High-Mannose Oligosaccharide Hemimimetics that Recapitulate the Conformation and Binding Mode to Concanavalin A, DC-SIGN and Langerin.

The "carbohydrate chemical mimicry" exhibited by sp2 -iminosugars has been utilized to develop practical syntheses for analogs of the branched high-mannose-type oligosaccharides (HMOs) Man3 and Man5 . In these compounds, the terminal nonreducing Man residues have been substituted with 5,6-oxomethylidenemannonojirimycin (OMJ) motifs. The resulting oligomannoside hemimimetic accurately reproduce the structure, configuration, and conformational behavior of the original mannooligosaccharides, as confirmed by NMR and computational techniques. Binding studies with mannose binding lectins, including concanavalin A, DC-SIGN, and langerin, by enzyme-linked lectin assay and surface plasmon resonance revealed significant variations in their ability to accommodate the OMJ unit in the mannose binding site. Intriguingly, OMJMan segments demonstrated "in line" heteromultivalent effects during binding to the three lectins. Similar to the mannobiose (Man2 ) branches in HMOs, the binding modes involving the external or internal monosaccharide unit at the carbohydrate binding-domain exist in equilibrium, facilitating sliding and recapture processes. This equilibrium, which influences the multivalent binding of HMOs, can be finely modulated upon incorporation of the OMJ sp2 -iminosugar caps. As a proof of concept, the affinity and selectivity towards DC-SIGN and langerin were adjustable by presenting the OMJMan epitope in platforms with diverse architectures and valencies.

Processing of social and monetary rewards in autism spectrum disorders.

BACKGROUND: Reward processing has been proposed to underpin the atypical social feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, previous neuroimaging studies have yielded inconsistent results regarding the specificity of atypicalities for social reward processing in ASD. AIMS: Utilising a large sample, we aimed to assess reward processing in response to reward type (social, monetary) and reward phase (anticipation, delivery) in ASD. METHOD: Functional magnetic resonance imaging during social and monetary reward anticipation and delivery was performed in 212 individuals with ASD (7.6-30.6 years of age) and 181 typically developing participants (7.6-30.8 years of age). RESULTS: Across social and monetary reward anticipation, whole-brain analyses showed hypoactivation of the right ventral striatum in participants with ASD compared with typically developing participants. Further, region of interest analysis across both reward types yielded ASD-related hypoactivation in both the left and right ventral striatum. Across delivery of social and monetary reward, hyperactivation of the ventral striatum in individuals with ASD did not survive correction for multiple comparisons. Dimensional analyses of autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) scores were not significant. In categorical analyses, post hoc comparisons showed that ASD effects were most pronounced in participants with ASD without co-occurring ADHD. CONCLUSIONS: Our results do not support current theories linking atypical social interaction in ASD to specific alterations in social reward processing. Instead, they point towards a generalised hypoactivity of ventral striatum in ASD during anticipation of both social and monetary rewards. We suggest this indicates attenuated reward seeking in ASD independent of social content and that elevated ADHD symptoms may attenuate altered reward seeking in ASD.

Advanced high-affinity glycoconjugate ligands of galectins.

Galectins are proteins of the family of human lectins. By binding terminal galactose units of cell surface glycans, they moderate biological and pathological processes such as cell signaling, cell adhesion, apoptosis, fibrosis, carcinogenesis, and metabolic disorders. The binding of monovalent glycans to galectins is usually relatively weak. Therefore, the presentation of carbohydrate ligands on multivalent scaffolds can efficiently increase and/or discriminate the affinity of the glycoconjugate to different galectins. A library of glycoclusters and glycodendrimers with various structural presentations of the common functionalized N-acetyllactosamine ligand was prepared to evaluate how the mode of presentation affects the affinity and selectivity to the two most abundant galectins, galectin-1 (Gal-1) and galectin-3 (Gal-3). In addition, the effect of a one- to two-unit carbohydrate spacer on the affinity of the glycoconjugates was determined. A new design of the biolayer interferometry (BLI) method with specific AVI-tagged constructs was used to determine the affinity to galectins, and compared with the gold-standard method of isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). This study reveals new routes to low nanomolar glycoconjugate inhibitors of galectins of interest for biomedical research.

