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Peptide cyclization has dramatic effects on a variety of important properties, enhancing metabolic stability, limiting conformational flexibility, and altering cellular entry and intracellular localization. The hydrophilic, polyfunctional nature of peptides creates chemoselectivity challenges in macrocyclization, especially for natural sequences without biorthogonal handles. Herein, we describe a gaseous sulfonyl chloride derived reagent that achieves amine-amine, amine-phenol, and amine-aniline crosslinking through a minimalist linchpin strategy that affords macrocyclic urea or carbamate products. The cyclization reaction is metal-mediated and involves a novel application of sulfine species that remains unexplored in aqueous or biological contexts. The aqueous method delivers unique cyclic or bicyclic topologies directly from a variety of natural bioactive peptides without the need for protecting-group strategies., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Selective modification of natural proteins is a daunting methodological challenge and a stringent test of selectivity and reaction scope. There is a continued need for new reactivity and new selectivity concepts. Transition metals exhibit a wealth of unique reactivity that is orthogonal to biological reactions and processes. As such, metal-based methods play an increasingly important role in bioconjugation. This Review examines metal-based methods as well as their reactivity and selectivity for the functionalization of natural proteins and peptides., (© 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Manipulation of biomacromolecules is ideally achieved through unique and bioorthogonal chemical reactions of genetically encoded, naturally occurring functional groups. The toolkit of methods for site-specific conjugation is limited by selectivity concerns and a dearth of naturally occurring functional groups with orthogonal reactivity. We report that pyroglutamate amide N-H bonds exhibit bioorthogonal copper-catalyzed Chan-Lam coupling at pyroglutamate-histidine dipeptide sequences. The pyroglutamate residue is readily incorporated into proteins of interest by natural enzymatic pathways, allowing specific bioconjugation at a minimalist dipeptide tag., (© 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Metal-based bioconjugation linkages represent a little-studied approach to protein functionalization that provides novel reactivity, stability, and function. Described is an organometallic bioconjugation, employing rhodium(III) salts, to link boronic acids with tyrosine residues by an arene complex. Both peptides and proteins are amenable to the mild bioconjugation in aqueous media, allowing incorporation of useful functionalities, such as affinity handles or fluorophores. Because of the metastability of the inorganic linkage, the conjugates are susceptible to cleavage by nucleophilic redox mediators but are stable toward typical biological conditions., (© 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Nearly 40 % of children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) suffer relapse arising from chemoresistance, often involving upregulation of the oncoprotein STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3). Herein, rhodium(II)-catalyzed, proximity-driven modification identifies the STAT3 coiled-coil domain (CCD) as a novel ligand-binding site, and we describe a new naphthalene sulfonamide inhibitor that targets the CCD, blocks STAT3 function, and halts its disease-promoting effects in vitro, in tumor growth models, and in a leukemia mouse model, validating this new therapeutic target for resistant AML., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Chemically modified proteins are increasingly important for use in fundamental biophysical studies, chemical biology, therapeutic protein development, and biomaterials. However, chemical methods typically produce heterogeneous labeling and cannot approach the exquisite selectivity of enzymatic reactions. While bioengineered methods are sometimes an option, selective reactions of natural proteins remain an unsolved problem. Here we show that rhodium(II) metallopeptides combine molecular recognition with promiscuous catalytic activity to allow covalent decoration of natural SH3 domains, depending on choice of catalyst but independent of the specific residue present. A metallopeptide catalyst succeeds in modifying a single SH3-containing kinase at endogenous concentrations in prostate cancer (PC-3) cell lysate., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Searching with a beady eye: A high-throughput, on-bead screen of rhodium metallopeptide catalysts was developed in a 96-well format for asymmetric cyclopropanation. Different sequences of natural L-amino acids have been identified that produce opposite product enantiomers. In addition to styrene derivatives, high enantioselectivity is observed for vinyl ether and vinyl amine derivatives., (Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Together strong: Cooperative binding of organic (see picture, red) and inorganic fragments provides a strategy for the potent inhibition of protein-protein interactions. By targeting specific Lewis basic side chains in peripheral regions of the binding site for coordination to a rhodium(II) center, the affinity of otherwise weak ligands is improved., (Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The use of carboxylate side chains to induce peptide helicity upon binding to dirhodium centers is examined through experimental and computational approaches. Dirhodium binding efficiently stabilizes alpha helicity or induces alpha helicity in otherwise unstructured peptides for peptides that contain carboxylate side chains with i, i+4 spacing. Helix induction is furthermore possible for sequences with i, i+3 carboxylate spacing, though in this case the length of the side chains is crucial: ligating to longer glutamate side chains is strongly helix inducing, whereas ligating the shorter aspartate side chains destabilizes the helical structure. Further studies demonstrate that a dirhodium metallopeptide complex persists for hours in cellular media and exhibits low toxicity toward mammalian cells, enabling exploitation of these metallopeptides for biological applications.