Potent antitumor activity of anti-HER2 antibody-topoisomerase I inhibitor conjugate based on self-immolative dendritic dimeric-linker.

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are a rapidly expanding class of anticancer therapeutics, with 14 ADCs already approved worldwide. We developed unique linker technologies for the bioconjugation of drug molecules with controlled-release applications. We synthesized cathepsin-cleavable ADCs using a dimeric prodrug system based on a self-immolative dendritic scaffold, resulting in a high drug-antibody ratio (DAR) with the potential to reach 16 payloads due to its dendritic structure, increased stability in the circulation and efficient release profile of a highly cytotoxic payload at the targeted site. Using our novel cleavable linker technologies, we conjugated the anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (anti-HER2) antibody, trastuzumab, with topoisomerase I inhibitors, exatecan or belotecan. The newly synthesized ADCs were tested in vitro on mammary carcinoma cells overexpressing human HER2, demonstrating a substantial inhibitory effect on the proliferation of HER2-positive cells. Importantly, a single dose of our trastuzumab-based ADCs administered in vivo to mice bearing HER2-positive tumors, showed a dose-dependent inhibition of tumor growth and survival benefit, with the most potent antitumor effects observed at 10 mg/kg, which resulted in complete tumor regression and survival of 100% of the mice. Overall, our novel dendritic technologies using the protease-cleavable Val-Cit linker present an opportunity for the development of highly selective and potent controlled-released therapeutic payloads. This strategy could potentially lead to the development of novel and effective ADC technologies for patients diagnosed with HER2-positive cancers. Moreover, our proposed ADC linker technology can be implemented in additional medical conditions such as other malignancies as well as autoimmune diseases that overexpress targets, other than HER2.

Stable and Storable N(CF3 )2 Transfer Reagents.

Fluorinated groups are essential for drug design, agrochemicals, and materials science. The bis(trifluoromethyl)amino group is an example of a stable group that has a high potential. While the number of molecules containing perfluoroalkyl, perfluoroalkoxy, and other fluorinated groups is steadily increasing, examples with the N(CF3 )2 group are rare. One reason is that transfer reagents are scarce and metal-based storable reagents are unknown. Herein, a set of CuI and AgI bis(trifluoromethyl)amido complexes stabilized by N- and P-donor ligands with unprecedented stability are presented. The complexes are stable solids that can even be manipulated in air for a short time. They are bis(trifluoromethyl)amination reagents as shown by nucleophilic substitution and Sandmeyer reactions. In addition to a series of benzylbis(trifluoromethyl)amines, 2-bis(trifluoromethyl)amino acetate was obtained, which, upon hydrolysis, gives the fluorinated amino acid N,N-bis(trifluoromethyl)glycine.

Spontaneous Isopeptide Bond Formation as a Powerful Tool for Engineering Site-Specific Antibody-Drug Conjugates.

Spontaneous isopeptide bond formation, a stabilizing posttranslational modification that can be found in gram-positive bacterial cell surface proteins, has previously been used to develop a peptide-peptide ligation technology that enables the polymerization of tagged-proteins catalyzed by SpyLigase. Here we adapted this technology to establish a novel modular antibody labeling approach which is based on isopeptide bond formation between two recognition peptides, SpyTag and KTag. Our labeling strategy allows the attachment of a reporting cargo of interest to an antibody scaffold by fusing it chemically to KTag, available via semi-automated solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), while equipping the antibody with SpyTag. This strategy was successfully used to engineer site-specific antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) that exhibit cytotoxicities in the subnanomolar range. Our approach may lead to a new class of antibody conjugates based on peptide-tags that have minimal effects on protein structure and function, thus expanding the toolbox of site-specific antibody conjugation.

One-Pot Synthesis of Substituted Trifluoromethylated 2,3-Dihydro-1H-imidazoles.

An operationally simple one-pot reaction for the preparation of a novel class of racemic trifluoromethylated 2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazoles derived from electron-poor N,O-acetals and aryl Grignard reagents is described. In addition, access to highly functionalized 2-trifluoromethyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazoles was accomplished by reaction of N-aryl hemiaminal ethers and N-aryl trifluoroethylamines in the presence of an excess of n-butyllithium.

Combined coinage metal catalysis in natural product synthesis: total synthesis of (+)-varitriol and seven analogs.

A modular total synthesis of the natural product (+)-varitriol (1) and seven analogs was achieved by using combined coinage metal catalysis. Starting from enynol 13, reagent-controlled introduction of stereogenic centers and efficient center-to-axis-to-center chirality transfer viaα-hydroxyallene 5 afforded (+)-varitriol with 6.4% yield over 10 steps.

(NHC)CuH-catalyzed entry to allenes via propargylic carbonate S(N)2'-reductions.

The copper hydride-catalyzed S(N)2'-reduction of propargylic carbonates provides an efficient route to functionalized allenes. The method takes advantage of the stabilizing effect of NHC ligands on CuH and combines high reactivity and stereoselectivity with excellent tolerance toward reactive functionalities.

Stereoselective synthesis of syn-configured alpha-allenols by rhodium-catalyzed reaction of alkynyl oxiranes with arylboronic acids.

A rhodium-catalyzed reaction of alkynyl oxiranes with arylboronic acids affords syn-configured alpha-allenols with high diastereoselectivity. The reaction is initiated by addition of an arylrhodium(I) species onto the alkyne moiety of the alkynyl oxirane. The resulting alkenylrhodium(I) intermediate undergoes beta-oxygen elimination to open the oxirane ring in a syn-selective fashion. Protonolysis of the rhodium(I) alkoxide with arylboronic acid releases the corresponding alpha-allenol along with the rhodium(I) boronate, which undergoes beta-aryl elimination to regenerate the arylrhodium(I) species. The utility of this method is demonstrated by an application to a concise synthesis of (+/-)-Boivinianin B.

Synthesis of covalent DNA-protein conjugates by expressed protein ligation.

Semisynthetic DNA-protein conjugates are versatile tools for many applications in bioanalytics and nanobiotechnology. We here report a method based on expressed protein ligation (EPL) for the site-specific coupling of cysteine-modified DNA oligomers with recombinant intein-fusion proteins. The latter contain a C-terminal thioester, enabling the mild and highly specific reaction with N-terminal cysteine compounds. To conveniently couple commercially available DNA oligomers with cysteine groups a universal chemical modifier was developed, containing a protected cysteine and an amino-reactive N-hydroxysuccinimide group connected by a hexaethyleneglycol moiety. Using maltose-binding protein (MBP) and green fluorescent protein mutant EYFP as a model systems, we demonstrate the feasibility of this approach, as well as the integrity and functionality of the DNA-protein conjugates synthesized. We anticipate that our concept will enable many applications, such as the generation of large arrays of surface-bound, recombinant proteins assembled by means of DNA-directed immobilization.