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Automated Flow Synthesis of Peptide–PNA Conjugates


Abstract

Antisense peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) have yet to translate to the clinic because of poor cellular uptake, limited solubility, and rapid elimination. Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) covalently attached to PNAs may facilitate clinical development by improving uptake into cells. We report an efficient technology that utilizes a fully automated fast-flow instrument to manufacture CPP-conjugated PNAs (PPNAs) in a single shot. The machine is rapid, with each amide bond being formed in 10 s. Anti-IVS2-654 PPNA synthesized with this instrument presented threefold activity compared to transfected PNA in a splice-correction assay. We demonstrated the utility of this approach by chemically synthesizing eight anti-SARS-CoV-2 PPNAs in 1 day. A PPNA targeting the 5′ untranslated region of SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA reduced the viral titer by over 95% in a live virus infection assay (IC50 = 0.8 μM). Our technology can deliver PPNA candidates to further investigate their potential as antiviral agents.

Abstract

Antisense peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) have yet to translate to the clinic because of poor cellular uptake, limited solubility, and rapid elimination. Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) covalently attached to PNAs may facilitate clinical development by improving uptake into cells. We report an efficient technology that utilizes a fully automated fast-flow instrument to manufacture CPP-conjugated PNAs (PPNAs) in a single shot. The machine is rapid, with each amide bond being formed in 10 s. Anti-IVS2-654 PPNA synthesized with this instrument presented threefold activity compared to transfected PNA in a splice-correction assay. We demonstrated the utility of this approach by chemically synthesizing eight anti-SARS-CoV-2 PPNAs in 1 day. A PPNA targeting the 5′ untranslated region of SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA reduced the viral titer by over 95% in a live virus infection assay (IC50 = 0.8 μM). Our technology can deliver PPNA candidates to further investigate their potential as antiviral agents.

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Additional indexing

Item Type:Journal Article, refereed, original work
Communities & Collections:07 Faculty of Science > Department of Chemistry
Dewey Decimal Classification:540 Chemistry
Scopus Subject Areas:Physical Sciences > General Chemistry
Physical Sciences > General Chemical Engineering
Uncontrolled Keywords:General Chemical Engineering, General Chemistry
Language:English
Date:23 February 2022
Deposited On:15 Feb 2022 14:05
Last Modified:24 Feb 2022 02:12
Publisher:American Chemical Society (ACS)
ISSN:2374-7943
OA Status:Gold
Free access at:Publisher DOI. An embargo period may apply.
Publisher DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.1c01019
Project Information:
  • : FunderNovo Nordisk
  • : Grant ID
  • : Project Title
  • : FunderKoch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • : Grant ID
  • : Project Title
  • Content: Published Version
  • Language: English
  • Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)