Modification of Cysteine-Substituted Antibodies Using Enzymatic Oxidative Coupling Reactions.

Cysteines are routinely used as site-specific handles to synthesize antibody-drug conjugates for targeted immunotherapy applications. Michael additions between thiols and maleimides are some of the most common methods for modifying cysteines, but these functional groups can be difficult to prepare on scale, and the resulting linkages have been shown to be reversible under some physiological conditions. Here, we show that the enzyme tyrosinase, which oxidizes conveniently accessed phenols to afford reactive ortho-quinone intermediates, can be used to attach phenolic cargo to cysteines engineered on antibody surfaces. The resulting linkages between the thiols and ortho-quinones are shown to be more resistant than maleimides to reversion under physiological conditions. Using this approach, we construct antibody conjugates bearing cytotoxic payloads, which exhibit targeted cell killing, and further demonstrate this method for the attachment of a variety of cargo to antibodies, including fluorophores and oligonucleotides.

RNA-Based Immunostimulatory Liposomal Spherical Nucleic Acids as Potent TLR7/8 Modulators.

Immunostimulatory spherical nucleic acids (IS-LSNAs) comprised of RNA selective for toll-like receptors (TLRs) 7/8 are synthesized and characterized. These structures consist of liposomal cores functionalized with a dense shell of RNA inserted into the wall of the lipid core via hydrophobic cholesterol moieties. IS-LSNAs potently activate TLR7/8 via NF-κΒ signaling in reporter cell lines and in primary immune cells as evidenced by cytokine production and the upregulation of costimulatory receptors. Importantly, they are preferentially taken up by plasmacytoid dendritic cells, an observation that makes them potentially useful for immunotherapy. In addition, these structures contain a core that can be loaded with antigens and used to prime T cells. In this regard, it is shown that dendritic cells treated with IS-SNAs loaded with ovalbumin peptide can prime ova specific CD8+ T cells. In addition to introducing the first IS-LSNAs consisting of RNA, these experiments show that one can facilitate an antigen-specific T cell response greater than that of free or cationic lipid-transfected RNA of the same sequence selective for TLR7/8. This work points toward the promise of using IS-LSNAs comprised of RNA as potent and highly tunable TLR-specific agents for the development of vaccines and other pharmaceuticals that require selective immunomodulation.

Immunomodulatory spherical nucleic acids.

Immunomodulatory nucleic acids have extraordinary promise for treating disease, yet clinical progress has been limited by a lack of tools to safely increase activity in patients. Immunomodulatory nucleic acids act by agonizing or antagonizing endosomal toll-like receptors (TLR3, TLR7/8, and TLR9), proteins involved in innate immune signaling. Immunomodulatory spherical nucleic acids (SNAs) that stimulate (immunostimulatory, IS-SNA) or regulate (immunoregulatory, IR-SNA) immunity by engaging TLRs have been designed, synthesized, and characterized. Compared with free oligonucleotides, IS-SNAs exhibit up to 80-fold increases in potency, 700-fold higher antibody titers, 400-fold higher cellular responses to a model antigen, and improved treatment of mice with lymphomas. IR-SNAs exhibit up to eightfold increases in potency and 30% greater reduction in fibrosis score in mice with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Given the clinical potential of SNAs due to their potency, defined chemical nature, and good tolerability, SNAs are attractive new modalities for developing immunotherapies.

Tip-Directed Synthesis of Multimetallic Nanoparticles.

Alloy nanoparticles are important in many fields, including catalysis, plasmonics, and electronics, due to the chemical and physical properties that arise from the interactions between their components. Typically, alloy nanoparticles are made by solution-based synthesis; however, scanning-probe-based methods offer the ability to make and position such structures on surfaces with nanometer-scale resolution. In particular, scanning probe block copolymer lithography (SPBCL), which combines elements of block copolymer lithography with scanning probe techniques, allows one to synthesize nanoparticles with control over particle diameter in the 2-50 nm range. Thus far, single-element structures have been studied in detail, but, in principle, one could make a wide variety of multicomponent systems by controlling the composition of the polymer ink, polymer feature size, and metal precursor concentrations. Indeed, it is possible to use this approach to synthesize alloy nanoparticles comprised of combinations of Au, Ag, Pd, Ni, Co, and Pt. Here, such structures have been made with diameters deliberately tailored in the 10-20 nm range and characterized by STEM and EDS for structural and elemental composition. The catalytic activity of one class of AuPd alloy nanoparticles made via this method was evaluated with respect to the reduction of 4-nitrophenol with NaBH4. In addition to being the first catalytic studies of particles made by SPBCL, these proof-of-concept experiments demonstrate the potential for SPBCL as a new method for studying the fundamental science and potential applications of alloy nanoparticles in areas such as heterogeneous catalysis.

