Bioconjugation

For other uses, see Conjugation (disambiguation).

Monoclonal antibody ibritumomab conjugated with tiuxetan

Bioconjugation is a chemical strategy to form a stable covalent link between two molecules, at least one of which is a biomolecule. Methods to conjugate biomolecules are applied in various field, including medicine, diagnostics, biocatalysis and materials. Synthetically modified biomolecules can have diverse functionalities, such as tracking cellular events, revealing enzyme function, determining protein biodistribution, imaging specific biomarkers, and delivering drugs to targeted cells.[1][2][3][4]

Bioconjugation is a crucial strategy that links these modified biomolecules with different substrates. Besides applications in biomedical research, bioconjugation has recently also gained importance in nanotechnology such as bioconjugated quantum dots.

The most common types of bioconjugation include coupling of a small molecule (such as biotin or a fluorescent dye) to a protein. Antibody-drug conjugates such as Brentuximab vedotin and Gemtuzumab ozogamicin are examples falling into this category.[5] Other less common molecules used in bioconjugation are oligosaccharides, nucleic acids, synthetic polymers such as polyethylene glycol,[6] and carbon nanotubes.[7] Protein-protein conjugations, such as the coupling of an antibody to an enzyme, or the linkage of protein complexes, is also facilitated via bioconjugations.[8][9]

  1. ^ Stephanopoulos N, Francis MB (November 2011). "Choosing an effective protein bioconjugation strategy". Nature Chemical Biology. 7 (12): 876–884. doi:10.1038/nchembio.720. PMID 22086289.
  2. ^ Tilley SD, Joshi NS, Francis MB (2008). "Proteins: Chemistry and Chemical Reactivity". Wiley Encyclopedia of Chemical Biology. pp. 1–16. doi:10.1002/9780470048672.wecb493. ISBN 978-0470048672.
  3. ^ Francis MB, Carrico IS (December 2010). "New frontiers in protein bioconjugation". Current Opinion in Chemical Biology. 14 (6): 771–773. doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2010.11.006. PMID 21112236.
  4. ^ Kalia J, Raines RT (January 2010). "Advances in Bioconjugation". Current Organic Chemistry. 14 (2): 138–147. doi:10.2174/138527210790069839. PMC 2901115. PMID 20622973.
  5. ^ Gerber HP, Senter PD, Grewal IS (2009). "Antibody drug-conjugates targeting the tumor vasculature: Current and future developments". mAbs. 1 (3): 247–253. doi:10.4161/mabs.1.3.8515. PMC 2726597. PMID 20069754. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014.
  6. ^ Thordarson P, Le Droumaguet B, Velonia K (November 2006). "Well-defined protein-polymer conjugates--synthesis and potential applications". Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. 73 (2): 243–254. doi:10.1007/s00253-006-0574-4. PMID 17061132. S2CID 23657616.
  7. ^ Yang W, Thordarson P (2007). "Carbon nanotubes for biological and biomedical applications". Nanotechnology. 18 (41): 412001. Bibcode:2007Nanot..18O2001Y. doi:10.1088/0957-4484/18/41/412001. S2CID 137867074.
  8. ^ Koniev O, Wagner A (August 2015). "Developments and recent advancements in the field of endogenous amino acid selective bond forming reactions for bioconjugation". Chemical Society Reviews. 44 (15): 5495–5551. doi:10.1039/C5CS00048C. PMID 26000775.
  9. ^ Hutchins GH, Kiehstaller S, Poc P, Lewis AH, Oh J, Sadighi R, et al. (February 2024). "Covalent bicyclization of protein complexes yields durable quaternary structures". Chem. 10 (2): 615–627. Bibcode:2024Chem...10..615H. doi:10.1016/j.chempr.2023.10.003. PMC 10857811. PMID 38344167.