Controlled Decoration of [60]Fullerene with Polymannan Analogues and Amino Acid Derivatives through Malondiamide-Based Linkers.

In the last few years, nanomaterials based on fullerene have begun to be considered promising tools in the development of efficient adjuvant/delivery systems for vaccination, thanks to their several advantages such as biocompatibility, size, and easy preparation and modification. In this work we reported the chemoenzymatic synthesis of natural polymannan analogues (di- and tri-mannan oligosaccharides characterized by α1,6man and/or α1,2man motifs) endowed with an anomeric propargyl group. These sugar derivatives were submitted to 1,3 Huisgen dipolar cycloaddition with a malondiamide-based chain equipped with two azido terminal groups. The obtained sugar-modified malondiamide derivatives were used to functionalize the surface of Buckminster fullerene (C60) in a highly controlled fashion, and yields (11-41%) higher than those so far reported by employing analogue linkers. The same strategy has been exploited to obtain C60 endowed with natural and unnatural amino acid derivatives. Finally, the first double functionalization of fullerene with both sugar- and amino acid-modified malondiamide chains was successfully performed, paving the way to the possible derivatization of fullerenes with immunogenic sugars and more complex antigenic peptides.

Synthesis and biological application of glyco- and peptide derivatives of fullerene C60.

Fullerenes have attracted considerable attention for their possible use in human therapy. Pure C60 is soluble only in some organic solvents, but this could be overcome by chemical modifications. This review investigates the derivatization strategies and biological applications of fullerene C60 by using polar "active" molecules as sugars and amino acids/peptides that allow the increase of solubility in water. The effect of glycosylation on biological activity of fullerene can be divided in indirect and direct action. The "indirect action" of sugars correlates with their ability to make fullerene soluble in water but glycosylation can be also exploited for the target delivery; accordingly, glyco-derivatives of fullerenes have been investigated in PDT (photodynamic therapy), as inhibitors of in HIV-1 protease or against neurodegenerative diseases. The "direct action" involves fullerenes conjugated with sugars having a defined therapeutic role and the "multivalency" is the properties that ensures a good biological activity of glycofullerene derivatives. Increasing the sugars attached to fullerene intensifies the multivalency needed to efficiently use these glycosylated nanoparticles as potential ligands for receptors and enzymes that mediate the infection of viruses and bacteria (e.g. E. Coli, Ebola or Dengue viruses). Also, amino acids-derivatives of fullerenes have been studied as anti-infective agents (against viruses such as cytomegalovirus and HIV), thanks to their immunological properties; derivatives as fullerenol or by linking tuftsin on a C60 core could be exploited as immunogenic nano-carriers. Alternatively fullerene conjugated with amino acids or peptides is investigated in the treatments of pathologies that request new approaches (Alzheimer, cancer, mixed connective tissue disease, lupus).

Developing a Library of Mannose-Based Mono- and Disaccharides: A General Chemoenzymatic Approach to Monohydroxylated Building Blocks.

Regioselective deprotection of acetylated mannose-based mono- and disaccharides differently functionalized in anomeric position was achieved by enzymatic hydrolysis. Candida rugosa lipase (CRL) and Bacillus pumilus acetyl xylan esterase (AXE) were immobilized on octyl-Sepharose and glyoxyl-agarose, respectively. The regioselectivity of the biocatalysts was affected by the sugar structure and functionalization in anomeric position. Generally, CRL was able to catalyze regioselective deprotection of acetylated monosaccharides in C6 position. When acetylated disaccharides were used as substrates, AXE exhibited a marked preference for the C2, or C6 position when C2 was involved in the glycosidic bond. By selecting the best enzyme for each substrate in terms of activity and regioselectivity, we prepared a small library of differently monohydroxylated building blocks that could be used as intermediates for the synthesis of mannosylated glycoconjugate vaccines targeting mannose receptors of antigen presenting cells.

Novel Vaccine Candidates against Tuberculosis.

Ranking above AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) is the ninth leading cause of death affecting and killing many individuals every year. Drugs' efficacy is limited by a series of problems such as Multi- Drug Resistance (MDR) and Extensively-Drug Resistance (XDR). Meanwhile, the only licensed vaccine BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) existing for over 90 years is not effective enough. Consequently, it is essential to develop novel vaccines for TB prevention and immunotherapy. This paper provides an overall review of the TB prevalence, immune system response against TB and recent progress of TB vaccine research and development. Several vaccines in clinical trials are described as well as LAM-based candidates.