Volume 42, Issue 19 pp. 2305-2315
Concise Report

Unlocking Biomolecular Activity through Pd-Catalyzed Azides Reduction

Fang Fu

Fang Fu

Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Allergy and Immunology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Wei Xiong

Wei Xiong

Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Allergy and Immunology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Xinyan Xu

Xinyan Xu

Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Allergy and Immunology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Yongjie Liu

Yongjie Liu

Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Allergy and Immunology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

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Ming Li

Ming Li

Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Allergy and Immunology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

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Qianqian Qi

Qianqian Qi

Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Allergy and Immunology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

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Xingyu Liu

Xingyu Liu

Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Allergy and Immunology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

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Yuanyuan Zhang

Yuanyuan Zhang

Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Allergy and Immunology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

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Tian Tian

Corresponding Author

Tian Tian

Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Allergy and Immunology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author
Xiang Zhou

Xiang Zhou

Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Allergy and Immunology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

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First published: 22 May 2024
Citations: 1

Dedicated to the Special Issue of Emerging Investigators in 2024.

Comprehensive Summary

Pd-mediated bioorthogonal cleavage reactions have been extensively utilized in the activation of prodrug molecules, precise regulation of protein function, and cellular engineering. However, the availability of cleavable "caging" groups is quite limited, and their application in nucleic acid modification has seldom been reported. Herein, we introduce a method based on Pd-catalyzed reduction amination of azides as a decaging strategy to activate the activity of biomolecules. We designed modifications on the bioactive sites with azides or their derivatives to mask the related biological function, followed by the release of biological activity through Pd-catalyzed NaBH4 reduction amination reaction. This study has demonstrated that the strategy can effectively be used to activate bioactive molecules such as fluorescent probes, prodrugs, and to regulate the biological function of RNA, including reverse transcription extension, binding to ligands, and cleavage activity of the CRISPR-Cas system. All results confirm that this strategy provides an efficient and controllable "OFF to ON" biological switch, capable of achieving significant regulatory effects substoichiometrically, and is expected to be extended to other biological applications.

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