Christelle Gateau

Hepatocyte Targeting and Intracellular Copper Chelation by a Thiol-Containing Glycocyclopeptide

Metal overload plays an important role in several diseases or intoxications, like in Wilsons disease, a major genetic disorder of copper metabolism in humans. To efficiently and selectively decrease copper concentration in the liver that is highly damaged, chelators should be targeted at the hepatocytes. In the present work, we synthesized a molecule able to both lower intracellular copper, namely Cu(I), and target hepatocytes, combining within the same structure a chelating unit and a carbohydrate recognition element. A cyclodecapeptide scaffold displaying a controlled conformation with two independent faces was chosen to introduce both units. One face displays a cluster of carbohydrates to ensure an efficient recognition of the asialoglycoprotein receptors, expressed on the surface of hepatocytes. The second face is devoted to metal ion complexation thanks to the thiolate functions of two cysteine side-chains. To obtain a chelator that is active only once inside the cells, the two thiol functions were oxidized in a disulfide bridge to afford the glycopeptide P(3). Two simple cyclodecapeptides modeling the reduced and complexing form of P(3) in cells proved a high affinity for Cu(I) and a high selectivity with respect to Zn(II). As expected, P(3) becomes an efficient Cu(I) chelator in the presence of glutathione that mimics the intracellular reducing environment. Finally, cellular uptake and ability to lower intracellular copper were demonstrated in hepatic cell lines, in particular in WIF-B9, making P(3) a good candidate to fight copper overload in the liver.

Solid-state and solution properties of the lanthanide complexes of a new nonadentate tripodal ligand derived from 1,4,7-triazacyclononane

The synthesis of the potentially nonadentate ligand 1,4,7-tris[(6-carboxypyridin-2-yl)methyl]-1,4,7-triazacyclononane (H3tpatcn), a new derivative of 1,4,7-triazacyclononane N-functionalised with three pyridinecarboxylate arms, is described. The complexes of four lanthanide ions (Nd, Eu, Gd, Lu) of this ligand have been prepared and structurally characterised. These complexes, which have high water solubility, show highly rigid C3 symmetric solution structures. All the complexes present mononuclear nine-coordinated solid-state structures. The coordination polyhedron is a slightly distorted tricapped trigonal prism. The NMRD (Nuclear Magnetic Relaxation Dispersion) profiles measured for the [Gd(tpatcn)] complex indicate that the second-sphere contribution arising from the presence of water molecules tightly hydrogen-bonded to the carboxylate moieties on the surface of the complex are not large enough to explain the very high relaxivity of the previously reported [Gd(tpaa)(H2O)2] complex (H3tpaa = α,α′,α″-nitrilotri(6-methyl-2-pyridinecarboxylic acid)). In fact the low-field relaxivity of [Gd(tpatcn)] more likely points to a favorable electronic relaxation rate.

A cysteine-based tripodal chelator with a high affinity and selectivity for copper(I).

A C(3)-symmetric ligand containing three converging cysteine chains anchored on a nitrilotriacetic acid moiety has been synthesized. This tripodal pseudopeptide, which provides three soft sulfur donor groups, exhibits a very high affinity for Cu(I) in either a monometallic complex or the cluster species Cu(6)L(3).

A Sulfur Tripod Glycoconjugate that Releases a High‐Affinity Copper Chelator in Hepatocytes

Released in the cell: Three N-acetylgalactosamine units, which recognize the asialoglycoprotein receptor, were tethered through disulfide bonds to the three coordinating thiol functions of a sulfur tripod ligand that has a high affinity for CuI (see scheme). The resulting glycoconjugate can be considered as a prodrug, because after uptake by hepatic cells the intracellular reducing glutathione (GSH) releases the high-affinity intracellular CuI chelator.

Gadolinium(III) complexes of 1,4,7-triazacyclononane based picolinate ligands: simultaneous optimization of water exchange kinetics and electronic relaxation

The two new tripodal picolinate H(3)ebpatcn (1-carboxyethyl-4,7-bis((6-carboxypyridin-2-yl)methyl)-1,4,7-triazacyclononane) and H(4)pbpatcn (1-methylphosphonic-acid-4,7-bis((6-carboxypyridin-2-yl)methyl)-1,4,7-triazacyclononane) ligands based on the 1,4,7-triazacyclononane anchor were prepared and their lanthanide complexes were characterized by NMR, fluorescence and potentiometric studies. The [Gd(ebpatcn)(H(2)O)] complex displays a relaxivity of r(1) = 4.68 mM(-1) s(-1) at 45 MHz and 298 K, whereas r(1) = 4.55 mM(-1) s(-1) was measured for [Gd(Hpbpatcn)(H(2)O)] under the same conditions. The modified scaffold of the ligands with respect to the previously reported H(3)bpatcn (1-(carboxymethyl)-4,7-bis[(6-carboxypyridin-2-yl)methyl]-1,4,7-triazacyclononane) leads to an optimization of the properties of these gadolinium complexes. The replacement of an acetate binding group of the H(3)bpatcn ligand with a propionate group (H(3)ebpatcn) or a phosphonate group (H(4)pbpatcn) leads to a faster exchange rate of the coordinated water molecule in both mono-aquo gadolinium complexes. The resulting water exchange rate is optimized for the future design of high relaxivity macromolecular gadolinium based contrast agents with a value measured by O(17) NMRD of k(ex) = 34 x 10(6) s(-1) for [Gd(Hpbpatcn)(H(2)O)] falling in the range of optimum values of (30 to 50) x 10(6) s(-1) predicted by the SBM theory. The water exchange rate k(ex)(298) = 86 x 10(6) s(-1) of the complex [Gd(ebpatcn)(H(2)O)] is the fastest reported in the literature for a neutral complex with only one inner-sphere water molecule. The relatively high stability of these modified gadolinium complexes (pGd = 14.1 for Gd(pbpatcn) and 13.1 for Gd(ebpatcn)) is similar to that of the [Gd(bpatcn)(H(2)O)] complex (pGd = 13.6). The high luminescence efficiency is also retained for the terbium complex. However, whereas the longitudinal electronic spin relaxation time keeps a value for [Gd(ebpatcn)(H(2)O)], which is long enough not to affect the relaxivity in macromolecular complexes (transient ZFS amplitude Delta(2) [10(20) rad(2) s(-2)] = 0.39), the O(17) relaxation and the (1)H NMRD indicate a rather fast electron spin relaxation for the phosphonate containing complex (Delta(2) [10(20) rad(2) s(-2)] = 1.3).

