Amphiphilic α-Peptoid-deoxynojirimycin Conjugate-based Multivalent Glycosidase Inhibitor for Hypoglycemic Effect and Fluorescence Imaging.

Multivalent glycosidase inhibitors based on 1-deoxynojirimycin derivatives against α-glucosidases have been rapidly developed. Nonetheless, the mechanism based on self-assembled multivalent glucosidase inhibitors in living systems needs to be further studied. It remains to be determined whether the self-assembly possesses sufficient stability to endure transit through the small intestine and subsequently bind to the glycosidases located therein. In this paper, two amphiphilic compounds, 1-deoxynojirimycin and α-peptoid conjugates (LP-4DNJ-3C and LP-4DNJ-6C), were designed. Their self-assembling behaviors, multivalent α-glucosidase inhibition effect, and fluorescence imaging on living organs were studied. LP-4DNJ-6C exhibited better multivalent α-glucosidase inhibition activities in vitro. Moreover, the self-assembly of LP-4DNJ-6C could effectively form a complex with Nile red. The complex showed fluorescence quenching effect upon binding with α-glucosidases and exhibited potent fluorescence imaging in the small intestine. This result suggests that a multivalent hypoglycemic effect achieved through self-assembly in the intestine is a viable approach, enabling the rational design of multivalent hypoglycemic drugs.

Nucleolus imaging based on naphthalimide derivatives.

Nucleolus was an important cellular organelle. The abnormal morphology and number of the nucleolus have been considered as diagnostic biomarkers for some human diseases. However, the imaging agent based on nucleolus was limited. In this manuscript, a series of nucleolar fluorescent probes based on naphthalimide derivatives (NI-1 âˆ¼ NI-5) had been designed and synthesized. NI-1 âˆ¼ NI-5 could penetrate cell membranes and nuclear membranes, achieve clear nucleolar staining in living cells. These results suggested that the presence of amino groups on the side chains of naphthalimide backbone could enhance the targeting to the cell nucleolus. In addition, the molecular docking results showed that NI-1 âˆ¼ NI-5 formed hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions with RNA, and exhibited enhanced fluorescence upon binding with RNA. These results will provide favorable support for the diagnosis and treatment of nucleolus-related diseases in the future.

Triple targeting host-guest drug delivery system based on lactose-modified azocalix[4]arene for tumor ablation.

Host-guest drug delivery systems (HGDDSs) have been studied in an effort to modify the characteristics of therapeutic agents through noncovalent interactions, reduce toxic side effects and improve therapeutic effects. However, it is still an important task to continuously improve the targeting ability of HGDDSs, which is conducive to the development of precision medicine. Herein, we utilize the lactose-modified azocalix[4]arene (LacAC4A) as a triple targeting drug carrier customized for antitumor purposes. LacAC4A integrates three targeting features, passive targeting through the enhancing permeability and retention effect, active targeting by the interactions of lactose and the asialoglycoprotein receptors on the surface of tumor cells, and stimuli-responsive targeting via the reduction of the azo group under a hypoxia microenvironment. After loading doxorubicin (DOX) in LacAC4A, the supramolecular nanoformulation DOX@LacAC4A clearly showed the effective suppression of tumor growth through in vivo experiments. LacAC4A can achieve effective targeting, rapid release, and improve drug bioavailability. This design principle will provide a new material for drug delivery systems.

Fluorescence sensing and glycosidase inhibition effect of multivalent glycosidase inhibitors based on Naphthalimide-deoxynojirimycin conjugates.

Synthetic glycoconjugates as chemical probes have been widely developed for the detection of glycosidase enzymes. However, the binding interactions between iminosugar derivatives and glycosidases were limited, especially for the binding interactions between multivalent glycosidase inhibitors and α-glycosidases. In this paper, three naphthalimide-DNJ conjugates were synthesized. Furthermore, the binding interactions and glycosidase inhibition effects of them were investigated. It was found that the strong binding interactions of multivalent glycosidase inhibitors with enzymes were related to the efficient inhibitory activity against glycosidase. Moreover, the lengths of the chain between DNJ moieties and the triazole ring for the naphthalimide-DNJ conjugates influenced the self-assembly properties, binding interactions and glycosidase inhibition activities with multisource glycosidases. Compound 13 with six carbons between the DNJ moiety and triazole ring showed the stronger binding interactions and better glycosidase inhibition activities against α-mannosidase (jack bean) and α-glucosidase (aspergillus niger). In addition, compound 13 showed an effective PBG inhibition effect in mice with 51.18 % decrease in blood glucose at 30 min. This result opens a way for detection of multivalent glycosidase inhibition effect by a fluorescent sensing method.

Synthesis, Renal Clearance, and Photothermal Therapy Based on the Self-Assembly of a Nanomedicine Consisting of Quaterrylene Bisimide and Glycocluster Conjugates.

