Carbohydrate–protein interactions and their biosensing applications

Carbohydrate recognition is clearly present throughout nature, playing a major role in the initial attachment of one biological entity to another. The important question is whether these prevalent interactions could provide a real suitable alternative to the use of antibodies or nucleic acid for detection and identification. Currently, examples of carbohydrates being employed in biological detection systems are limited. The challenges of using carbohydrate recognition for detection mainly come from the weak affinity of carbohydrate–protein interactions, the lack of versatile carbohydrate scaffolds with well-defined structures, and the less developed high-information-content, real-time, and label-free assay technology. In this review, we focus on discussing the characteristics of carbohydrate–protein interactions in nature and the methods for carbohydrate immobilization based on surface coupling chemistry in terms of their general applicability for developing carbohydrate- and lectin-based label-free sensors. Furthermore, examples of innovative design of multivalent carbohydrate–protein interactions for sensor applications are given. We limit our review to show the feasibility of carbohydrate and lectin as recognition elements for label-free sensor development in several representative cases to formulate a flexible platform for their use as recognition elements for real-world biosensor applications.     

Advances in polymer and polymeric nanostructures for protein conjugation

Linear polymers have been considered the best molecular structures for the formation of efficient protein conjugates due to their biological advantages, synthetic convenience and ease of functionalization. In recent years, much attention has been dedicated to develop synthetic strategies that produce the most control over protein conjugation utilizing linear polymers as scaffolds. As a result, different conjugate models, such as semitelechelic, homotelechelic, heterotelechelic and branched or star polymer conjugates, have been obtained that take advantage of these well-controlled synthetic strategies. Development of protein conjugates using nanostructures and the formation of said nanostructures from protein–polymer bioconjugates are other areas in the protein bioconjugation field. Although several polymer–protein technologies have been developed from these discoveries, few review articles have focused on the design and function of these polymers and nanostructures. This review will highlight some recent advances in protein-linear polymer technologies that employ protein covalent conjugation and successful protein-nanostructure bioconjugates (covalent conjugation as well) that have shown great potential for biological applications.     

Bioconjugation of ultrabright semiconducting polymer dots for specific cellular targeting

Semiconducting polymer dots (Pdots) represent a new class of ultrabright fluorescent probes for biological imaging. They exhibit several important characteristics for experimentally demanding in vitro and in vivo fluorescence studies, such as their high brightness, fast emission rate, excellent photostability, nonblinking, and nontoxic feature. However, controlling the surface chemistry and bioconjugation of Pdots has been a challenging problem that prevented their widespread applications in biological studies. Here, we report a facile yet powerful conjugation method that overcomes this challenge. Our strategy for Pdot functionalization is based on entrapping heterogeneous polymer chains into a single dot, driven by hydrophobic interactions during nanoparticle formation. A small amount of amphiphilic polymer bearing functional groups is co-condensed with the majority of semiconducting polymers to modify and functionalize the nanoparticle surface for subsequent covalent conjugation to biomolecules, such as streptavidin and immunoglobulin G (IgG). The Pdot bioconjugates can effectively and specifically label cellular targets, such as cell surface marker in human breast cancer cells, without any detectable nonspecific binding. Single-particle imaging, cellular imaging, and flow cytometry experiments indicate a much higher fluorescence brightness of Pdots compared to those of Alexa dye and quantum dot probes. The successful bioconjugation of these ultrabright nanoparticles presents a novel opportunity to apply versatile semiconducting polymers to various fluorescence measurements in modern biology and biomedicine.     

Combinatorial chemistry toward understanding the function(s) of carbohydrates and carbohydrate conjugates

Combinatorial chemistry has contributed significantly to understanding the structure-function relationships of biologically important molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids. However, carbohydrates and carbohydrate conjugates, which have been identified as key modulators of several biological functions have not enjoyed the same measure of success. The complexity and synthetic challenges of carbohydrate conjugates have resulted in a number of conceptual approaches to rapidly access sufficient quantities of these biomolecules. This article summarizes these combinatorial approaches and also highlights fully automated library synthesis of artificial glycopeptides with the goals of understanding their biological roles.     

Noncovalent cell surface engineering: incorporation of bioactive synthetic glycopolymers into cellular membranes

The controlled addition of structurally defined components to live cell membranes can facilitate the molecular level analysis of cell surface phenomena. Here we demonstrate that cell surfaces can be engineered to display synthetic bioactive polymers at defined densities by exogenous membrane insertion. The polymers were designed to mimic native cell-surface mucin glycoproteins, which are defined by their dense glycosylation patterns and rod-like structures. End-functionalization with a hydrophobic anchor permitted incorporation into the membranes of live cultured cells. We probed the dynamic behavior of cell-bound glycopolymers bearing various hydrophobic anchors and glycan structures using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). Their diffusion properties mirrored those of many natural membrane-associated biomolecules. Furthermore, the membrane-bound glycopolymers were internalized into early endosomes similarly to endogenous membrane components and were capable of specific interactions with protein receptors. This system provides a platform to study cell-surface phenomena with a degree of chemical control that cannot be achieved using conventional biological tools.     

