From In Situ to In Vivo: An In Situ Click-Chemistry-Derived Carbonic Anhydrase II Imaging Agent for Positron Emission Tomography

Click chemistry-aided drug discovery: A retrospective and prospective outlook

Click chemistry has emerged as a valuable tool for rapid compound synthesis, presenting notable advantages and convenience in the exploration of potential drug candidates. In particular, in situ click chemistry capitalizes on enzymes as reaction templates, leveraging their favorable conformation to selectively link individual building blocks and generate novel hits. This review comprehensively outlines and introduces the extensive use of click chemistry in compound library construction, and hit and lead discovery, supported by specific research examples. Additionally, it discusses the limitations and precautions associated with the application of click chemistry in drug discovery. Our intention for this review is to contribute to the development of a modular synthetic approach for the rapid identification of drug candidates.

Shotgun Kinetic Target-Guided Synthesis Approach Enables the Discovery of Small-Molecule Inhibitors against Pathogenic Free-Living Amoeba Glucokinases

Pathogenic free-living amoebae (pFLA) can cause life-threatening central nervous system (CNS) infections and warrant the investigation of new chemical agents to combat the rise of infection from these pathogens. Naegleria fowleri glucokinase (NfGlck), a key metabolic enzyme involved in generating glucose-6-phosphate, was previously identified as a potential target due to its limited sequence similarity with human Glck (HsGlck). Herein, we used our previously demonstrated multifragment kinetic target-guided synthesis (KTGS) screening strategy to identify inhibitors against pFLA glucokinases. Unlike the majority of previous KTGS reports, our current study implements a "shotgun" approach, where fragments were not biased by predetermined binding potentials. The study resulted in the identification of 12 inhibitors against 3 pFLA glucokinase enzymes─NfGlck, Balamuthia mandrillaris Glck (BmGlck), and Acanthamoeba castellanii Glck (AcGlck). This work demonstrates the utility of KTGS to identify small-molecule binders for biological targets where resolved X-ray crystal structures are not readily accessible.

Going beyond Binary: Rapid Identification of Protein-Protein Interaction Modulators Using a Multifragment Kinetic Target-Guided Synthesis Approach

Kinetic target-guided synthesis (KTGS) is a powerful screening approach that enables identification of small molecule modulators for biomolecules. While many KTGS variants have emerged, a majority of the examples suffer from limited throughput and a poor signal/noise ratio, hampering reliable hit detection. Herein, we present our optimized multifragment KTGS screening strategy that tackles these limitations. This approach utilizes selected reaction monitoring liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry for hit detection, enabling the incubation of 190 fragment combinations per screening well. Consequentially, our fragment library was expanded from 81 possible combinations to 1710, representing the largest KTGS screening library assembled to date. The expanded library was screened against Mcl-1, leading to the discovery of 24 inhibitors. This work unveils the true potential of KTGS with respect to the rapid and reliable identification of hits, further highlighting its utility as a complement to the existing repertoire of screening methods used in drug discovery.

Tailored Bioorthogonal and Bioconjugate Chemistry: A Source of Inspiration for Developing Kinetic Target-Guided Synthesis Strategies

Kinetic target-guided synthesis (KTGS) is a promising tool for the discovery of biologically active compounds. It relies on the identification of potent ligands that are covalently assembled by the biological targets themselves from a pool of reagents. Significant effort is devoted to developing new KTGS strategies; however, only a handful of biocompatible reactions are available, which may be insufficient to meet the specificities (stability, dynamics, active site topology, etc.) of a wide range of biological targets with therapeutic potential. This Topical Review proposes a retrospective analysis of existing KTGS ligation tools, in terms of their kinetics and analogy with other biocompatible reactions, and provides new clues to expand the KTGS toolkit. By way of examples, a nonexhaustive selection of such chemical ligation tools belonging to different classes of reactions as promising candidate reactions for KTGS are suggested.

Kinetic Target-Guided Synthesis: Reaching the Age of Maturity

Kinetic target-guided synthesis (KTGS) is an original discovery strategy allowing a target to catalyze the irreversible synthesis of its own ligands from a pool of reagents. Although pioneered almost two decades ago, it only recently proved its usefulness in medicinal chemistry, as exemplified by the increasing number of protein targets used, the wider range of target and pocket types, and the diversity of therapeutic areas explored. In recent years, two new leads for in vivo studies were released. Amidations and multicomponent reactions expanded the armamentarium of reactions beyond triazole formation and two new examples of in cellulo KTGS were also disclosed. Herein, we analyze the origins and the chemical space of both KTGS ligands and warhead-bearing reagents. We review the KTGS timeline focusing on recent cases in order to give medicinal chemists the full scope of this strategy which has great potential for hit discovery and hit or lead optimization.

Kinetic Resolution of Cyclic Secondary Azides, Using an Enantioselective Copper-Catalyzed Azide-Alkyne Cycloaddition

An enantioselective copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (E-CuAAC) is reported by kinetic resolution. Chiral triazoles were isolated in high yield with limiting alkyne (up to 97:3 enantiomeric ratio (er)). A range of substrates were tolerated (>30 examples), and the reaction was scaled to >1 g. The er of a triazole product could be enhanced by recrystallization and the recovered scalemic azide could be racemized and recycled. Recycling the azide allows efficient use of the undesired azide enantiomer.

Cell-Based Kinetic Target-Guided Synthesis of an Enzyme Inhibitor

Finding a new drug candidate for a selected target is an expensive and time-consuming process. Target guided-synthesis, or in situ click chemistry, is a concept where the drug target is used to template the formation of its own inhibitors from reactive building blocks. This could simplify the identification of drug candidates. However, with the exception of one example of an RNA-target, target-guided synthesis has always employed purified targets. This limits the number of targets that can be screened by the method. By applying methods from the field of metabolomics, we demonstrate that target-guided synthesis with protein targets also can be performed directly in cell-based systems. These methods offer new possibilities to conduct screening for drug candidates of difficult protein targets in cellular environments.

Kinetic target-guided synthesis in drug discovery and chemical biology: a comprehensive facts and figures survey

For the last 15 years, kinetic target-guided syntheses, including in situ click chemistry, have been used as alternative methods to find ligands to therapeutically relevant proteins. In this review, a comprehensive survey of biological targets used in kinetic target-guided synthesis covers historical and recent examples. The chemical reactions employed and practical aspects, including controls, library sizes and product detection, are presented. A particular focus is on the reagents and warhead selection and design with a critical overview of the challenges encountered. As protein supply remains a key success factor, it appears that increased efforts should be taken toward miniaturization in order to expand the scope of this strategy and qualify it as a fully fledged drug discovery tool.

A new application of click chemistry in situ: development of fluorescent probe for specific G-quadruplex topology

Target-guided synthesis is an approach to drug discovery that allows the target to self-assemble its own binding agents. So far, target-guided synthesis and especially in situ click chemistry have attracted extensive attention and have led to the identification of highly potent inhibitors for proteins. In this study, we expand the application of in situ click chemistry and present a procedure using this approach to identify selective fluorescent probes for a specific topology of G-quadruplex nucleic acids, the parallel G-quadruplexes. On this basis, compound 15 assembled by triarylimidazole scaffold and carboxyl side chain was a positive hit, demonstrating highly potential in the sensitive and selective detection of parallel G-quadruplexes. Such selective fluorescence response can be rationalized in terms of different binding affinities between 15 and G-quadruplexes. Our work accordingly represents a new development towards the application of in situ click chemistry to develop selective fluorescent probes and may also shed light on the search for probes for a specific G-quadruplex topology.