Renal-clearable nanomedicines are considered the next generation of nanomedicines, and show potential application for future clinical translations. However, it is important to determine whether self-assembly can form large aggregates that accrue in tumors and then tailor the size of these assemblies to be excreted renally. In this paper, a renal-clearable nanomedicine based on quanterrylene bisimide-mannose conjugates (QDI-Man) was developed. QDI-Man showed a high renal clearance efficiency of 80.31 ± 2.85% in mice. We confirmed that the self-assembly of QDI-Man exhibited a dynamic adjustment process through the renal filtration thresholds, that is, "aggregation → self-regulating the aggregate size through the renal filtration thresholds → reaggregating into aggregates". Benefiting from the modification of mannose-based glycoclusters, QDI-Man showed selective photothermal therapy because of the mannose receptors overexpressed in breast cancer cells, and showed good photothermal therapy in mice. This paper developed a dynamic adjustment theory for effective renal clearance based on organic self-assembly.

Correction: Synthesis, self-aggregation and cryopreservation effects of perylene bisimide-glycopeptide conjugates.

Correction for 'Synthesis, self-aggregation and cryopreservation effects of perylene bisimide-glycopeptide conjugates' by Xu He et al., Chem. Commun., 2021, DOI: 10.1039/d1cc03835d.

Synthesis, self-aggregation and cryopreservation effects of perylene bisimide-glycopeptide conjugates.

Three perylene bisimide-glycopeptide conjugates (PBI-AFF-Man, PBI-AFF-Glu and PBI-AFF-Gal) were synthesized, which showed moderate activity in the control of ice crystal growth. Furthermore, the cellular cryopreservation effects of PBI-AFF-Man, PBI-AFF-Glu and PBI-AFF-Gal showed enhancements in cell viabilities, especially for PBI-AFF-Glu with values of 22.77 ± 3.33% (HeLa cells), 19.43 ± 1.90% (A549 cells) and 16.63 ± 1.76% (GES-1 cells) at a dose of 1.0 mg mL-1. This work will help guide the development of self-assembled cryoprotectants.

Nucleus-targeting imaging and enhanced cytotoxicity based on naphthalimide derivatives.

Organelles possess critical biological effects in cellular processes. However, the relationship between organelle targeting and antitumour activity is a challenging issue. In this paper, a number of amide/acylhydrazine modified naphthalimide derivatives were designed and synthesized. Interestingly, amide modified naphthalimide derivatives NI-A-NH and NI-C-NH with (R)-piperdine and (S)-pyrrolidine functionalization exhibited enhanced cytotoxicity compared with acylhydrazine modified derivatives NI-A-2NH and NI-C-2NH. However, acylhydrazine modified derivatives NI-B-2NH and NI-D-2NH with (S)-piperdine and achiral piperdine conjugates possessed better cytotoxicity than NI-B-NH and NI-D-NH with amide modifications. Fluorescence imaging, DNA binding interactions and cell cycle analyses were further completed to clarify that the nucleus-targeting effects showed enhanced cytotoxic activity, strong DNA binding and the blocking of cells in S phase. These results provide a preliminary theoretical basis for the further design of organelle-targeting antitumour drugs.

Antitumour properties based on the self-assembly of camptothecin and carbamoylmannose conjugates.

Camptothecin (CPT) and its analogues show potent antitumour activity. However, poor water solubility and severe side effects have restricted their applications in clinical practice. In this paper, a novel self-assembly based on camptothecin and carbamoylmannose conjugates (CPT-Man) was constructed. The self-assembly increased the water solubility of camptothecin to 0.64 mg/ml and antitumour activity. Moreover, CPT-Man could induce obvious cancer cell apoptosis. This work provides a new approach for exploring carbohydrate-modified antitumour properties by self-assembled CPT drugs.

Effective Renal Clearance and Photothermal Therapy of a Cyclodextrin-Modified Quaterrylene Derivative.

Metabolic clearance of drugs from the body is a key element for future clinical applications. Compared with the liver-bile metabolic route, the renal-urinary route is the most desirable and efficient clearance pathway for practical use in clinical trials and can effectively decrease the long-term risk of unpredictable intracellular catabolism and the potential toxicity to normal organs. However, renal clearable photothermal therapy (PTT) agents were limited. In this paper, a permethyl-ß-cyclodextrin-modified quaterrylene bisimide derivative (QDI-CD) was developed. QDI-CD as a biocompatible molecule could effectively be cleared with the renal clearance efficiency of (67.00 ± 2.37)% at 24 h by the renal-urinary route when administered by tail vein injection. Importantly, the structure of QDI-CD in urine after metabolism does not change. Furthermore, QDI-CD, as a potent photoacoustic and photothermal agent, could effectively be enriched in tumor tissue after 4 h of injection and showed the effective PTT in mice. This work developed a potent organic PTT agent with good renal clearance from the body and with promise for future clinical applications.

Lysosomes-targeting imaging and anticancer properties of novel bis-naphthalimide derivatives.

