Yanhua Zhang

Xiaoxuan Liu
email: xiaoxuanliu@cpu.edu.cn

Yun Lin

Baoping Lian

Wenjun Lan

Juan L Iovanna

Ling Peng

Yi Xia
email: yixia@cqu.edu.cn

Novel Triazole Nucleoside Analogues Promotes Anticancer Activity via Both Apoptosis and Autophagy †

Novel nucleoside derivatives were developed using the strategy of "terminal N, N-dimethylation" to impart tertiary amines to a 1,2,4triazole nucleoside. The obtained lead compounds displayed significantly improved anticancer activity with dual mechanisms of cell death via apoptosis and autophagy, offering a fresh perspective to searching for new anticancer candidates.

Nucleoside drugs are synthetic mimics of natural nucleosides and are an important class of drugs.

1 Because of their structural resemblance to natural nucleosides, nucleoside drugs exhibit various pharmacological activities via antimetabolite activity, by inhibiting nucleic acid synthesis and/or by interfering with biological events involving nucleosides or nucleotides.

2, 3

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved more than 20 antiviral and anticancer nucleoside drugs, including ribavirin and acyclovir etc (Fig. 1).

2, 3 Currently, clinical trials are underway as an emergency to evaluate remdesivir, a prodrug of a nucleoside analogue, as a treatment for COVID-19, for which there's no effective treatment.

The search for nucleoside analogues as drug candidates has long been an active area of research. Usually these nucleoside candidates carry either modified nucleobases or altered sugar moiety or a combination of both. It is worth noting that nucleoside analogues bearing unnatural nucleobases often have improved stability and biological activity with unique modes of action; ribavirin is considered a canonical example of this. Ribavirin is the first antiviral nucleoside drug to have a 1,2,4-triazole ring as the unnatural nucleobase, 5 and has immunomodulatory activity in addition to its antimetabolite activity. 6, 7 In the quest to find novel triazole nucleoside derivatives with anticancer and antiviral properties, we have identified arylethynyltriazole nucleosides, which have interesting biological activity and novel mechanisms of action, such as inhibition of heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) and heat shock proteins (HSPs). 8, 9 Of these, WMH-116 is one of the most potent analogues (Fig. 1). However, aryltriazole nucleoside analogues often have poor water solubility and hence limited bioavailability, which severely impedes their further clinical translation. Efforts are therefore required to overcome the solubility limitations via further modifications to improve the physicochemical properties, as well as the biological activity, of nucleoside analogues. Nitrogen-containing groups, such as amines or various nitrogen heterocycles, are frequently encountered structural motifs among pharmacologically active scaffolds in medicinal chemistry. In addition, N-methylation is considered a precious tool to introduce conformational rigidity, lipophilicity, and ionization properties, impacting the bioavailability of active molecules. Please do not adjust margins Please do not adjust margins associated with so-called "terminal dimethylation". 12, 13 On the basis of these considerations, we wanted to introduce a methylated amine motif to WMH-116, with a view to improving its physicochemical properties and biological activity.

Considering the structural features of parent compound, we reasoned that introducing a methylated amine motif to the hydroxyl group in the acyclic sugar chain was the most effective means of constructing amine-containing triazole nucleosides, herein termed I (Fig. 1). Indeed, all the synthesized compounds I had significantly enhanced anticancer activity. More importantly, this structural modification imparted a new mechanism of inducing cell death, namely, autophagy-induced cell death, which contributed favourably to the anticancer activity. Here, we report our results of this study.

We started the synthesis of the nucleoside analogue I with WMH-116, which was first transformed to the tolylsulfonyl analogue I-2. The subsequent conversion of I-2 to Ia using dimethylamine in refluxing EtOH 14 (Table 1) was problematic and resulted in low yields (data not shown). This is because the product Ia was obtained in the form of toluenesulfonate salt, and its removal using 5% NaOH and repeated extraction was not efficient, leading to significant product loss and hence low yield. To circumvent this problem, we transformed I-2 to the bromide I-1, which was then treated with various secondary amines including heterocycles to afford Ia-If in good to excellent yields (Table 1). It is to note that unlike WMH-116, the solubility of I was pH dependent. This is in line with the protonation feature of the tertiary amine functionality, which is largely in its protonated form at pH < 7.0, thereby improving solubility in water.

With the synthesized compounds Ia-If in hand, we next evaluated their anticancer activity in various cancer cells by assessing cell proliferation using an MTT assay. As shown in Table 1, all the derivatives Ia-If had superior antiproliferative activity compared to WMH-116 and to the reference triazole nucleoside drug ribavirin. Among them, Ia and Ib, two compounds that had dimethylamino and diethylamino terminals, respectively, showed similar activity in most tested cancer cells. The compounds modified by the N-heterocyclic substitutes pyrrolidine, piperidine, and piperazine (Ic-Ie) exhibited further improved antiproliferative activity in Panc-1 and SKOV3 cells compared to Ia and Ib. It is noteworthy that compound If, which had an additional alkyl tertiary amine incorporated into the piperazine ring, elicited the most potent activity. Interestingly, this finding corroborates those obtained from our previous studies that a trifluoperazine analogue having additional piperazine and alkyl tertiary amine had a dramatic increase in anticancer activity. 15 Together, this study alongside our previous work 15 support the strategy of "terminal N, N-dimethylation" for lead optimization.