A series of tripodal cysteine derivatives as water-soluble chelators that are highly selective for copper(I).

A series of tripodal ligands derived from nitrilotriacetic acid and extended by three converging, metal-binding, cysteine chains was synthesised. Their ability to bind soft metal ions thanks to their three thiolate functions was investigated by means of complementary analytical and spectroscopic methods. Three ligands that differ by the nature of the carbonyl group next to the coordinating thiolate functions were studied: L(1) (ester), L(2) (amide) and L(3) (carboxylate). The negatively charged derivative L(3), which bears three carboxylate functions close to the metal binding site, gives polynuclear copper(I) complexes of low stability. In contrast, the ester and amide derivatives L(1) and L(2) are efficient Cu(I) chelators with very high affinities, close to that reported for the metal-sequestering metallothioneins (log K≈19). Interestingly, these two ligands form mononuclear copper complexes with a unique MS(3) coordination in water solution. An intramolecular hydrogen-bond network involving the amide functions in the upper cavity of the tripodal ligands stabilises these mononuclear complexes and was evidenced by the very low chemical-shift temperature coefficient of the secondary amide protons. Moreover, L(1) and L(2) display large selectivities for the targeted metal ion that is, Cu(I), with respect to bioavailable Zn(II). Therefore the two sulfur-based tripods L(1) and L(2) are of potential interest for intracellular copper detoxication in vivo, without altering the homeostasis of the essential metal ion Zn(II).

Diastereoselective Self‐Assembly of a Homochiral Europium Triangle from a BipyoxazolineCarboxylate Ligand

Reference EPFL-ARTICLE-202979doi:10.1002/chem.201000572View record in Web of Science Record created on 2014-11-07, modified on 2016-08-10

The important effect of ligand architecture on the selectivity of metal ion recognition in An(III)/Ln(III) separation with N-donor extractants

The existence of a strong correlation between ligand architecture and metal ion binding selectivity is demonstrated through large differences in the separation efficiencies found in the selective extraction of Am3+ from an acidic mixture of Am3+ and Eu3+ for three new tetrapodal hexadentate ligands containing four 2-pyrazinylmethyl groups attached to three different diamino spacers.

X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy Proves the Trigonal-Planar Sulfur-Only Coordination of Copper(I) with High-Affinity Tripodal Pseudopeptides

A series of tripodal ligands L derived from nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) and extended by three converging metal-binding cysteine chains were previously found to bind selectively copper(I) both in vitro and in vivo. The ligands L(1) (ester) and L(2) (amide) were demonstrated to form copper(I) species with very high affinities, close to that reported for the metal-sequestering metallothioneins (MTs; log K(Cu-MT) ≈ 19). Here, an in-depth study by Cu K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) was performed to completely characterize the copper(I) coordination sphere in the complexes, previously evidenced by other physicochemical analyses. The X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectra shed light on the equilibrium between a mononuclear complex and a cluster for both L(1) (ester) and L(2) (amide). The exclusive symmetric CuS3 geometry adopted in the mononuclear complexes (Cu-S ≈ 2.23 Å) was clearly demonstrated by extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analyses. The EXAFS analyses also proved that the clusters are organized on a symmetric CuS3 core (Cu-S ≈ 2.26 Å) and interact with three nearby copper atoms (Cu---Cu ≈ 2.7 Å), consistent with the Cu6S9-type clusters previously characterized by pulsed gradient spin echo NMR spectroscopy. XAS data obtained for other architectures based on the NTA template (L(3) acid, L(4) without a functionalized carbonyl group, etc.) demonstrated the formation of polymetallic species only, which evidence the necessity of the proximal ester or amide group to stabilize the CuS3 mononuclear species. Finally, XAS was demonstrated to be a powerful method to quantify the equilibrium between the two copper(I) environments evidenced with L(1) and L(2) at different copper concentrations and to determine the equilibrium constants between these two complexes.

Optimizing the relaxivity of Gd(III) complexes appended to InP/ZnS quantum dots by linker tuning

Three bimodal MRI/optical nanosized contrast agents with high per-nanoparticle relaxivity (up to 2523 mM(-1) s(-1) at 35 MHz and 932 mM(-1) s(-1) at 200 MHz) have been prepared connecting up to 115 tris-aqua Gd(III) complexes to fluorescent non-toxic InP/ZnS quantum dots. The structure of the linker has an important effect on the relaxivity of the final multimeric contrast agent.