Phage capsid nanoparticles with defined ligand arrangement block influenza virus entry.

Multivalent interactions at biological interfaces occur frequently in nature and mediate recognition and interactions in essential physiological processes such as cell-to-cell adhesion. Multivalency is also a key principle that allows tight binding between pathogens and host cells during the initial stages of infection. One promising approach to prevent infection is the design of synthetic or semisynthetic multivalent binders that interfere with pathogen adhesion1-4. Here, we present a multivalent binder that is based on a spatially defined arrangement of ligands for the viral spike protein haemagglutinin of the influenza A virus. Complementary experimental and theoretical approaches demonstrate that bacteriophage capsids, which carry host cell haemagglutinin ligands in an arrangement matching the geometry of binding sites of the spike protein, can bind to viruses in a defined multivalent mode. These capsids cover the entire virus envelope, thus preventing its binding to the host cell as visualized by cryo-electron tomography. As a consequence, virus infection can be inhibited in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo. Such highly functionalized capsids present an alternative to strategies that target virus entry by spike-inhibiting antibodies5 and peptides6 or that address late steps of the viral replication cycle7.

In-Cell Synthesis of Bioorthogonal Alkene Tag S-Allyl-Homocysteine and Its Coupling with Reprogrammed Translation.

In this study, we report our initial results on in situ biosynthesis of S-allyl-l-homocysteine (Sahc) by simple metabolic conversion of allyl mercaptan in Escherichia coli, which served as the host organism endowed with a direct sulfhydration pathway. The intracellular synthesis we describe in this study is coupled with the direct incorporation of Sahc into proteins in response to methionine codons. Together with O-acetyl-homoserine, allyl mercaptan was added to the growth medium, followed by uptake and intracellular reaction to give Sahc. Our protocol efficiently combined the in vivo synthesis of Sahc via metabolic engineering with reprogrammed translation, without the need for a major change in the protein biosynthesis machinery. Although the system needs further optimisation to achieve greater intracellular Sahc production for complete protein labelling, we demonstrated its functional versatility for photo-induced thiol-ene coupling and the recently developed phosphonamidate conjugation reaction. Importantly, deprotection of Sahc leads to homocysteine-containing proteins-a potentially useful approach for the selective labelling of thiols with high relevance in various medical settings.

One-Pot Synthesis of Unprotected Anomeric Glycosyl Thiols in Water for Glycan Ligation Reactions with Highly Functionalized Sugars.

Chemical synthesis of oligosaccharide conjugates is essential for studying the functional relevance of carbohydrates, and this task would be facilitated considerably if reliable methods for the anomeric ligation of unprotected sugars in water were available. Here, a method for the preparation of anomeric glycosyl thiols from complex unprotected mono-, di-, and oligosaccharides is presented. By exploiting the neighboring-group effect of the 2-acetamido-group, 1,2-oxazolines are generated and converted into 1-glycosyl thioesters through treatment with 1-thioacids. The unprotected anomeric glycosyl thiolates released in situ were conjugated to Michael acceptors, aliphatic halogenides, and aziridines to furnish versatile glycoconjugates. Conjugation of amino acids and proteins was accomplished using the thiol-ene reaction with terminal olefins. This method gives efficient access to anomeric glycosyl thiols and thiolates, which enables anomeric ligations of complex unprotected glycans in water.