl derivative ) of a colorless oil . 1 h and 13 nmr reveal that the c ═ c has been fully reduced . m / z = xx a sixth class of sophorolipids include those formed from transalkylidenation of the c ═ c within r 4 ( fig1 ) of lactonic or acidic sophorolipids . novel compounds in this class include alkenes with linear or branched alkyl substituents . compounds in which the double bond is substituted by aryl , heterocyclic , cationic or anionic or neutral groups containing heteroatoms is contemplated ( fig1 ). r 3 = h , alkyl , heterocycle ( see below ). the hydrogenated lactonic sophorolipids have antifungal activity , which were confirmed by experiment and observations . sophorolipid samples were dissolved in 5 % ethanol solution to a final concentration of 5 mg / ml and used as a stock solution . the stock solution ( 100 μl ) was added into a 96 well microplate and serially diluted from 2 . 5 mg / ml to 0 . 0024 mg / ml using culture medium . after serial dilution , 80 μl of fresh culture medium and 20 μl of spore suspension were added to each well and the plates were incubated for 7 days . the minimum inhibitory concentration ( mic ) was determined to measure antifungal activity of sophorolipid - derived compounds . mic values for antifungal activity were determined by absence of visible growth in the micro wells containing sophorolipid after 7 days of incubation . natural and lactonic sls were active against four pathogens , whereas hydrogenated lactonic and acidic sls active against three and two pathogens respectively . in several cases , hydrogenated sophorolipids showed comparable or better inhibition to fungal growth versus natural sophorolipids . the results are shown in table 2 . the acidic sophorolipid esters have antifungal activity , which were confirmed by experiment and observations . sophorolipid samples were dissolved in 5 % ethanol solution to a final concentration of 5 mg / ml and used as a stock solution . the stock solution ( 100 μl ) was added into a 96 well microplate and serially diluted from 2 . 5 mg / ml to 0 . 0024 mg / ml using culture medium . after serial dilution , 80 μl of fresh culture medium and 20 μl of spore suspension were added to each well and the plates were incubated for 7 days . the minimum inhibitory concentration ( mic ) was determined to measure antifungal activity of sophorolipid - derived compounds . mic values for antifungal activity were determined by absence of visible growth in the micro wells containing sophorolipid after 7 days of incubation . these results show that methyl ( sl - e - 1 ) and butyl esters ( sl - e - 3 ) actively inhibited the growth of three pathogens while other esters ( sl - e - 4 , 5 , 6 , and 8 ) are active against one of the pathogens . in several cases , acidic sophorolipid esters showed comparable or better inhibition of fungal growth versus natural sophorolipids . the results are shown in table 3 . the acidic sophorolipid amide derivatives have antifungal activity , which were confirmed by experiment and observations . sophorolipid samples were dissolved in 5 % ethanol solution to a final concentration of 5 mg / ml and used as a stock solution . the stock solution ( 100 μl ) was added into a 96 well microplate and serially diluted from 2 . 5 mg / ml to 0 . 0024 mg / ml using culture medium . after serial dilution , 80 μl of fresh culture medium and 20 μl of spore suspension were added to each well and the plates were incubated for 7 days . the minimum inhibitory concentration ( mic ) was determined to measure antifungal activity of sophorolipid - derived compounds . mic values for antifungal activity were determined by absence of visible growth in the micro wells containing sophorolipid after 7 days of incubation . among all sophorolipids screened for antifungal activity , the family of amide derivatives shows high activity against four pathogens . two of the amides , sl - am - 3 and 4 showed growth inhibitory activity against four pathogens , alternariatomatophilia , a . solani , a . alternate and botrytis cinerea . the results are shown in table 4 . this demonstrates that by using new modified sophorolipid compositions of matter that are hereby incorporated within this invention , sophorolipid properties such as an improvement in a biological activity can be achieved . in the above example the modified sophorolipid analog new compositions of matter described herein were used to identify compounds with enhanced activity against important plant pathogenic microorganisms . it is understood that modified sophorolipid analogs can be used in pure form , admixed with one or more derivatives , admixed with one or more natural sophorolipids . furthermore , the modifications described herein can be performed at different parts of sophorolipid molecules to enhance the number of members of new sophorolipid derivatives that are part of this invention . the above detailed description of the embodiments , and the examples , are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope and spirit of the invention , and its equivalents , as defined by the appended claims . one skilled in the art will recognize that many variations can be made to the invention disclosed in this specification without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention . as a single example , one skilled in the art of organic synthesis can use combinations of synthetic techniques described herein to synthesize an acidic sophorolipid amide derivative in which the c ═ c double bond has been hydrogenated . bluth m h , fu s l , fu a , stanek a , smith - 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