Since WMH-116 exercises its anticancer activity via targeting the heat shock response pathway 9 , we therefore asked whether the compounds Ia-If, analogues of WMH-116, also maintained a similar mode of action. We selected two representative compounds, Ia and If, which bear simple dimethylamino and N-heterocyclic amino functionalities, respectively, to examine their effects on HSF1, the primary transcription factor of stress-inducible HSPs. 16 As shown in Figure 2, the expression of HSF1 at a protein level was attenuated in a dose-dependent manner upon treatment with both compounds, with almost complete attenuation at higher concentrations. This was also the case for HSP27 and HSP90α, two stress-inducible proteins that are controlled by HSF1 and that also play key roles in the heat shock response pathway, in particular by promoting cancer cell proliferation and drug resistance. 17 It should be noted that HSPs function as Please do not adjust margins Please do not adjust margins molecular chaperones to stabilize their client proteins, and so inhibition of HSPs will result in the degradation of their client proteins. We therefore also assessed eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E), the client protein of HSP27.18 As Figure 2 illustrates, both Ia and If effectively reduced the expression of eIF4E. Therefore, like WMH-116, Ia and If were able to suppress the expression of HSPs and their client protein, which contributed to their anticancer activity. Both HSF1 and its downstream HSPs act in diverse cellular processes and molecular mechanisms, including apoptosis, the physiologically important method of programmed cell death. 19 To investigate whether this new family of triazole nucleosides could promote cancer cells toward apoptosis, we treated pancreatic cancer Panc-1 cells with the most potent lead If; staining with annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide (PI) followed by cytometric analysis determined the percentage of apoptotic cells. The increase in apoptotic cells highlighted that If suppressed cell growth via apoptosis (Fig. 3A). Its ability to induce apoptosis was further assessed by detecting the expression of biomarkers involved in apoptosis, such as the cleavage products of PARP (poly ADP-ribose polymerase) and BCL-2. PARP is a family of proteins involved in different cellular processes and its cleavage serves as a marker of cells undergoing apoptosis, 20 while BCL-2 plays a crucial role in regulating cell death by inhibiting apoptosis. 21 Indeed, If increased the level of cleaved PARP, and at the same time, suppressed BCL-2 expression (Fig. 3B), confirming the ability of If to promote apoptosis. We were also curious whether If initiated other pathways besides apoptosis to cause cell death. Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved catabolic process in which cellular materials are delivered to lysosomes for degradation. Furthermore, autophagy not only plays a crucial role in cell survival but also acts as a specific mechanism of cell death. 22 Several studies have revealed a relationship between HSPs and autophagy. For example, HSP90 increases chemoresistance via regulating autophagy, and autophagy also influences HSP90mediated antiapoptotic effects. As autophagy may exhibit opposing, context-dependent roles in cancer, it was important to determine whether the autophagy induced by If plays a pro-survival role or activates the death cascade. Interestingly, when autophagy was inhibited by chloroquine, the proliferation of cells treated by If recovered (Fig. 4D), suggesting that the antiproliferative activity of If can be partially ascribed to its ability to induce autophagic cell death in addition to apoptosis.

After confirming the anticancer activity and mode of action in vitro, we next assessed the antitumor effects of If in nude mice bearing Panc-1-xenografted tumors (Fig. 5). Mice with mean tumor volumes of 100 mm 3 were randomly selected for treatment with If versus treatment with PBS buffer as control.

Upon intraperitoneal (ip) injections for 4 consecutive weeks, If significantly reduced the Panc-1 tumor volume by 70% compared to the PBS group (Fig. 5A). In addition, cancer cell proliferation was considerably reduced in tumor tissues, as

Fig. 1

 1 Fig. 1 Chemical structures of the nucleoside drugs ribavirin and acyclovir, the arylethynyltriazole nucleoside WMH-116, and the amine-containing triazole nucleoside derivatives I studied in this work.

  10, 11 Moreover, N-methylation can contribute to the strongly increased biological activity of amine compounds This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 20xx

Fig. 2 Compounds

 2 Fig. 2 Compounds Ia and If downregulated proteins involved in the heat shock response pathway. Ia and If strongly inhibited the expression of HSF1, the downstream heat shock proteins HSP27 and HSP90α, and their client oncoprotein eIF4E in pancreatic cancer Panc-1 cells in a dose-dependent manner.

Fig. 3 Compounds

 3 Fig. 3 Compounds If induced apoptosis in pancreatic cancer Panc-1 cells. (A) Flow cytometry quantified cells undergoing apoptosis (annexin V-positive cells) and necrosis (PI-positive cells). Untreated Panc-1 cells were used as the reference control. (B) If efficiently led to the cleavage of PARP and downregulation of BCL-2.

Fig. 4 Compound

 4 Fig. 4 Compound If activated autophagy-induced cell death in pancreatic cancer Panc-1 cells. (A) Western blotting analysis of LC3B-I conversion to LC3B-II in Panc-1 cells. Panc-1 cells were treated with various concentrations of WMH-116 and If, following which whole-cell lysates were analyzed for LC3B expression, with β-actin as the reference. (B) Immunofluorescence analysis of LC3B localization in Panc-1 cells treated with If, showing the appearance of a punctate staining pattern. Bright green spots: LC3B; blue: Hoechst 33342. (C) Panc-1 cells were treated with If with or without the autophagy inhibitor chloroquine to determine levels of autophagic flux. (D) The proliferation of Panc-1 cells recovered following the co-treatment with chloroquine (CQ) and If, indicating that If may exhibit antiproliferative activity via induction of autophagy.

Table 1

 1 Synthesis of triazole nucleosides I and their antiproliferative activity on cancer cells.

	Compound	Yield %	Panc-1	IC50 (μM) a HepG2 PC-3 SKOV3 HeLa
	Ia	96	9.7	7.5	8.8	16	15
	Ib	84	7.3	15	6.1	12	6.8
	Ic	89	5.8	6.8	7.7	6.7	9.4
	Id	91	6.4	6.0	6.1	7.1	6.8
	Ie	88	6.2	7.6	7.7	7.3	10
	If	85	3.1	3.6	3.4	5.7	2.9
	WMH-116	-	20	31	30	>50	>50
	Ribavirin	-	>50	>50	>50	>50	>50

a IC50 represents the concentration of a compound that is required for 50% inhibition of cell growth.

Journal Name 4 | J. Name., 2012, 00, 1-3 This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 20xx

Please do not adjust margins Please do not adjust margins

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest to declare.