Liposomal spherical nucleic acids.

A novel class of metal-free spherical nucleic acid nanostructures was synthesized from readily available starting components. These particles consist of 30 nm liposomal cores, composed of an FDA-approved 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) lipid monomer. The surface of the liposomes was functionalized with DNA strands modified with a tocopherol tail that intercalates into the phospholipid layer of the liposomal core via hydrophobic interactions. The spherical nucleic acid architecture not only stabilizes these constructs but also facilitates cellular internalization and gene regulation in SKOV-3 cells.

Development and application of an in vitro assay to assess target-independent B-cell activation by targeted TLR7 immune agonists.

Targeted immune agonist (TIA) comprising a TLR7 agonist conjugated to tumor-targeting antibodies have been shown to induce potent anti-tumor responses in various preclinical models. However, the clinical proof-of-concept of a TIA has been hampered by systemic dose-limiting immune-related toxicities, including rapid induction of anti-drug antibodies in patients. We have developed ELISPOT-based assay to measure activation of antibody-secreting cells (ASCs), intended to simulate the interaction between TIA and peripheral B cells as a tool to pre-clinically de-risk tumor target-independent peripheral B-cell activation by TIA. This method has proven to be robust and has fast turn-around time to evaluate the induction of spontaneous B-cell activation by TIA in a tumor target- and FcγR-independent manner. This novel ASC assay platform may serve as a preclinical tool to de-risk TIAs that can potentially induce immune-related adverse effects in the clinic.

Continuous-flow synthesis of monoarylated acetaldehydes using aryldiazonium salts.

Anilines and ethyl vinyl ether can be used as precursors for a process that is the synthetic equivalent of the α-arylation of acetaldehyde enolate. The reaction manifests a high level of functional group compatibility, allowing the ready preparation of a number of synthetically valuable compounds.

The Pyridyldiisopropylsilyl Group: A Masked Functionality and Directing Group for Monoselective ortho-Acyloxylation and ortho-Halogenation Reactions of Arenes.

A novel, easily removable and modifiable silicon-tethered pyridyldiisopropylsilyl directing group for C-H functionalizations of arenes has been developed. The installation of the pyridyldiisopropylsilyl group can efficiently be achieved via two complementary routes using easily available 2-(diisopropylsilyl)pyridine (5). The first strategy features a nucleophilic hydride substitution at the silicon atom in 5 with aryllithium reagents generated in situ from the corresponding aryl bromides or iodides. The second milder route exploits a highly efficient room-temperature rhodium(I)-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction between 5 and aryl iodides. The latter approach can be applied to the preparation of a wide range of pyridyldiisopropylsilyl-substituted arenes possessing a variety of functional groups, including those incompatible with organometallic reagents. The pyridyldiisopropylsilyl directing group allows for a highly efficient, regioselective palladium(II)-catalyzed mono-ortho-acyloxylation and ortho-halogenation of various aromatic compounds. Most impor-tantly, the silicon-tethered directing group in both acyloxylated and halogenated products can easily be removed or efficiently converted into an array of other valuable functionalities. These transformations include protio-, deuterio-, halo-, boro-, and alkynyldesilylations, as well as a conversion of the directing group into the hydroxy functionality. In addition, the construction of aryl-aryl bonds via the Hiyama-Denmark cross-coupling reaction is feasible for the acetoxylated products. Moreover, the ortho-halogenated pyridyldiisopropylsilylarenes, bearing both nucleophilic pyridyldiisopropylsilyl and electrophilic aryl halide moieties, represent synthetically attractive 1,2-ambiphiles. A unique reactivity of these ambiphiles has been demonstrated in efficient syntheses of arylenediyne and benzosilole derivatives, as well as in a facile generation of benzyne. In addition, preliminary mechanistic studies of the acyloxylation and halogenation reactions have been performed. A trinuclear palladacycle intermediate has been isolated from a stoichiometric reaction between diisopropyl-(phenyl)pyrid-2-ylsilane (3a) and palladium acetate. Furthermore, both C-H functionalization reactions exhibited equally high values of the intramolecular primary kinetic isotope effect (kH/kD = 6.7). Based on these observations, a general mechanism involving the formation of a palladacycle via a C-H activation process as the rate-determining step has been proposed.