Multivalent glycocyclopeptides: conjugation methods and biological applications.

Click chemistry was extensively used to decorate synthetic multivalent scaffolds with glycans to mimic the cell surface glycocalyx and to develop applications in glycosciences. Conjugation methods such as oxime ligation, copper(I)-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition, thiol-ene coupling, squaramide coupling or Lansbury aspartylation proved particularly suitable to achieve this purpose. This review summarizes the synthetic strategies that can be used either in a stepwise manner or in an orthogonal one-pot approach, to conjugate multiple copies of identical or different glycans to cyclopeptide scaffolds (namely multivalent glycocyclopeptides) having different size, valency, geometry and molecular composition. The second part of this review will describe the potential of these structures to interact with various carbohydrate binding proteins or to stimulate immunity against tumor cells.

Characterization of the interaction of multivalent glycosylated ligands with bacterial lectins by biolayer interferometry.

The study of multivalent carbohydrate-protein interactions remains highly complicated and sometimes rendered impossible due to aggregation problems. Biolayer interferometry is emerging as a tool to monitor such complex interactions. In this study, various glycoclusters and dendrimers were prepared and evaluated as ligands for lectins produced by pathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa (LecA and Lec B) and Burkholderia ambifaria (BambL). Reliable kinetic and thermodynamic parameters could be measured, and immobilization of either lectin or ligands resulted in high quality data. The methods gave results in full agreement with previous isothermal titration calorimetry experiments, and presented strong advantages because they require less quantity and purity for the biomolecules.

Multivalent Presentations of Glycomimetic Inhibitor of the Adhesion of Fungal Pathogen Candida albicans to Human Buccal Epithelial Cells.

Candida albicans causes some of the most prevalent hospital-acquired fungal infections, particularly threatening for immunocompromised patients. C. albicans strongly adheres to the surface of epithelial cells so that subsequent colonization and biofilm formation can take place. Divalent galactoside glycomimetic 1 was found to be a potent inhibitor of the adhesion of C. albicans to buccal epithelial cells. In this work, we explore the effect of multivalent presentations of glycomimetic 1 on its ability to inhibit yeast adhesion and biofilm formation. Tetra-, hexa-, and hexadecavalent displays of compound 1 were built on RAFT cyclopeptide- and polylysine-based scaffolds with a highly efficient and modular synthesis. Biological evaluation revealed that the scaffold choice significantly influences the activity of the lower valency conjugates, with compound 16, constructed on a tetravalent polylysine scaffold, found to inhibit the adhesion of C. albicans to human buccal epithelial cells more effectively than the glycomimetic 1; however, the latter performed better in the biofilm reduction assays. Interestingly, the higher valency glycoconjugates did not outperform the anti-adhesion activity of the original compound 1, and no significant effect of the core scaffold could be appreciated. SEM images of C. albicans cells treated with compounds 1, 14, and 16 revealed significant differences in the aggregation patterns of the yeast cells.

Glucose-based spiro-oxathiazoles as in vivo anti-hyperglycemic agents through glycogen phosphorylase inhibition.

The design of glycogen phosphorylase (GP) inhibitors targeting the catalytic site of the enzyme is a promising strategy for a better control of hyperglycaemia in the context of type 2 diabetes. Glucopyranosylidene-spiro-heterocycles have been demonstrated as potent GP inhibitors, and more specifically spiro-oxathiazoles. A new synthetic route has now been elaborated through 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of an aryl nitrile oxide to a glucono-thionolactone affording in one step the spiro-oxathiazole moiety. The thionolactone was obtained from the thermal rearrangement of a thiosulfinate precursor according to Fairbanks' protocols, although with a revisited outcome and also rationalised with DFT calculations. The 2-naphthyl substituted glucose-based spiro-oxathiazole 5h, identified as one of the most potent GP inhibitors (Ki = 160 nM against RMGPb) could be produced on the gram-scale from this strategy. Further evaluation in vitro using rat and human hepatocytes demonstrated that compound 5h is a anti-hyperglycaemic drug candidates performing slightly better than DAB used as a positive control. Investigation in Zucker fa/fa rat model in acute and subchronic assays further confirmed the potency of compound 5h since it lowered blood glucose levels by ∼36% at 30 mg kg-1 and ∼43% at 60 mg kg-1. The present study is one of the few in vivo investigations for glucose-based GP inhibitors and provides data in animal models for such drug candidates.