Notes and references


Florian Gauthier

Astrid Malher

Jean-Jacques Vasseur

Christelle Dupouy
email: christelle.dupouy@umontpellier.frfrancoise.debart@umontpellier.fr

Françoise Debart

Conjugation of small molecules to RNA using a reducible disulfide linker attached at 2'-OH position via a carbamate function

Keywords: conjugation, RNA, disulfide bridge, carbamate, 2'-OH modification

A post-synthesis conjugation method was developed to functionalize oligoribonucleotides with various small molecules of biological interest using a reduction-sensitive disulfide linker connected to 2'OH via a carbamate function. For this, first we prepared a 2'-O-[(N-(acetylthio)-ethylcarbamoyl] (2'-O-AcSEC) uridine phosphoramidite as the key precursor of the disulfide linker, that was incorporated into 21-mer RNAs. Next the 2'-O-AcSEC group was converted on solid support to the activated 2'-O-[N-(2pyridyldisulfanyl)-ethylcarbamoyl] (2'-O-PySSEC) group. Finally, the coupling between 2'-O-PySSEC-modified RNA and diverse small molecules bearing a thiol function was based on a thiol-disulfide exchange reaction in solution. Several RNA-small molecule conjugates were obtained with satisfactory conjugation yields. An RNA was successfully double-conjugated with an anticancer drug (doxorubicin) attesting the efficiency and the robustness of the conjugation method. We have shown that the disulfide-linked RNAsmall molecule conjugates were cleaved upon 5.6 mM glutathione treatment, featuring the release of the small molecules in cells.

Introduction

Conjugation of oligonucleotides (ON) with small molecules is challenging and arouses researcher's interest for diverse applications such as therapeutics or diagnosis. Covalent association to small molecules such as peptides, carbohydrates or lipids could improve ON properties such as cell-specific delivery, cellular uptake efficiency or half-lives in fluids. [1] Carbohydrates are recognized by protein receptors named lectins expressed on cell surfaces. As glycoproteins containing sugar moieties are internalized into cells, ON-carbohydrate conjugates can therefore be used to improve poor cell or tissue-specific uptake of ON. [2] In particular, N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) siRNA conjugates should be mentioned as one significant and relevant example of the successful use of sugar-oligonucleotide conjugates for delivery to liver hepatocytes. [3] Conjugation of small molecules to ON could also be used for detection. Recently, coumarin derivative attached to ON was used as a fluorescent probe to specifically detect glutathione, the most abundant biothiol over cysteine and homocysteine. [4] Moreover, vitamins receptors, such as biotin receptors, are overexpressed in many cancers and consequently were used as biomarkers for the imaging and the detection of tumors cells or the targeting of drug delivery. [5] Attachment of small molecules to ON using various chemical strategies with amide [6] or oxime [7] linkers or via click chemistry [8] has been reported. Due to its high compatibility with many functional groups and the ease of formation, the disulfide bond is also very attractive for conjugation. Indeed, this linkage is stable under physiological conditions and is cleaved in the intracellular reducing environment. [9] The conjugation reactions using a disulfide linkage were mostly achieved at the 5'-and 3'-end positions of ON due to their great accessibility. [10] Likewise, the nucleobases [11] and the phosphodiester bonds [12] were selected as other conjugation sites. However, these positions suffer from different various limitations: only one molecule can be conjugated to ON at 5'-or 3'-end, the base-pairing can be disturbed by conjugation on the nucleobases and RNA structure can be altered by modifications of the phosphates. In contrast, the 2'-position is more versatile and allows multi-conjugation sites within one sequence. To our knowledge, only a few examples of conjugation to 2'-position of ribonucleosides via a disulfide linkage have been reported. Winkler and coll. developed a solid-phase coupling of peptides and polyethylene glycols ligands to ON via a 2'-Othioethyl nucleoside attached to the solid support through the thiol function. [13] Scheme. 1 Synthesis of 2'-O- [N-(2-ethyldisulfanyl) carbamoyl] RNA-smallmolecule conjugates.

This method is efficient yet only the 3'-extremity of ON can be conjugated. Another example of conjugation reaction at the 2'position with a disulfide linker has been reported for the specific cross-linking of proteins via cysteine to ON. In this case, a 2'amino-2'-deoxyuridine was introduced as a precursor unit within the ON sequence then the amino group was converted to 2'pyridyldithiopropionamide derivative to perform the thiol-disulfide exchange reaction with cysteine yielding the disulfide linker. [14] Moreover, in a previous work we developed a post-synthesis strategy based on the thiol-disulfide exchange reaction for the preparation of siRNA prodrugs 2'-O-modified by disulfidecontaining groups. [15] We also used this reaction to introduce a disulfide-bridge between 2'-O-positions of two adjacent nucleotides in the loop of RNA hairpins. [16] In both cases, the disulfide bond was anchored to the nucleoside via a thioacetal function. Reduction of the disulfide bond resulted in an unstable hemithioacetal giving rise to free 2'-OH RNA.

In this paper, we present a post-synthesis conjugation method of a 21-mer RNA to various small molecules of interest such as carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, fluorescent probes and anticancer drugs using a disulfide linker attached at 2'-position via a carbamate function (Scheme 1). It is well known that carbamate function plays an important role in medicinal chemistry due to its high stability in physiological conditions. [17] Moreover, several functional groups (dansyl, amino aliphatic chains) were previously introduced into the 2'OH position of ON via a carbamate function. [18] 2'-carbamate modification is stable to conditions of standard oligonucleotide synthesis using phosphoramidite chemistry. The 2'-carbamate functionalization of RNA with various biomolecules for many applications, via a reductionresponsive disulfide linker remained quite unexplored. The global strategy for the synthesis of these RNA-small molecule conjugates is based on a thiol-disulfide exchange reaction between a small molecule containing a thiol or a thiolate function and an RNA bearing a pyridyldisulfanyl group (Scheme 1). The driving force of this reaction is the formation and elimination of the pyridine-2-thione, which allows a rapid and irreversible reaction.

