Modifying Methionine on Proteins

Selenium chemistry for spatio-selective peptide and protein functionalization

The ability to construct a peptide or protein in a spatio-specific manner is of great interest for therapeutic and biochemical research. However, the various functional groups present in peptide sequences and the need to perform chemistry under mild and aqueous conditions make selective protein functionalization one of the greatest synthetic challenges. The fascinating paradox of selenium (Se) - being found in both toxic compounds and also harnessed by nature for essential biochemical processes - has inspired the recent exploration of selenium chemistry for site-selective functionalization of peptides and proteins. In this Review, we discuss such approaches, including metal-free and metal-catalysed transformations, as well as traceless chemical modifications. We report their advantages, limitations and applications, as well as future research avenues.

Recent Advances towards the Reversible Chemical Modification of Proteins

Proteins are intriguing biomacromolecules for all living systems, not only as essential building blocks of organisms, but also as participants in almost every aspect of cellular activity such as metabolism and gene transcription/expression. Developing chemical biology tools that are capable of labeling/modifying proteins is a powerful method for decoding their detailed structures and functions. However, most current approaches heavily rely on the installation of permanent tags or genetic engineering of unnatural amino acids. There has been slow development in reversible chemical labeling using small organic probes and bioorthogonal transformations to construct site-selectively modified proteins and conditionally restore their activities or structures. This review summarizes recent advances in the field of chemical regulation of proteins with reversible transformations towards distinct motifs, including amino acid residues, amide backbones and native post-translational lysine. Finally, current challenges and future perspectives are discussed.

Exploiting the umpolung reactivity of diazo groups: direct access to triazolyl-azaarenes from azaarenes

The present work documents electrophilic substitution of azaarenes, mainly isoquinolines, with hypervalent iodine diazo reagents (HIDR) followed by formal [3+2]-dipolar cycloaddition in a tandem fashion. Other azaarenes viz. pyridines and phenanthridines too could be successfully used in the reaction. The methodology capitalizes on the umpolung nature of α-aryliodonio diazo compounds for installing a nucleophile, i.e. azaarene, at their α-position. Subsequent ylide formation and intramolecular 1,5-cyclization furnished 4,3-fused 1,2,4-triazolyl-azaarenes in good yields. The reaction is notable for its mild conditions, operational simplicity and fairly general scope.

Halomethyl-Triazoles for Rapid, Site-Selective Protein Modification

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are used by organisms to control protein structure and function after protein translation, but their study is complicated and their roles are not often well understood as PTMs are difficult to introduce onto proteins selectively. Designing reagents that are both good mimics of PTMs, but also only modify select amino acid residues in proteins is challenging. Frequently, both a chemical warhead and linker are used, creating a product that is a misrepresentation of the natural modification. We have previously shown that biotin-chloromethyl-triazole is an effective reagent for cysteine modification to give S-Lys derivatives where the triazole is a good mimic of natural lysine acylation. Here, we demonstrate both how the reactivity of the alkylating reagents can be increased and how the range of triazole PTM mimics can be expanded. These new iodomethyl-triazole reagents are able to modify a cysteine residue on a histone protein with excellent selectivity in 30 min to give PTM mimics of acylated lysine side-chains. Studies on the more complicated, folded protein SCP-2L showed promising reactivity, but also suggested the halomethyl-triazoles are potent alkylators of methionine residues.

Exploiting Protein N-Terminus for Site-Specific Bioconjugation

Although a plethora of chemistries have been developed to selectively decorate protein molecules, novel strategies continue to be reported with the final aim of improving selectivity and mildness of the reaction conditions, preserve protein integrity, and fulfill all the increasing requirements of the modern applications of protein conjugates. The targeting of the protein N-terminal alpha-amine group appears a convenient solution to the issue, emerging as a useful and unique reactive site universally present in each protein molecule. Herein, we provide an updated overview of the methodologies developed until today to afford the selective modification of proteins through the targeting of the N-terminal alpha-amine. Chemical and enzymatic strategies enabling the selective labeling of the protein N-terminal alpha-amine group are described.

Biomedical applications of methionine-based systems

Methionine (Met), an essential amino acid in the human body, possesses versatile features based on its chemical modification, cell metabolism and metabolic derivatives. Benefitting from its multifunctional properties, Met holds immense potential for biomedical applications. In this review, we systematically summarize the recent progress in Met-based strategies for biomedical applications. First, given the unique structural characteristics of Met, two chemical modification methods are briefly introduced. Subsequently, due to the disordered metabolic state of tumor cells, applications of Met in cancer treatment and diagnosis are summarized in detail. Furthermore, the efficacy of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), as the most important metabolic derivative of Met, for treating liver diseases is mentioned. Finally, we analyze the current challenges and development trends of Met in the biomedical field, and suggest that Met-restriction therapy might be a promising approach to treat COVID-19.

Reactions between Diazo Compounds and Hypervalent Iodine(III) Reagents

Site-selective "cut and sew" transformations employing diazo compounds and hypervalent iodine(III) compounds involve the departure of leaving groups, a "cut" process, followed by a reorganization of the fragments by bond formation, a "sew" process. Bearing controllable cleavage sites, diazo compounds and hypervalent iodine(III) compounds play a critical role as versatile reagents in a wide range of organic transformations because their excellent nucleofugality allows for a large number of unusual reactions to occur. In recent years, the combination of diazo compounds and hypervalent iodine(III) reagents has emerged as a promising tool for developing new and valuable approaches, and has met considerable success. In this Minireview, this combination is systematically illustrated with recent advances in the field, with the aim of elaborating the synthetic utility and potential of this concept as a powerful strategy in organic synthesis.