Multifunctional Glycoconjugates for Recruiting Natural Antibodies against Cancer Cells.

We have developed a fully synthetic and multifunctional antibody-recruiting molecule (ARM) to guide natural antibodies already present in the blood stream against cancer cells without pre-immunization. Our ARM is composed of antibody and tumor binding modules (i.e., ABM and TBM) displaying clustered rhamnose and cyclo-RGD, respectively. By using a stepwise approach, we have first demonstrated the importance of multivalency for efficient recognition with naturel IgM and αv ß3 integrin expressing M21 tumor cell line. Once covalently conjugated by click chemistry, we confirmed by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy that the recognition properties of both the ABM and TBM are conserved, and more importantly, that the resulting ARM promotes the formation of a ternary complex between natural IgM and cancer cells, which is required for the stimulation of the cytotoxic immune response in vivo. Due to the efficiency of the synthetic process, a larger diversity of heterovalent ligands could be easily explored by using the same multivalent approach and could open new perspectives in this field.

Multifunctional Glycoconjugates for Recruiting Natural Antibodies against Cancer Cells.

Invited for the cover of this issue is Olivier Renaudet and co-workers at the Université Grenoble Alpes and funded by the European Research Council (CoG "LEGO'" no. 647938). The image illustrates a synthetic chemist playing with supramolecular structures to kill cancer cells by using natural antibodies present in the blood stream. Read the full text of the article at 10.1002/chem.201903327.

C-Glycopyranosyl Arenes and Hetarenes: Synthetic Methods and Bioactivity Focused on Antidiabetic Potential.

This Review summarizes close to 500 primary publications and surveys published since 2000 about the syntheses and diverse bioactivities of C-glycopyranosyl (het)arenes. A classification of the preparative routes to these synthetic targets according to methodologies and compound categories is provided. Several of these compounds, regardless of their natural or synthetic origin, display antidiabetic properties due to enzyme inhibition (glycogen phosphorylase, protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B) or by inhibiting renal sodium-dependent glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2). The latter class of synthetic inhibitors, very recently approved as antihyperglycemic drugs, opens new perspectives in the pharmacological treatment of type 2 diabetes. Various compounds with the C-glycopyranosyl (het)arene motif were subjected to biological studies displaying among others antioxidant, antiviral, antibiotic, antiadhesive, cytotoxic, and glycoenzyme inhibitory effects.

Multivalent Glycomimetics with Affinity and Selectivity toward Fucose-Binding Receptors from Emerging Pathogens.

Bacterial and fungal pathogens involved in lung infection in cystic fibrosis patients utilize a particular family of glycan-binding proteins, characterized by the presentation of six fucose-binding sites on a ring-shaped scaffold. These lectins are attractive targets for anti-infectious compounds that could interfere in the recognition of host tissues by pathogens. The design of a cyclopeptide-based hexavalent structure allowed for the presentation of six fucose residues. The synthetic hexavalent compound displays liable geometry resulting in high-avidity binding by lectins from Aspergillus fumigatus and Burkholderia ambifaria. Replacing the fucose residue with a conformationally constrained fucomimetic does not alter the affinity and provides fine specificity with no binding to other fucose-specific lectins.

The study of multivalent carbohydrate-protein interactions by bio-layer interferometry.