High-affinity glycopolymer binding to human DC-SIGN and disruption of DC-SIGN interactions with HIV envelope glycoprotein

Noncovalent interactions between complex carbohydrates and proteins drive many fundamental processes within biological systems, including human immunity. In this report we aimed to investigate the potential of mannose-containing glycopolymers to interact with human DC-SIGN and the ability of these glycopolymers to inhibit the interactions between DC-SIGN and the HIV envelope glycoprotein gp120. We used a library of glycopolymers that are prepared via combination of copper-mediated living radical polymerization and azide-alkyne [3+2] Huisgen cycloaddition reaction. We demonstrate that a relatively simple glycopolymer can effectively prevent the interactions between a human dendritic cell associated lectin (DC-SIGN) and the viral envelope glycoprotein gp120. This approach may give rise to novel insights into the mechanisms of HIV infection and provide potential new therapeutics.     

Design,Synthetic Strategies,and Therapeutic Applications of Heterofunctional Glycodendrimers

Glycodendrimers have attracted considerable interest in the field of dendrimer sciences owing to their plethora of implications in biomedical applications. This is primarily due to the fact that cell surfaces expose a wide range of highly diversified glycan architectures varying by the nature of the sugars, their number, and their natural multiantennary structures. This particular situation has led to cancer cell metastasis, pathogen recognition and adhesion, and immune cell communications that are implicated in vaccine development. The diverse nature and complexity of multivalent carbohydrate–protein interactions have been the impetus toward the syntheses of glycodendrimers. Since their inception in 1993, chemical strategies toward glycodendrimers have constantly evolved into highly sophisticated methodologies. This review constitutes the first part of a series of papers dedicated to the design, synthesis, and biological applications of heterofunctional glycodendrimers. Herein, we highlight the most common synthetic approaches toward these complex molecular architectures and present modern applications in nanomolecular therapeutics and synthetic vaccines.     

Arylation Chemistry for Bioconjugation

Bioconjugation chemistry has been used to prepare modified biomolecules with functions beyond what nature intended. Central to these techniques is the development of highly efficient and selective bioconjugation reactions that operate under mild, biomolecule compatible conditions. Methods that form a nucleophile–sp² carbon bond show promise for creating bioconjugates with new modifications, sometimes resulting in molecules with unparalleled functions. Here we outline and review sulfur, nitrogen, selenium, oxygen, and carbon arylative bioconjugation strategies and their applications to modify peptides, proteins, sugars, and nucleic acids     

Precise synthesis of heterogeneous glycopolymers with well-defined saccharide motifs in the side chain via post-polymerization modification and recognition with lectin

Heterogeneous glycopolymers with different sugar units in the side chain have been receiving considerable attention due to their potential properties in enhancing molecular recognition abilities toward a specific receptor, yet there are limited synthetic approaches to introduce different sugar motifs into the glycopolymer backbone. Herein, a series of heterogeneous glycopolymers consisting of different sugar units in the side chains were synthesized by post-polymerization modification of activated PFPA ester precursor polymers. The functionalized amines bearing two different sugar motifs have been synthesized by gradient CuAAC reaction, which could serve as a platform for achieving heterogeneous sugar units with functional control in concise steps. Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) measurements of the obtained glycopolymers with Concanavalin A indicated that the heterogeneous glycopolymers, poly(Man-βGlu-OH) and poly(Man-βGa-OH) bearing α-D-mannose and other non-binding β-Glucose or β-Galatose units, show higher affinities toward Concanavalin A in comparison to monoglycopolymer poly(Man-Alkyne-OH) in which the non-binding sugar motifs was substituted with non-sugar unit due to synergistic effects of non-binding sugar units. Moreover, this work allows for precise fabrication of a broad variety of glycopolymers in which it significantly broadens the library of accessible polymer structures, either homogeneous or heterogeneous glycopolymers.     

Chemical conjugation of biomacromolecules: A mini-review

Biological studies showed that assembles of biomolecules can dramatically change their physiological effectiveness. Covalent coupling of different types of biomolecules leads to novel biomacromolecules of different properties. Generally, bioconjugate chemistry opens a new dimension in biomedical and biotechnology research. In this review, some important chemical methods of bioconjugates preparation used in the practice are described. Proteins and saccharides modification methods and employment of linkers used to achieve new functionalities are discussed. Common bioconjugation methods are emphasized and novel methods from recent years are described. Except in chemistry, benefits and limits of the studied methods are outlined.     

