Thomas M. Snyder

Reaction discovery enabled by DNA-templated synthesis and in vitro selection

Current approaches to reaction discovery focus on one particular transformation. Typically, researchers choose substrates based on their predicted ability to serve as precursors for the target structure, then evaluate reaction conditions for their ability to effect product formation. This approach is ideal for addressing specific reactivity problems, but its focused nature might leave many areas of chemical reactivity unexplored. Here we report a reaction discovery approach that uses DNA-templated organic synthesis and in vitro selection to simultaneously evaluate many combinations of different substrates for bond-forming reactions in a single solution. Watson–Crick base pairing controls the effective molarities of substrates tethered to DNA strands; bond-forming substrate combinations are then revealed using in vitro selection for bond formation, PCR amplification and DNA microarray analysis. Using this approach, we discovered an efficient and mild carbon–carbon bond-forming reaction that generates an enone from an alkyne and alkene using an inorganic palladium catalyst. Although this approach is restricted to conditions and catalysts that are at least partially compatible with DNA, we expect that its versatility and efficiency will enable the discovery of additional reactions between a wide range of substrates.

Translation of DNA Into a Library of 13,000 Synthetic Small-Molecule Macrocycles Suitable for in Vitro Selection

DNA-templated organic synthesis enables the translation, selection, and amplification of DNA sequences encoding synthetic small-molecule libraries. Previously we described the DNA-templated multistep synthesis and model in vitro selection of a pilot library of 65 macrocycles. In this work, we report several key developments that enable the DNA-templated synthesis of much larger (>10,000-membered) small-molecule libraries. We developed and validated a capping-based approach to DNA-templated library synthesis that increases final product yields, simplifies the structure and preparation of reagents, and reduces the number of required manipulations. To expand the size and structural diversity of the macrocycle library, we augmented the number of building blocks in each DNA-templated step from 4 to 12, selected 8 different starting scaffolds which result in 4 macrocycle ring sizes and 2 building-block orientations, and confirmed the ability of the 36 building blocks and 8 scaffolds to generate DNA-templated macrocycle products. We computationally generated and experimentally validated an expanded set of codons sufficient to support 1728 combinations of step 1, step 2, and step 3 building blocks. Finally, we developed new high-resolution LC/MS analysis methods to assess the quality of large DNA-templated small-molecule libraries. Integrating these four developments, we executed the translation of 13,824 DNA templates into their corresponding small-molecule macrocycles. Analysis of the resulting libraries is consistent with excellent (>90%) representation of desired macrocycle products and a stringent test of sequence specificity suggests a high degree of sequence fidelity during translation. The quality and structural diversity of this expanded DNA-templated library provides a rich starting point for the discovery of functional synthetic small-molecule macrocycles.

Enhanced Functional Potential of Nucleic Acid Aptamer Libraries Patterned to Increase Secondary Structure

The in vitro selection of nucleic acid libraries has driven the discovery of RNA and DNA receptors (aptamers) and catalysts with tailor-made functional properties. Functional nucleic acids emerging from selections have been observed to possess an unusually high degree of secondary structure. In this study, we experimentally examined the relationship between the degree of secondary structure in a nucleic acid library and its ability to yield aptamers that bind protein targets. We designed a patterned nucleic acid library (denoted R*Y*) to enhance the formation of stem-loop structures without imposing any specific sequence or secondary structural requirement. This patterned library was predicted computationally to contain a significantly higher average folding energy compared to a standard, unpatterned N60 library of the same length. We performed three different iterated selections for protein binding using patterned and unpatterned libraries competing in the same solution. In all three cases, the patterned R*Y* library was enriched relative to the unpatterned library over the course of the 9- to 10-round selection. Characterization of individual aptamer clones emerging from the three selections revealed that the highest affinity aptamer assayed arose from the patterned library for two protein targets, while in the third case, the highest affinity aptamers from the patterned and random libraries exhibited comparable affinity. We identified the binding motif requirements for the most active aptamers generated against two of the targets. The two binding motifs are 3.4- and 27-fold more likely to occur in the R*Y* library than in the N60 library. Collectively, our findings suggest that researchers performing selections for nucleic acid aptamers and catalysts should consider patterned libraries rather than commonly used Nm libraries to increase both the likelihood of isolating functional molecules and the potential activities of the resulting molecules.

Effects of Template Sequence and Secondary Structure on DNA-Templated Reactivity

DNA-templated organic synthesis enables the translation, selection, and amplification of DNA sequences encoding synthetic small-molecule libraries. As the size of DNA-templated libraries increases, the possibility of forming intramolecularly base-paired structures within templates that impede templated reactions increases as well. To achieve uniform reactivity across many template sequences and to computationally predict and remove any problematic sequences from DNA-templated libraries, we have systematically examined the effects of template sequence and secondary structure on DNA-templated reactivity. By testing a series of template sequences computationally designed to contain different degrees of internal secondary structure, we observed that high levels of predicted secondary structure involving the reagent binding site within a DNA template interfere with reagent hybridization and impair reactivity, as expected. Unexpectedly, we also discovered that templates containing virtually no predicted internal secondary structure also exhibit poor reaction efficiencies. Further studies revealed that a modest degree of internal secondary structure is required to maximize effective molarities between reactants, possibly by compacting intervening template nucleotides that separate the hybridized reactants. Therefore, ideal sequences for DNA-templated synthesis lie between two undesirable extremes of too much or too little internal secondary structure. The relationship between effective molarity and intervening nucleic acid secondary structure described in this work may also apply to nucleic acid sequences in living systems that separate interacting biological molecules.