The study of complex multivalent carbohydrate-protein interactions remains highly complicated and sometimes rendered impossible due to aggregation problems. In this study, we demonstrate that bio-layer interferometry is an excellent complementary method to standard techniques such as SPR and ITC. Using tetra- and hexadecavalent GalNAc glycoconjugates and Helix pomatia agglutinin (HPA) as a model lectin, we were able to measure reliable kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of multivalent interactions going from the micro to the nanomolar range.

Heterovalent Glycodendrimers as Epitope Carriers for Antitumor Synthetic Vaccines.

The large majority of TACA-based (TACA=Tumor-Associated Carbohydrate Antigens) antitumor vaccines target only one carbohydrate antigen, thereby often resulting in the incomplete destruction of cancer cells. However, the morphological heterogeneity of the tumor glycocalix, which is in constant evolution during malignant transformation, is a crucial point to consider in the design of vaccine candidates. In this paper, an efficient synthetic strategy based on orthogonal chemoselective ligations to prepare fully synthetic glycosylated cyclopeptide scaffolds grafted with both Tn and TF antigen analogues is reported. To evaluate their ability to be recognized as tumor antigens, direct interaction ELISA assays have been performed with the anti-Tn monoclonal antibody 9A7. Although both heterovalent structures showed binding capacities with 9A7, the presence of the second TF epitope did not interfere with the recognition of Tn except in one epitope arrangement. This heterovalent glycosylated structure thus represents an attractive epitope carrier to be further functionalized with T-cell peptide epitopes.

An oxime-based glycocluster microarray.

Carbohydrate microarrays represent powerful tools to study and detect carbohydrate-binding proteins, pathogens or cells. In this paper, we report two original oxime-based methods to prepare surfaces displaying well-defined structures and valency in a given microspot with improved recognition potency with lectins. In a first "direct" approach, fully synthetic aminooxylated glycoclusters have been coated onto aldehyde-activated SiO2 (silicium substrate doped with 50 nm thermal oxide layer). To improve the preparation of the microarray in terms of rapidity and simplicity and to provide addressable surfaces on which sugars can be linked chemoselectively as clusters at defined plots, a second "indirect" strategy has been developed using successive oxime ligation steps. In both cases, binding assays with labelled lectins have revealed more potent and selective interaction due to the clustered presentation of sugars. The observed differences of interaction have been confirmed in solution by ITC.

3-Glucosylated 5-amino-1,2,4-oxadiazoles: synthesis and evaluation as glycogen phosphorylase inhibitors.

Glycogen phosporylase (GP) is a promising target for the control of glycaemia. The design of inhibitors binding at the catalytic site has been accomplished through various families of glucose-based derivatives such as oxadiazoles. Further elaboration of the oxadiazole aromatic aglycon moiety is now reported with 3-glucosyl-5-amino-1,2,4-oxadiazoles synthesized by condensation of a C-glucosyl amidoxime with N,N'-dialkylcarbodiimides or Vilsmeier salts. The 5-amino group introduced on the oxadiazole scaffold was expected to provide better inhibition of GP through potential additional interactions with the enzyme's catalytic site; however, no inhibition was observed at 625 µM.

Efficient atropodiastereoselective access to 5,5'-bis-1,2,3-triazoles: studies on 1-glucosylated 5-halogeno 1,2,3-triazoles and their 5-substituted derivatives as glycogen phosphorylase inhibitors.