Results and Discussion

Synthesis of 2'-O-AcSEC uridine phosphoramidite 7. To anchor the linker at 2'-position of RNA, we first prepared 2'-O-[(N-(acetylthio)-ethylcarbamoyl]

(2'-O-AcSEC) uridine 3'phosphoramidite 7 which represents the precursor unit for 2'functionalization within RNA sequence (Scheme 2). The 2'carbamate modification was achieved via a 2'-O-carbonate intermediate 2 obtained with 81% yield by treating 3',5'-O- (1,1,3,3-tetraisopropyldisiloxane-1,3-diyl) (TIPS) uridine 1 with 4nitrophenylchloroformate. [18b] The 2'-O-[N-ethylbromide carbamoyl] uridine 3 was formed with 2-bromoethylamine hydrobromide in 98% yield. Then, a nucleophilic substitution of bromine by potassium thioacetate in the presence of 18-crown-6 gave 2'-O-AcSEC uridine 4 in 80% yield. A treatment with Et3N.3HF yielded the 3',5'-OH 2'-O-AcSEC uridine 5 (92 % yield), which was further selectively protected at 5'-O-position with a dimethoxytrityl group to give the nucleoside 6 (98% yield). Finally, phosphitylation of 6 with chloro-(2-cyanoethoxy)-(N,N,diisopropylamino)phosphine afforded the 3'phosphoramidite 2'-O-AcSEC uridine 7 with high purity in 89% yield. The synthesis of 2'-O-AcSEC uridine phosphoramidite 7 was efficiently achieved in 6 steps with 51% overall yield from 5',3'-O-TIPS-uridine 1.

Scheme 2. Synthesis of 2'-O-AcSEC uridine phosphoramidite 7. Reagent and conditions : a) 4-nitrophenyl chloroformate, pyridine, toluene, r.t., 5 h, 81% ; b) 2-bromoethylamine hydrobromide, Et3N, pyridine, r.t., 4 h, 98% ; c) CH3COSK, 18-crown-6, CH3CN, r.t., overnight, 80% ; d) Et3N.3HF, THF, r.t., 4 h, 92% ; e) DMTrCl, DIEA, pyridine, CH2Cl2, r.t., 7 h, 98% ; f) iPr2NPCl(OCNE), DIEA, CH2Cl2, r.t., 3.5 h, 89% Synthesis of 21-mer RNAs with one or two 2'-O-PySSEC modifications. The 2'-O-AcSEC uridine phosphoramidite 7 was incorporated once or twice into 21-mer RNA whose sequence corresponds to the sense strand of a siRNA (siEF-4S) targeting a gene involved in Ewing's sarcoma. The 2'-O-modification was introduced either in the middle of the sequence (RNA 8) or at two sites: in the middle and close to the 3'-end (RNA 9) (Table 1). Both RNAs were synthesized using the phosphoramidite uridine 7 and commercially available 2'-O-pivaloyloxymethyl (2'-O-PivOM) ribonucleoside phosphoramidites (Chemgenes) as precursors of 2'OH ribonucleotides. [19] From the same 2'-O-AcSEC RNA precursor, various 2'-O-functionalized RNAs with different molecules bearing a thiol function can be prepared. The syntheses were carried out on a 1 µmol scale with a 180 s

RNA

Sequence [a] MALDI-TOF MS [b] Calcd. Found 1). Moreover, this RNA has been functionalized at one or two separate sites with Dox, an anthracycline cytotoxic chemotherapeutic drug employed for the treatment of several cancers such as breast, stomach, soft tissue sarcomas and lymphomas cancers. 2'-O-PySSEC RNA 8 was conjugated in solution to small molecules 10-16 bearing thiol or disulfide functions using a thiol-disulfide exchange reaction (Figure 1, Table 2). For the coupling, two slightly different methods A and B were investigated depending on the commercial availability of the thiol derivative for each small molecule. 2). After coupling completion, the resulting conjugates were purified by IEX-HPLC and characterized by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (Table 2, Figures S12-S15). For example, Figure 2a shows the HPLC chromatograms of the crude conjugates resulting from the coupling between RNA 8 with 1-thioβ-D-glucose 10 (left panel) or glutathione 12 (right panel), respectively. In both cases, the major peak representing 63% and 70% was assigned to RNA conjugates 17 and 19 obtained with reasonable efficacy. RNA conjugates 18 and 20, corresponding to the functionalization of RNA 8 with 1-thio-β-D-galactose 11 and 7-mercapto-4-methylcoumarin 13 respectively, were obtained with higher efficacy (85% and 72% calculated by integration of chromatogram at 260 nm) (Table 2). However, after IEX-HPLC purification all conjugates were isolated with much lower recovery yields (from 36% for 17 to 46% for 18 and 20). The additional desalting step performed after IEX-HPLC purification could explain the difference between the conjugation efficacies and the recovery yields. Moreover, in HPLC chromatograms, minor peaks with shorter retention times are noteworthy (Figure 2a, Figures S12-S15). These peaks were assigned to shorter RNA sequences corresponding to some chemical degradations of RNA probably due to the excess of small molecules at high concentration (100 mM) in the reaction mixture. To check this hypothesis, we monitored the stability of the unmodified RNA siEF-4S in the presence of small molecules 10-13 by IEX-HPLC (Figure S19). After 24 h incubation, the peaks corresponding to siEF-4S mostly decreased in the presence of 1thio-β-D-glucose 10 (33%), 1-thio-β-D-galactose 11 (54%), 7mercapto-4-methylcoumarin 13 (6%), respectively whereas siEF-4S remained more stable (89 %) in the presence of glutathione 12.

siEF-4S

Table 2: Synthesis and data for RNA-small molecules conjugates 17-24 linked by a disulfide linkage ON [a] R Method [b] solvent MALDI-TOF MS [c] Conjugation Yield % [d] Recovery Yield % [e] Calcd.

Found [a] RNA sequence = 5' GCAGCAGAACCCURUCUUAUGA 3' for RNA-conjugates 17-23 ; RNA sequence = 5' GCAGCAGAACCCURUCUUAURGA 3' for RNA-Dox conjugate 24, UR = 2'-O-modified Uridine with R = small molecules. [b] Method A = RSH 10-13/solvent, 37°C, 24 h ; Method B= 1) RSSPy 14-16 TCEP solvent 37°C, 2 h. 2) RNA 8 or 9 37°C, 24 h for RNA conjugates 21 and 23, 5 min for RNA conjugates 22 and 24. [c] Negative mode. [d] percentage of peak area corresponding to the RNA conjugate in crude material as calculated by integration of the IEX-HPLC chromatogram monitored at 260 nm. [e] Recovery yield based on UV absorption at 260 nm of purified RNA conjugates 17-21 and 23 and at 481 nm for RNA conjugates 22 and 24. These results confirm that high concentration of 1-thio-β-Dglucose 10, 1-thio-β-D-galactose 11 or 7-mercapto-4methylcoumarin 13 causes some RNA degradation and might partially explain the low recovery yields.