PyDipSi: a general and easily modifiable/traceless Si-tethered directing group for C-H acyloxylation of arenes.

A new general and easily installable silicon-tethered pyridyl-containing directing group (PyDipSi) that allows for highly efficient and regioselective Pd-catalyzed ortho C-H acyloxylation of arenes has been developed. It has also been demonstrated that this directing group can efficiently be removed as well as converted into a variety of other valuable functional groups. In addition, the installation of the PyDipSi directing group along with pivaloxylation and quantitative conversion of the PyDipSi group into a halogen functionality represents a formal three-step ortho oxygenation of haloarenes.

Efficient and General Synthesis of 3-Aminoindolines and 3-Aminoindoles via Copper-Catalyzed Three Component Coupling Reaction.

An efficient three component coupling (TCC) reaction toward a variety of 3-aminoindoline and 3-aminoindole derivatives has been developed. This cascade transformation proceeds via the copper-catalyzed coupling reaction between 2-aminobenzaldehyde, secondary amine, and alkyne leading to propargylamine intermediate, which, under the reaction conditions, undergoes cyclization into the indoline core. The latter, upon treatment with a base, smoothly isomerizes into indole. Alternatively, indole can directly be synthesized in a one-pot sequential reaction.

Synthesis of Fluorenes via the Palladium-Catalyzed 5-Exo-dig Annulation of o-Alkynyl Biaryls.

The direct Pd-catalyzed intramolecular rapidly with electron-deficient benzene ring, which, in hydroarylation of o-alkynyl biaryls proceeded in highly combination with a substantial isotope effect observed, stereoselective manner producing fluorenes 2, the products of 5-exo-dig cyclization, in excellent yields. The cascade intermolecular arylation, incorporated in this transformation, allowed for efficient synthesis of fully-substituted fluorenes 12. These cyclizations proceed more rapidly with electron-deficient benzene ring, which, in combination with a substantial isotope effect observed, strongly supports a C-H activation mechanism for the key annulation step.

Exclusive 5-exo-dig hydroarylation of o-alkynyl biaryls proceeding via C-H activation pathway.

The first example of the palladium-catalyzed exclusive 5-exo-dig hydroarylation of o-alkynyl biaryls has been demonstrated. In contrast to the reported earlier carbocyclizations proceeding via the Friedel-Crafts mechanism, this hydroarylation efficiently proceeds with electron-neutral and electron-deficient arenes, producing fluorene frameworks with defined stereochemistry of the double bond. On the basis of the high reactivity of electron-deficient arenes toward cyclization, high values of inter- and intramolecular kinetic isotope effects, and the exclusive cis-selectivity of cyclization, a mechanism involving a C-H activation motif has been proposed for this transformation.

Dual role of alkynyl halides in one-step synthesis of alkynyl epoxides.

It was demonstrated that alkynyl halides could serve as a source of Br+ and acetylide ions in the same transformation. This allowed for the efficient one-step preparation of alkynyl epoxides, important organic building blocks, from readily available starting materials.

Rhodium-catalyzed transannulation of 1,2,3-triazoles with nitriles.

Stable and readily available 1-sulfonyl triazoles are converted to the corresponding imidazoles in good to excellent yields via a rhodium(II)-catalyzed reaction with nitriles. Rhodium iminocarbenoids are proposed intermediates.

Direct Pd-catalyzed arylation of 1,2,3-triazoles.

A highly efficient method for the synthesis of multisubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles via a direct Pd-catalyzed C-5 arylation has been developed.