Stabilization of Aliphatic Phosphines by Auxiliary Phosphine Sulfides Offers Zeptomolar Affinity and Unprecedented Selectivity for Probing Biological CuI |
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| Authors: | Dr M Thomas Morgan Dr Bo Yang Dr Shefali Harankhedkar Arielle Nabatilan Dr Daisy Bourassa Dr Adam M McCallum Fangxu Sun Prof Dr Ronghu Wu Prof Dr Craig R Forest Prof Dr Christoph J Fahrni |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA;2. G. W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA |
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| Abstract: | Full elucidation of the functions and homeostatic pathways of biological copper requires tools that can selectively recognize and manipulate this trace nutrient within living cells and tissues, where it exists primarily as CuI. Buffered at attomolar concentrations, intracellular CuI is, however, not readily accessible to commonly employed amine and thioether‐based chelators. Herein, we reveal a chelator design strategy in which phosphine sulfides aid in CuI coordination while simultaneously stabilizing aliphatic phosphine donors, producing a charge‐neutral ligand with low‐zeptomolar dissociation constant and 1017‐fold selectivity for CuI over ZnII, FeII, and MnII. As illustrated by reversing ATP7A trafficking in cells and blocking long‐term potentiation of neurons in mouse hippocampal brain tissue, the ligand is capable of intercepting copper‐dependent processes. The phosphine sulfide‐stabilized phosphine (PSP) design approach, which confers resistance towards protonation, dioxygen, and disulfides, could be readily expanded towards ligands and probes with tailored properties for exploring CuI in a broad range of biological systems. |
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| Keywords: | chelation copper electrophysiology metal homeostasis signaling |
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