Whereas copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) between acetylated ß-D-glucosyl azide and alkyl or phenyl acetylenes led to the corresponding 4-substituted 1-glucosyl-1,2,3-triazoles in good yields, use of similar conditions but with 2 equiv CuI or CuBr led to the 5-halogeno analogues (>71 %). In contrast, with 2 equiv CuCl and either propargyl acetate or phenyl acetylene, the major products (>56 %) displayed two 5,5'-linked triazole rings resulting from homocoupling of the 1-glucosyl-4-substituted 1,2,3-triazoles. The 4-phenyl substituted compounds (acetylated, O-unprotected) and the acetylated 4-acetoxymethyl derivative existed in solution as a single form (d.r.>95:5), as shown by NMR spectroscopic analysis. The two 4-phenyl substituted structures were unambiguously identified for the first time by X-ray diffraction analysis, as atropisomers with aR stereochemistry. This represents one of the first efficient and highly atropodiastereoselective approaches to glucose-based bis-triazoles as single atropisomers. The products were purified by standard silica gel chromatography. Through Sonogashira or Suzuki cross-couplings, the 1-glucosyl-5-halogeno-1,2,3-triazoles were efficiently converted into a library of 1,2,3-triazoles of the 1-glucosyl-5-substituted (alkynyl, aryl) type. Attempts to achieve Heck coupling to methyl acrylate failed, but a stable palladium-associated triazole was isolated and analyzed by (1)H NMR and MS. O-Unprotected derivatives were tested as inhibitors of glycogen phosphorylase. The modest inhibition activities measured showed that 4,5-disubstituted 1-glucosyl-1,2,3-triazoles bind weakly to the enzyme. This suggests that such ligands do not fit the catalytic site or any other binding site of the enzyme.

Metabolic labelling of cancer cells with glycodendrimers stimulate immune-mediated cytotoxicity.

The recruitment of antibody naturally present in human blood stream at the surface of cancer cells have been proved a promising immunotherapeutic strategy to fight cancer. Antibody recruiting molecules (ARMs) combining tumor and antibody binding modules have been developed for this purpose, however the formation of the interacting complex with both antibody and cell is difficult to optimize to stimulate immune-mediated cytotoxicity. To circumvent this limitation, we report herein a more direct approach combining cell metabolism of azido-sugar and bio-orthogonal click chemistry to conjugate at the cell glycocalyx structurally well-defined glycodendrimers as antibody binding module (ABM). We demonstrate that this strategy allows not only the recruitment of natural antibody at the surface of isolated cells or solid tumor models but also activate a cytotoxic response with human serum as unique source of immune effectors.

Correction to "Discovery of Novel α-Carboline Inhibitors of the Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase".

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c00507.].

Synthesis of dodecavalent fullerene-based glycoclusters and evaluation of their binding properties towards a bacterial lectin.

Multivalency is playing a major role in biological processes and particularly in lectin-carbohydrate interactions. The design of high-affinity ligands of lectins should provide molecules capable of interfering with these biological processes and potentially inhibit bacterial or viral infections. Azide-alkyne "click" chemistry was applied to the synthesis of dodecavalent fullerene-based glycoclusters. The conjugation could be efficiently performed from alkyne or azide functions on either partners (i.e. hexakis-fullerene adduct or glycoside). PA-IL is a bacterial lectin from the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa and is involved in the recognition of glycoconjugates on human tissues. The glycoclusters obtained were evaluated as ligands of PA-IL and for their potential for competing with its binding to glycosylated surfaces. The affinities measured by hemagglutination inhibition assay (HIA), enzyme-linked lectin assay (ELLA), and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) displayed a significant "glycoside cluster effect" with up to a 12,000-fold increase in binding when comparing a monovalent carbohydrate reference probe with a dodecavalent fullerene-based glycocluster, albeit with some differences depending on the analytical technique.

Homo- and Heterovalent Neoglycoproteins as Ligands for Bacterial Lectins.

Click chemistry gives access to unlimited set of multivalent glycoconjugates to explore carbohydrate-protein interactions and discover high affinity ligands. In this study, we have created supramolecular systems based on a carrier protein that was grafted by Cu(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition with tetravalent glycodendrons presenting αGal, ßGal and/or αFuc. Binding studies of the homo- (4 a-c) and heterovalent (5) neoglycoproteins (neoGPs) with the LecA and LecB lectins from P. aeruginosa has first confirmed the interest of the multivalent presentation of glycodendrons by the carrier protein (IC50 up to 2.8 nM). Moreover, these studies have shown that the heterovalent display of glycans (5) allows the interaction with both lectins (IC50 of 10 nM) despite the presence of unspecific moieties, and even with similar efficiency for LecB. These results demonstrate the potential of multivalent and multispecific neoGPs as a promising strategy to fight against resistant pathogens.