Recent Advances in the Synthesis and Biomedical Applications of Chain-End Functionalized Glycopolymers

Glycopolymers as multivalent clusters of carbohydrate derivatives have been proven effective tools in the study of carbohydrate-based biological processes and have shown great potential in biomedical applications. It has been found that the shape and size of glycopolymers, as well as the density and relative positioning of their glycan appendages, are very important regarding their effectiveness in bio-interactions. Recently, a variety of chain-end functionalized polymers have been explored for the preparation of structurally well-defined glycopolymers that have potential protein modification and microarray fabrication applications. This review summarizes recent advances in the synthesis and biomedical applications of chain-end functionalized glycopolymers.     

Recent developments in polymer–block–polypeptide and protein–polymer bioconjugate hybrid materials

In the last few years, polymer bioconjugates have been shown to be useful in many emerging areas of materials science. Consequently, the synthesis of polymer bioconjugates has suddenly become a central topic in polymer chemistry. The versatility and robust nature of modern synthetic methods such as controlled radical polymerisation (CLRP),¹ ring-opening polymerisation (ROP), and ‘click’ chemistry make them excellent tools for the preparation of tailor-made polymer bioconjugates. CLRP in combination with other techniques has been shown to be a mature technology for building tailor-made block copolymers and protein–polymer conjugates with a wide range of applications, especially in biomedical domains. This review describes the recent advances and progress in the rapidly expanding field of bioconjugation, outlining the work performed up to 2012.     

High-throughput chemistry toward complex carbohydrates and carbohydrate-like compounds

In the area of peptide and nucleic acid chemistry and biology, high-throughput synthesis has played an important role in providing useful small-molecule-based chemical probes in understanding the structure and function relationships. The past several years, there has been a constant rise in interest toward understanding the biological roles and functions of another important class of biomolecules, i.e., carbohydrates and carbohydrate conjugates. Although at early stages, in recent years, several groups have developed high-throughput synthetic methods to obtain complex carbohydrates or carbohydrate-like small-molecules. The present review article summarizes some of these developments.     

Cellular and Molecular Engineering of Glycan Sialylation in Heterologous Systems

Glycans have been shown to play a key role in many biological processes, such as signal transduction, immunogenicity, and disease progression. Among the various glycosylation modifications found on cell surfaces and in biomolecules, sialylation is especially important, because sialic acids are typically found at the terminus of glycans and have unique negatively charged moieties associated with cellular and molecular interactions. Sialic acids are also crucial for glycosylated biopharmaceutics, where they promote stability and activity. In this regard, heterogenous sialylation may produce variability in efficacy and limit therapeutic applications. Homogenous sialylation may be achieved through cellular and molecular engineering, both of which have gained traction in recent years. In this paper, we describe the engineering of intracellular glycosylation pathways through targeted disruption and the introduction of carbohydrate active enzyme genes. The focus of this review is on sialic acid-related genes and efforts to achieve homogenous, humanlike sialylation in model hosts. We also discuss the molecular engineering of sialyltransferases and their application in chemoenzymatic sialylation and sialic acid visualization on cell surfaces. The integration of these complementary engineering strategies will be useful for glycoscience to explore the biological significance of sialic acids on cell surfaces as well as the future development of advanced biopharmaceuticals.     

Synthesis of benzaldehyde-functionalized LewisX trisaccharide analogs for glyco-SAM formation

LewisX (Le^x) antigen based carbohydrate–carbohydrate interactions are mediated by complexation of metal ions. Although theoretical studies about the influence of participating hydroxyl groups in the Le^x trisaccharide head group (Galβ(1-4)[Fucα(1-3)]GlcNAc) could gave same rudimental information about the basic mechanism behind this interaction, a little is known about orientation and configuration of the hydroxyl groups required for the specific interaction mediated by Ca²⁺ complexation. Therefore, there is a need of non-natural derivatives to provide detailed information about the requirements for hydroxyl group arrangement in Le^x head group surface plasmon resonance and gold nanoparticle techniques have shown to be powerful tools to investigate carbohydrate–carbohydrate interactions. Benzaldehyde-functionalized glycans can be used for attachment to both gold nanoparticles and surface plasmon resonance sensor surfaces. Therefore, seven benzaldehyde equipped Le^x analogs including the natural trisaccharide were synthesized utilizing convergent approach. The derivatives were applied in ongoing carbohydrate–carbohydrate interaction studies by surface plasmon resonance experiments to prove theoretical postulate about the structural requirements of hydroxyl group arrangements in Le^x trisaccharides.     