17
The conjugation with more hydrophobic molecules was also evaluated using an alternative method B. In this case, the pyridyldisulfanyl derivatives of biotin and deoxycholic acid 14 and 16, respectively, have been synthesized from biotin and deoxycholic acid that are not commercially available with a thiol function (Schemes S1-S2). [20] Likewise, the doxorubicin pyridyldisulfanyl derivative (Dox-SS-Py) 15 was prepared following a described protocol. [21] The coupling of the pyridyldisulfanyl derivatives 14, 15 and 16 has been achieved upon method B (Table 2). First, they were treated with tris(2carboxyethyl) phosphine (TCEP) in a mixture of HEPES buffer and DMF for 2 h to generate a thiol function. Then, this solution was directly added to the dry 2'-O-PySSEC RNA 8 upon stirring.

The reaction was performed at 37°C for 24 h and by IEX-HPLC for conjugate 21 (Figure S16) and RP-HPLC for 22 and 23 to optimize chromatographic separation (Figures 2b, S17-S18).

After 24 h, the crude RNA conjugates were purified by IEX-HPLC or RP-HPLC and characterized by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. When treating RNA 8 with Dox-SS-Py 15, some RNA degradations were observed within 24 h, the yield was improved by reducing the coupling time. Indeed, after 5 min incubation with Dox-SS-Py 15, the peak corresponding to RNA 8 in the HPLC chromatogram has totally disappeared and the newly major peak was assigned to RNA conjugate 22 with satisfactory conjugation and recovery yields (88% and 63%, respectively) (Figure 2b left panel, Table 2). A similar estimated conjugation yield (89%) was obtained for RNA conjugate 21 with biotin after 24 h coupling time (Table 2). In contrast, RNA conjugate 23 with deoxycholic acid was formed with lower conjugation yields (42%) after 24 h reaction (Figure 2b, right panel). The steric hindrance of deoxycholic acid derivative could partially explain this low yield.

Moreover, supplementary peaks were also detectable in the HPLC chromatogram, probably due to the chemical degradation of RNA caused by high concentration of deoxycholic acid derivative 16.

To check this hypothesis, the stability of unmodified RNA siEF-4S in the presence of pyridyldisulfanyl derivatives 14, 15 and 16 was monitored by IEX-HPLC. Compounds 14, 15 and 16 were treated with TCEP in a mixture of HEPES buffer and DMF for 2 h and were added to siEF-4S. After 24 h and 48 h incubation, siEF-4S remained nearly intact in the presence of 14, 15 and 16 (Figure S20). Nevertheless, after 72 h, siEF-4S was slightly hydrolyzed in the presence of biotin derivative 14 (corresponding peak at 87%) and more significantly in the presence of doxorubicin (corresponding peak at 62%) whereas siEF-4S was totally degraded in the presence of deoxycholic acid derivative 16. The steric hindrance of 16 combined to chemical degradation of RNA might explain the lower conjugation efficiency and recovery yield for RNA-deoxycholic acid conjugate 23.

In Here, the disulfide-linked Dox-siRNA conjugates were designed to simultaneously deliver both molecules to cancer cells and lipophilic Dox can be expected to increase siRNA uptake.

The double Dox-conjugation with RNA 9 was performed in the same conditions as for the preparation of single Dox-conjugate 22 (Table 2). After 5 min, HPLC analysis of the crude product showed one major peak (71%) corresponding to the desired conjugate 24 (Figure 3b). After purification, double Dox-RNA 24 was obtained with high purity in acceptable yield (38%) (Figure 3c). The MALDI-TOF analysis exhibited a peak (m/z = 8152.9) assigned to 24 and a second peak (m/z = 7754.3) resulting from the mass fragmentation of Dox during analysis. As previously reported, this peak corresponds to the loss of the amino sugar moiety (loss of 398). [23] The successful synthesis of this double-Dox RNA conjugate 24 lets expect that the multiple-sites conjugation should be efficient using method B. A new peak at m/z 7066.6 corresponding to the conjugate RNA-GSH 19 is noteworthy in the MS spectrum after 1.5 h incubation. Indeed, the released thiol has probably attacked the disulfide bond of the glutathione disulfide (GSSG), produced upon the spontaneous oxidation of GSH. After 6 h, RNA-GSH 19 was the sole compound detected in mass spectrometry and remained perfectly stable after 24 h. The same result was observed for all RNA-small molecule conjugates (Figures S21-S26). Moreover, after 6 h, mass spectra of RNA conjugates 17, 20 and 23 showed important RNA degradations attesting the RNA sensitivity to 1thio-β-D-glucose, 7-mercapto-4-methylcoumarin and deoxycholic acid derivatives (Figures S21, S24, S26). These results evidence that the disulfide bond is rapidly cleaved in the presence of GSH leading to a thiol derivative that is very reactive to conjugation with other disulfide-containing molecules, nevertheless the small molecules are released.

Conclusions

In this work, a large variety of small molecules were successfully conjugated to RNA using a disulfide linker attached to a 2'-OH uridine via a carbamate function. The 2'-functionalization of RNA was achieved through the 2'-O-N[(acetylthio)-ethylcarbamoyl] uridine phosphoramidite, synthesized in 6 steps with 51% overall yield. Then, the thiol precursor in RNA was activated on solid support with a pyridyldisulfanyl group allowing subsequent thioldisulfide exchange reaction in solution with diverse small molecules bearing a thiol function. Moreover, the successful preparation of a RNA bearing two Dox molecules attests the great potential of this method for conjugation at multiple and welldefined sites. The rapid cleavage of the disulfide bridge upon 5.6 mM GSH shows that such RNA conjugates will be responsive to the reducing environment of the intracellular medium. The smallmolecules will be released with a wide field of applications such as cell-imaging, in vitro detection or drug delivery. Particularly, in cancer therapy a co-delivery system based on multiple doxorubicin attached to siRNA via a disulfide bond might be envisaged to boost the anticancer activity and overcome multidrug resistance.

