Supramolecularly Engineered Circular Bivalent Aptamer for Enhanced Functional Protein Delivery.

Circular bivalent aptamers (cb-apt) comprise an emerging class of chemically engineered aptamers with substantially improved stability and molecular recognition ability. Its therapeutic application, however, is challenged by the lack of functional modules to control the interactions of cb-apt with therapeutics. We present the design of a ß-cyclodextrin-modified cb-apt (cb-apt-ßCD) and its supramolecular interaction with molecular therapeutics via host-guest chemistry for targeted intracellular delivery. The supramolecular ensemble exhibits high serum stability and enhanced intracellular delivery efficiency compared to a monomeric aptamer. The cb-apt-ßCD ensemble delivers green fluorescent protein into targeted cells with efficiency as high as 80%, or cytotoxic saporin to efficiently inhibit tumor cell growth. The strategy of conjugating ßCD to cb-apt, and subsequently modulating the supramolecular chemistry of cb-apt-ßCD, provides a general platform to expand and diversify the function of aptamers, enabling new biological and therapeutic applications.

N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Gold(I) Complexes Conjugated to a Leukemia-Specific DNA Aptamer for Targeted Drug Delivery.

This report describes the synthesis and characterization of novel N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-gold(I) complexes and their bioconjugation to the CCRF-CEM-leukemia-specific aptamer sgc8c. Successful bioconjugation was confirmed by the use of fluorescent tags on both the NHC-Au(I) complex and the aptamer. Cell-viability assays indicated that the NHC-Au(I) -aptamer conjugate was more cytotoxic than the NHC-gold complex alone. A combination of flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, and cell-viability assays provided clear evidence that the NHC-Au(I) -aptamer conjugate was selective for targeted CCRF-CEM leukemia cells.

Aptamer-mediated selective delivery of a cytotoxic cationic NHC-Au(i) complex to cancer cells.

A novel cationic NHC-Au(i) complex was synthesized and studied for its antitumor activity. For all the cell lines tested, cationic NHC-Au(i) complex 2 shows much higher cytotoxicity than its neutral analogue 1. To achieve selective cancer cell targeting, complex 2 was covalently conjugated to aptamer AS1411, a DNA aptamer with strong binding affinity for nucleolin. The successful conjugation was confirmed by HPLC, gel electrophoresis, fluorescence spectroscopy and UV-Vis absorption. Conjugate AS1411-2 was then examined for its specific targeting and binding ability towards cancer cells over human normal cells using flow cytometry analysis and confocal microscopy. The cytotoxicity of AS1411-2 was then estimated by MTS assay. It was found that AS1411-2 exhibits higher activity than complex 2 towards targeted cells. Importantly, AS1411-2 exhibits much lower cytotoxicity towards healthy normal cell lines. Concurrently, the control groups without the AS1411 aptamer or without the NHC-Au(i) complex do have significant impact on cancer cell viability.

N-heterocyclic carbene gold(I) and silver(I) complexes bearing functional groups for bio-conjugation.

This work describes several synthetic approaches to append organic functional groups to gold and silver N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes suitable for applications in biomolecule conjugation. Carboxylate appended NHC ligands (3) lead to unstable Au(I) complexes that convert into bis-NHC species (4). A benzyl protected carboxylate NHC-Au(I) complex 2 was synthesized but deprotection to produce the carboxylic acid functionality could not be achieved. A small library of new alkyne functionalized NHC proligands were synthesized and used for subsequent silver and gold metalation reactions. The alkyne appended NHC gold complex 13 readily reacts with benzyl azide in a copper catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition reaction to form the triazole appended NHC gold complex 14. Cell cytotoxicity studies were performed on DLD-1 (colorectal adenocarcinoma), Hep-G2 (hepatocellular carcinoma), MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma), CCRF-CEM (human T-Cell leukemia), and HEK (human embryonic kidney). Complete spectroscopic characterization of the ligands and complexes was achieved using (1)H and (13)C NMR, gHMBC, ESI-MS, and combustion analysis.

Assembly of one novel polyoxometalate-based inorganic-organic compound from copper-Schiff base building block: synthesis, crystal structure and spectral properties.

A novel copper(II) inorganic-organic hybrid compound [CuL(DMF)(CH(3)OH)](2)(PMo(V)Mo(VI)(11)O(40))·2DMF (L=phenyl 2-pyridyl ketone azine) 1 has been synthesized and characterized by IR, UV, elemental analysis and X-ray crystallography. Cu(II) atom has a distorted square pyramidal environment interconnecting with N(3)O(2) donor set. In solid-state there are three types of C-H···π interactions between adjacent [CuL(DMF)(CH(3)OH)](2+), which generate a two-dimensional (2D) layer. Adjacent 2D layers form porous channels in which polyoxoanions as templates are filled. Simultaneously, the oxygen atoms of polyoxoanion as electron acceptors feather multiple intermolecular hydrogen bonds, through which giving rise to a 3D supramolecular network. The luminescent properties of the compound 1 were investigated in the solid state and in aqueous solution at room temperature, respectively.

Two one-dimensional d¹°-metal coordination polymers based on polydentate Schiff-base ligand: synthesis, crystal structure and luminescent properties.

Two one-dimensional d(10)-metal coordination polymers {[AgL(H(2)O)](2)[AgL(NO(3))](2)(NO(3))(2)L(H(2)O)(2)}(n) (1) and [ZnLCl(2)](n) (2) (L=N,N'-bis-(1-pyridin-4-yl-ethylidene)-hydrazine) have been synthesized and characterized by IR, elemental analysis, TG technique, XRPD and X-ray crystallography. Polymer 1 contains two types of 1D Ag-double-chain units. Ag(1)-double-chain unit is formed by linking two adjacent Ag(1)-L-chains through face-to-face π⋯π interactions, while Ag(2)-double-chain unit is formed through the combination of coordinating NO(3)(-) anions bridging interactions and π⋯π interactions between two adjacent Ag(2)-L-chains. Free ligands interact with the adjacent Ag(1)-double-chain units and Ag(2)-double-chain units to form a 3D supramolecular structure through multiform hydrogen bonds. For polymer 2, each ligand acts as a bis-monodentate bridging ligand to bind adjacent Zn(II) centers forming a one-dimensional chain structure. Furthermore, 1D chain is held together with its neighboring ones via CH⋯π interactions. The luminescent properties of the polymers 1 and 2 were investigated in the solid state at room temperature.