A series of novel N,N-bis(3-aminopropyl)methylamine bridged bis-naphthalimide derivatives NI1-NI8 containing saturated nitrogenous heterocycles were designed and synthesized, their cytotoxic activities against Hela, MCF-7, A549 and MGC-803 cells were investigated, Compounds NI1-NI4 modified with piperidine and piperazine exhibited good and selective cytotoxic activity, for instance, compounds NI1 and NI4 showed potent cytotoxic activity against Hela cells and MGC-803 cells with the IC50 values of 2.89, 060, 2.73 and 1.60 µM, respectively, better than the control drug (Amonafide). However, compounds NI5-NI8 conjugated with pyrrole derivatives showed weak cytotoxic activities against the all tested cell lines. Furthermore, their DNA binding properties, fluorescence imaging and cell cycle were investigated. Interestingly, compounds NI1 and NI4 showed fluorescence enhancement because of the strong binding with Ct-DNA, and exhibited fluorescence imaging with Hela cells on the lysosomes.

Substituent Effects on Cytotoxic Activity, Spectroscopic Property, and DNA Binding Property of Naphthalimide Derivatives.

A series of novel naphthalimide derivatives NI1-5 containing piperazine moieties (N-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine and 1-piperazinepropanol) and piperidine moieties (4-piperidinemethanol, 4-hydroxypiperidine and 4-piperidineethanol) have been synthesized and evaluated for their cytotoxic activity, spectroscopic property, and DNA binding behaviors. It was found that substituents at the 4-position remarkably influence the various activities of this series of compound. Compounds NI3-5 modified with piperidines exhibited potent cytotoxic activities against Hela, SGC-7901, and A549 cells with the IC50 values from 0.73 µm to 6.80 µm, which are better than NI1-2 functionalized with piperazines. Compounds NI1-2 showed higher binding capacity with Ct-DNA than compounds NI3-5 based on studies of UV-vis, fluorescence and CD spectra. Furthermore, compounds NI3-5, as DNA intercalators, showed fluorescence enhancement upon binding with Ct-DNA. More interestingly, fluorescence imaging studies of compound NI4 with A549 cells showed that the fluorescence predominantly appeared in the cytoplasm. These results provided a potential application of NI3-5 as anticancer therapeutic and cancer cell imaging agents.

Different metabolic profiles of K1 serotype and non-serotype K1 and K2 Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates in oral infection mice model.

K1 or K2 serotype Klebsiella pneumoniae isolate caused clinical pyogenic liver abscess (KLA) infection is prevalent in many areas. It has been identified that K1 or K2 serotype K. pneumoniae isolates caused KLA infection in mice by oral inoculation. In our study, K1 serotype K. pneumoniae isolate Kp1002 with hypermucoviscosity (HV)-positive phenotype caused KLA infection in C57BL/6 mice by oral inoculation. Simultaneously, non-serotype K1 and K2 isolate Kp1014 with HV-negative phenotype failed to cause KLA infection in the same manner. It seems that gastrointestinal tract translocation is the pathway by which K1 or K2 serotype K. pneumoniae caused KLA infection. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to further analyze metabolic profile changes in mice with KLA infection. Data showed that after Kp1002 or Kp1014 oral inoculation, serum Phosphatidylcholine (PC) and Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) levels significantly changed in mice. Some PC and LPC molecules showed changes both in the Kp1002 KLA group and the Kp1014 no-KLA group compared with the control group. The level of 18:1/18:2-PC significantly changed in the Kp1002 KLA group compared with the control group, but showed no change between the Kp1014 no-KLA group and the control group. The level of 18:1/18:2-PC might have been particularly affected by KLA infection caused by K1 serotype K. pneumoniae Kp1002. It may be a potential biomarker for KLA infection.

Fluorescence turn-on sensing of protein based on mannose functionalized perylene bisimides and its fluorescence imaging.

A new water-soluble glycocluster based on perylene bisimides PBI-12-Man has been designed and synthesized, and its specific and selective binding property with Concanavalin A (Con A) has been investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, which showed strong binding affinity for Con A with the binding constant of 8.2×10(5)M(-1) for monomeric mannose unit, two orders of magnitude higher than the corresponding monosaccharide ligand. Most interestingly, a fluorescence enhancement of PBI-12-Man was observed upon binding with Con A because of deaggregation of the self-assembly of PBI-12-Man induced by carbohydrate-protein interaction, and the further study of the fluorescence enhancement with macrophage cells showed that PBI-12-Man as a biocompatible agent had fluorescence imaging of the surface mannose receptor of the cells. Such fluorescence turn-on sensing of protein based on carbohydrate-protein interactions would facilitate the development of new protein-specific fluorescent probe for diagnosis and molecular imaging under live cell conditions.

Synthesis of biocompatible glycodendrimer based on fluorescent perylene bisimides and its bioimaging.

A novel water-soluble fluorescent glycodendrimer based on perylene bisimides is synthesized, which exhibits high fluorescence quantum yield of 54%. While the binding interactions of PBI-Man with Concanavalin A (Con A) are studied by fluorescence spectra and CD spectra, which show strong binding affinity for Con A with the binding constant of 3.8 × 10(7) m(-1) for monomeric mannose, nearly four orders of magnitude higher affinity than the monovalent mannose ligand. Furthermore, the fluorescence imaging of macrophage cell with PBI-Man is investigated, and shows selectively binding interaction with the mannose receptor-medicated cell entry. Moreover, the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) activities of PBI-Man show that PBI-Man as a biocompatible agent is noncytotoxic to living cells.