Experimental Section

General Methods. Pyridine, triethylamine and DIEA were distilled over calcium hydride and methanol was distilled over sodium. All other solvents and reagents were purchased from commercial suppliers and were used without further purification. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) analyses were carried out on silica plate 60 F254. Purifications by column chromatography were performed using 0.040-0.063 mm silica from Merck. NMR experiments were recorded on a Bruker 400 spectrometer at 20°C. HRMS analyses were obtained with electrospray ionization (ESI) in positive mode on a Q-TOF Micromass spectrometer. RNAs were synthesized using an automated DNA synthesizer (Applied Biosystems 394). Crude RNAs and conjugates 8-21 were analyzed and purified by IEX-HPLC Dionex DNAPac® PA100, 4 x 250 mm for analysis or 9 x 250 for semi-preparative purpose. The following HPLC solvent system was used: 5% CH3CN in 25 mM Tris-HCl pH 8 (buffer A), 5% CH3CN containing 400 mM NaClO4 in 25 mM Tris-HCl pH 8 (buffer B). Flow rates were 1.0 mL/min for analysis or 4 mL/min for semi-preparative purpose; UV detection was performed at 260 nm. Crude RNA conjugates 22-24 were analyzed and purified by RP-HPLC (Thermo Scientific Accucore aQ C18 2.6 µm, 2.1 x 50 mm). The following HPLC solvent systems were used: 1% CH3CN in 12.5 mM TEAAc (buffer A), 80% CH3CN in 12.5 mM TEEAc (buffer B). Flow rates were 1.9 mL/min. UV detection was performed at 260 nm. MALDI-TOF mass spectra were recorded using a Shimadzu AXIMA Assurance spectrometer equipped with an N2 laser (337 nm) (Shimadzu, Japan) using 2,1,1-trihydroxyacetophenone as a saturated solution in a mixture of acetonitrile/0.1 M ammonium citrate solution (1:1, v/v) for the matrix. Analytical samples were mixed with the matrix in the 1:5 (v/v) ratio, crystallized on a 384-well stainless steel plate and analyzed. UV quantitation of RNAs was performed using a Varian Cary 300 Bio UV/Visible spectrometer by measuring absorbance at 260 nm and at 481 nm for RNA conjugates 22 and 24. Lyophilized RNAs were stored at -20°C for several months without any degradation.

2'-O-(4-nitrophenoxycarbonyl)-3',5'-O-(1,1,3,3tetraisopropyldisiloxane-1,3-diyl) uridine (2).

A solution of 3',5'-O-(tetraisopropyldisiloxane-1, 3-diyl) uridine 1 (5.00 g, 10.28 mmol, 1.00 equiv) in dry toluene (100 mL) was treated under argon with dry pyridine (0.82 mL, 10.28 mmol, 1.00 equiv) and 4-nitrophenyl chloroformate (2.38 g, 11.82 mmol, 1.15 equiv). The mixture was stirred for 3 h at room temperature. Then, dry pyridine (0.15 mL, 2.06 mmol, 0.20 equiv) and 4nitrophenyl chloroformate (0.475 g, 2.06 mmol, 0.20 equiv) were added.

After stirring at room temperature for 2 h, the mixture was diluted in ethyl acetate and washed with water. The aqueous layer was then extracted with ethyl acetate. The organic layer was washed with brine and dried over Na2SO4. The solvent was evaporated under reduced pressure. The crude material was purified by silica gel column chromatography with cyclohexane/ethyl acetate (70/30). The desired compound 2 was obtained as white foam (5.4 g, 8.2 mmol, 81 %). 4, 151.4, 149.8, 145.5, 139.0, 125.4, 121.7, 102.4, 88.0, 82.0, 80.2, 67.8, 59.1, 17.4 -16.7 (8 C), 13.8 -12.5 1,3,,3-diyl) uridine (3). A solution of compound 2 (2.38 g, 3.65 mmol, 1.00 equiv) in dry pyridine (36.5 mL) was treated under argon with 2-bromoethylamine hydrobromide (0.897 g, 4.38 mmol, 1.2 equiv) and dry triethylamine (0.5 mL, 7.3 mmol, 2 equiv). After stirring at room temperature for 4 h, the mixture was diluted in ethyl acetate and washed with water. The aqueous layer was then extracted with ethyl acetate. The combined organic extracts were washed with brine and dried over Na2SO4. The solvent was removed under reduced pressure. The crude material was purified by silica gel column chromatography with a step gradient of dichloromethane and ethyl acetate (10-30 %). The desired compound 3 was obtained as white foam (2.27 g, 3.57 mmol, 98 %). 1 H NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz) δ ppm: 9.23 (s, 1 H, NH), 7.65 (d, J = 4.1 Hz, 1 H, H6), 5.83 (s, 1 H, H1'), 5.69 (dd, J = 4.1 Hz, J = 1.1 Hz, 1 H, H5), 5.67 (t, J = 5.5 Hz, 1 H, NH), 5.27 (d, J = 5.1 Hz, 1 H, H2'), 4.35 (dd, J = 5.1 Hz, J = 3.1 Hz, 1 H, H3'), 4.19 (d, J = 7.1 Hz, 1 H, H5'), 3.99-3.96 (m, 2 H, H5',H4'), 3.66-3.51. (m, 2 H, CH2), 3.45 (t, J = 5.3 Hz, 2 H, CH2), 1.08-0.99 (m, 28 H, iPr). 13 C NMR (CDCl3, 100 MHz) δ ppm: 163.2, 154.4, 149.7, 139.3, 102.2, 88.5, 82.1, 76.1, 67.9, 59.7, 42.8, 32.2, 16.7-17.4 (8 C), 12.5-13.4 (4 C). HRMS (ESI + ): m/z calcd for C24Hh42BrN3O8Si2 [M+H] + : 636.1772, found 636.1779.

