Copper-Alkyne Complexation Responsible for the Nucleolar Localization of Quadruplex Nucleic Acid Drugs Labeled by Click Reactions

G-quadruplex(es) (G4) are non-canonical nucleic acid structures found in guanine-rich sequences. They can be targeted with small molecules (G4-ligands) acting as reporters, for tracking both in vitro and in cells. We explored the cellular localisation of PhenDC3, one of the most powerful G4 ligands, by synthesising two clickable azide and alkyne derivatives (PhenDC3-alk, PhenDC3-az) and labelling them in situ with the corresponding Cy5 click partners. A careful comparison of the results obtained for the copper-based CuAAC and copper-free SPAAC methodologies in fixed cells implicated Cu(I) /alkyne intermediates in the non-specific localisation of ligands (and fluorophores) to the nucleoli. By contrast, SPAAC yielded similar nucleoplasmic labelling patterns in fixed and live cells. Our findings demonstrate the need for great care when using CuAAC to localise drugs in cells, and show that SPAAC gives results that are more consistent between fixed and live cells.