“活性”/可控自由基聚合反应制备聚合物-蛋白质/多肽生物结合物

将蛋白质或多肽连接到高分子链上,能够改善蛋白质/多肽的稳定性、生物相溶性和溶解性而赋予其优异的应用性能,所得聚合物-蛋白质/多肽生物结合物已经被广泛应用于药物载体、生物材料、纳米材料等领域。本文介绍借助"活性"/可控自由基聚合反应制备新型功能高分子材料的原理与方法,以及其合成聚合物-蛋白质/多肽生物结合物的国内外研究进展。     

Stable and Rapid Thiol Bioconjugation by Light‐Triggered Thiomaleimide Ring Hydrolysis

Maleimide‐mediated thiol‐specific derivatization of biomolecules is one of the most efficacious bioconjugation approaches currently available. Alarmingly, however, recent work demonstrates that the resulting thiomaleimide conjugates are susceptible to breakdown via thiol exchange reactions. Herein, we report a new class of maleimides, namely o ‐CH₂NHⁱ Pr phenyl maleimides, that undergo unprecedentedly rapid ring hydrolysis after thiol conjugation to form stable thiol exchange‐resistant conjugates. Furthermore, we overcome the problem of low shelf lives of maleimide reagents owing to their propensity to undergo ring hydrolysis prior to bioconjugation by developing a photocaged version of this scaffold that resists ring hydrolysis. UV irradiation of thiol bioconjugates formed with this photocaged maleimide unleashes rapid thiomaleimide ring hydrolysis to yield the desired stable conjugates within 1 h under gentle, ice‐cold conditions.     

Pd(II)-Mediated C−H Activation for Cysteine Bioconjugation

Selective bioconjugation remains a significant challenge for the synthetic chemist due to the stringent reaction conditions required by biomolecules coupled with their high degree of functionality. The current trailblazer of transition-metal mediated bioconjugation chemistry involves the use of Pd(II) complexes prepared via an oxidative addition process. Herein, the preparation of Pd(II) complexes for cysteine bioconjugation via a facile C−H activation process is reported. These complexes show bioconjugation efficiency competitive with what is seen in the current literature, with a user-friendly synthesis, common Pd(II) sources, and a more cost-effective ligand. Furthermore, these complexes need not be isolated, and still achieve high conversion efficiency and selectivity of a model peptide. These complexes also demonstrate the ability to selectively arylate a single surface cysteine residue on a model protein substrate, further demonstrating their utility.     

Glycopeptide and Oligosaccharide Libraries

Despite the burgeoning interest in the various biological functions and consequent therapeutic potential of the vast number of oligosaccharides found in nature on glycoproteins and cell surfaces, the development of combinatorial carbohydrate chemistry has not progressed as rapidly as expected. The reason for this imbalance is rooted in the difficulty of oligosaccharide assembly and analysis that renders synthesis a rather cumbersome endeavor. Parallel approaches that generate series of analogous compounds rather than real libraries have therefore typically been used. Since generally low affinity is obtained for interactions between carbohydrate receptors and modified oligosaccharides designed as mimetics of natural carbohydrate ligands, glycopeptides have been explored as alternative mimics. Glycopeptides have been proven in many cases to be superior ligands with higher affinity for a receptor than the natural carbohydrate ligand. High-affinity glycopeptide ligands have been found for several types of receptors including the E-, P-, and L-selectins, toxins, glycohydrolases, bacterial adhesins, and the mannose-6-phosphate receptor. Furthermore, the assembly of glycopeptides is considerably more facile than that of oligosaccharides and the process can be adapted to combinatorial synthesis with either glycosylated amino acid building blocks or by direct glycosylation of peptide templates. The application of the split and combine approach using ladder synthesis has allowed the generation of very large numbers of compounds which could be analyzed and screened for binding of receptors on solid phase. This powerful technique can be used generally for the identification and analysis of the complex interaction between the carbohydrates and their receptors.     

Sulfonium alkylation followed by ‘click’ chemistry for facile surface modification of proteins and tobacco mosaic virus

Alkylsulfonium salts (ASS) have been shown to act as powerful alkylating agents. However, few studies have addressed the application of sulfonium salts to the modification of biomolecules such as nucleic acids and proteins. Since these large biomolecules play important roles in biological processes, a convenient and fast method for their modification is greatly needed. In this work, for the first time, we used a tandem method of sulfonium alkylation and click chemistry (CuAAC) for modification of biomolecules. Fluorescent labeling of proteins and tobacco mosaic virus were successfully performed after simple incubation of biomolecules with sulfonium salts followed by azido-containing compound at room temperature. This facile bioconjugation assay based on ASS-CuAAC reactions should be useful in protein chemistry and bionanoscience.