2'-

2'-O-[N-(2-acetylthio)-ethylcarbamoyl]-3',5'-O-(1,1,3,3tetraisopropyldisiloxane-1,3-diyl) uridine (4).

Under argon, compound 3 (4.2 g, 6.6 mmol, 1.00 equiv) was dissolved in dry acetonitrile (132 mL) at 40°C. The solution was treated with potassium thioacetate (1.12 g, 9.9 mmol, 1.5 equiv) and 18-crown-6 (0.871 g, 3.3 mmol, 0.5 equiv). After stirring at room temperature overnight, the mixture was diluted in ethyl acetate and washed with water. The aqueous layer was then extracted with ethyl acetate. The combined organic extracts were washed with brine and dried over Na2SO4. The solvent was evaporated under reduced pressure. The crude material was purified by silica gel column chromatography with a step gradient of dichloromethane and ethyl acetate (0-20 %). The desired compound 4 was obtained as white foam (3.36 g, 5.32 mmol, 80 %). 1 H NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz) δ ppm: 8.68 (s, 1 H, NH), 7.63 (d, J = 8.4 Hz, 1 H, H6), 5.80 (s, 1 H, H1'), 5.69 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 1 H, H5), 5.25 (d, J = 4.4 Hz, 1 H, H2'), 5.14 (s, 1 H, NH), 4.36 (dd, J = 7.8 Hz, J = 5.4 Hz, 1 H, H3'), 4.18 (d, J = 11.1 Hz, 1 H, H5'), 4.00-3.95 (m, 2 H, H5', H4'), 3.37-3.35 (m, 2 H CH2), 3.00 (t, J = 6.1 Hz, 2 H, CH2), 2.34 (s, 3 H, CH3), 1.08-0.95 (m, 28 H, iPr). 13 C NMR (CDCl3, 100 MHz) δ ppm : 195.8, 162.8, 154.5, 149.5, 139.5, 102.2, 88.7, 82.1, 75.3, 68.0, 53.4, 40.9, 30.6-30.9, 29.6, 16.0 -17.4 (8C), 12.6 -13.4 (4C). HRMS (ESI + ): m/z calcd for C26H46N4O8SSi2 [M+H] + : 632.2493, found 632.2493.

2'-O-[N-(2-acetylthio)-ethylcarbamoyl] uridine (5).

Under argon, compound 4 (3.36 g, 5.3 mmol, 1.00 equiv) was dissolved in dry THF (74.5 mL). The solution was treated dropwise with triethylamine trihydrofluoride (1.7 mL, 10.6 mmol, 2 equiv). After stirring 4 h at room temperature, the deprotection was complete and the reaction mixture was treated with triethylammoniumacetate buffer (2 M, pH 7), then co-evaporated with water and acetonitrile. The crude material was purified by silica gel column chromatography with dichloromethane and methanol (95/5). The desired compound 5 was obtained as white foam (1.9 g, 4.88 mmol, 92 %). 1 H NMR (DMSO-d6, 400 MHz) δ ppm: 11.32 (s, 1 H, NH), 7.89 (d, J = 8.1 Hz, 1 H, H6), 7.50 (t, J = 6.0 Hz, 1 H, NH), 5.97 (d, J = 6.3 Hz, 1 H, H1'), 5.66 (d, J = 8.2 Hz, 1 H, H5), 5.47 (t, J = 5.2 Hz, 1 H, OH), 5.18 (t, J = 4.6 Hz, 1 H, H2'), 5.02 (t, J = 5.7 Hz, J = 5.1 Hz, 1 H, H3'), 4.19 (dd, J = 8.5 Hz, J = 4.9 Hz, 1 H, H4'), 3.88 (d, J = 3.0 Hz, 1 H, OH), 3.65-3.54 (m, 2 H, H5' + H5''), 3.25-3.09 (m, 2 H, CH2), 2.94-2.84 (m, 2 H, CH2), 2.31 (s, 3 H, CH3). 13 C NMR (DMSO-d6, 100 MHz) δ ppm : 195.6, 163.5, 155.6, 151.0, 141.1, 102.6, 86.2, 85.9, 75.2, 69.4, 61.4, 40.9, 31.0, 28.8. HRMS (ESI + ): m/z calcd for C14H19N3O8S [M+H] + : 390.0971, found 390.0972.

2'-O-[N-(2-acetylthio)-ethylcarbamoyl]-5'-O-(4,4'-dimethoxytrityl) uridine (6).

Compound 5 (0.532 g, 1.37 mmol, 1 equiv) was dried for 24 h under reduced pressure, then was dissolved under argon in dry pyridine (2.6 mL) at room temperature. After complete dissolution, dry DCM (13.7 mL) was added. The solution was treated with N, N-diisopropylethylamine (DIEA) (263 µL, 1.51 mmol, 1.1 equiv) and dimethoxytrityl chloride (DMTrCl) (559 mg, 1.65 mmol, 1.2 equiv) added in small portions over 1 h. After 2 h and 6 h, DIEA and DMTrCl (0.5 and 0.2 equiv respectively) were added to the reaction. Completion was reached after 7 h, the mixture was diluted in DCM and poured into saturated NaHCO3 solution. The aqueous layer was then extracted with DCM. The combined organic extracts were washed with brine and dried over Na2SO4. The solvent was removed under reduced pressure. The crude material was purified by silica gel column chromatography with DCM and pyridine (99/1), then DCM with methanol (1-5 %). The desired compound 6 was obtained as pale yellow foam (980 mg, 1.34 mmol, 98 %). 1 H NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz): δ ppm: 9.36 (s, 1 H, NH), 7.75 (d, J = 8.2 Hz, 1 H, H6), 7.40-7.16 (m, 9 H, HAr), 6.84 (d, J = 8.9 Hz, 4 H, HAr), 6.17 (d, J = 5.1 Hz, 1 H, H1'), 5.80 (t, J = 6.1 Hz, 1 H, NH), 5.34 (dd, J = 8 Hz, J = 1.2 Hz, 1 H, H5), 5.24 (t, J = 5.1 Hz, 1 H, H2'), 4.67 (dd, J = 7.6 Hz, J = 4.0 Hz, 1 H, H3'), 4.17 (d, J = 3.1 Hz, 1 H, H4'), 3.79 (s, 6 H, OCH3), 3.57 (m, 1 H, H5'), 3.57-3.48 (m, 2 H, H5''+ HCH), 3.25-2.89 (m, 1 H+2 H, HCH + CH2), 2.15 (s, 3 H, CH3). 13 C NMR (CDCl3,100 MHz) δ ppm: 196.9,163.3,158.7,155.4,150.7,144.2,140.2,137.9,135.9,135.0,130.2,130.2,130.0,129.1,129.1,128.2,128.2,128.1,128.1,127.2,125.3,113.4,113.3,102.8,87.2,86.0,84.1,70.3,62.8,55.3,55.3,41.2,28.8,21.5. HRMS (ESI + ): m/z calcd for C35H38N3O10S [M+H] + : 692.2200, found 692.2283.

2'-O-[N-(2-acetylthio)-ethylcarbamoyl]-3'-O-(2-cyanoethyl-N,Ndiisopropylphosphoramidite)-5'-O-(4,4'-dimethoxytrityl) uridine 7

Under argon, compound 6 (0.850 g, 1.23 mmol, 1 equiv) was dissolved in anhydrous CH2Cl2 (10 mL) previously passed through an alumina column. A mixture of DIEA (386 µL, 2.21 mmol, 1.8 equiv) and 2-cyanoethyl N,Ndiisopropylchlorophosphoramidite (437 µL, 1.95 mmol, 1.5 equiv) in CH2Cl2 (2.3 mL) was added dropwise. The mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1.5 h. DIEA (129 µL, 0.74 mmol, 0.6 equiv) and 2cyanoethyl N,N-diisopropylchlorophosphoramidite (137 µL, 0.65 mmol, 0.5 equiv) in CH2Cl2 (2.3 mL) was added dropwise, and the reaction was stirred at room temperature for 2 h. Then, the mixture was diluted with ethyl acetate and washed with a saturated aqueous NaHCO3 solution. The aqueous phase was extracted with ethyl acetate. The combined organic layers were dried over Na2SO4 and evaporated under reduced pressure.

The crude residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography with an isocratic elution of CH2Cl2/EtOAc (4/6) containing 1 % pyridine. The desired compound 7 was obtained as a white foam. (975 mg, 1.09 mmol, 89 %). 1 H NMR (CD3CN, 400 MHz): δ ppm: 9.19 (s, 1 H, NH), 7.75 (d, J = 7.6 Hz, 1 H, H6), 7.50-7.47 (m, 2 H, HAr), 7.38-7.33 (m, 5 H, HAr), 7.23-7.18 (m, 2 H, HAr), 6.90 (dd, J = 8.6 Hz, J = 3.8 Hz, 4 H, HAr), 6.05-5.95 (m, 2 H, H1' + NH), 5.43-5.36 (m, 2 H, H5 + H2'), 4.68-4.59 (m, 1 H, H3'), 4.23 (dd, J = 24.3 Hz, J = 2.6 Hz, 1 H, H4'), 3.93-3.83 (m, 1 H, H5'), 3.80 (s, 3 H, OCH3), 3.79 (s, 3 H, OCH3), 3.76-3.66 (m, 1 H, H5''), 3.64-3.56 (m, 2 H, CH2), 3.41 (dd, J = 15.0 Hz, J = 2.8 Hz, 2 H, CH2), 3.30 (h, J = 6.9 Hz, 1 H, CH-(CH3)2), 3.22 (h, J = 6.8 Hz, 1 H, CH-(CH3)2), 3.08-2.92 (m, 2 H, CH2), 2.72 (t, J = 6.0 Hz, 1 H, HCH), 2.53 (t, J = 6.0 Hz, 1 H, HCH), 2.36 (s, 3 H, CH3), 1. 19-1.06 (m, 12 H, 4 CH3). 13 C NMR (CD3CN, 100 MHz) δ ppm : 196.0, 163.4, 159.4, 155.6, 151.0, 150.3, 145.3, 145.2, 140.8, 140.7, 138.5, 136.5, 136.0, 135.9, 135.7, 130.7, 129.5, 128.8, 128.6, 127.6, 125.8, 124.3, 113.8, 102.7, 87.1, 86.9, 84.0, 75.3, 71.5, 71.0, 63.4, 59.6, 58.8, 55.5, 43.5, 40.9, 30.4, 29.2, 24.7, 24.6, 24.5, 24.4, 21.0, 20.6. 31 Phosphoramidites were vacuum-dried prior to their dissolution in extra dry acetonitrile (Biosolve) at 0.1 M concentration. Coupling for 180 s was performed with 5-benzylmercaptotetrazole (BMT, 0.3 M) as the activator. The oxidizing solution was 0.1 M iodine in THF/pyridine/H2O (78:20:2, v/v/v) (Link Technologies). The capping step was performed with a mixture of 5% phenoxyacetic anhydride (Pac2O) in THF and 10% Nmethylimidazole in THF (Link Technologies). Detritylation was performed with 3% TCA in CH2Cl2. After RNA assembly completion, the column was removed from the synthesizer and dried under a stream of argon.

The solid support was treated with 2 mL of a 0.4 M solution of 2,2'dithiodipyridine (1000 equiv. per modification) and a 2.5 M butylamine (0.5 mL) solution in anhydrous THF (1.5 mL). The solution was applied to the synthesis column using two glass syringes filled with 4 Å molecular sieves (5 beads each), and was pushed back and forth through the synthesis column for 15 min. Then the solution was removed and the solid-support was washed with anhydrous THF followed by a 1 min flush with argon. Finally, the solid support was treated with a 30 % aqueous ammonia solution for 3 h at 25°C. The solution was evaporated in the presence of isopropylamine (13 % of total volume) under reduced pressure. The residue was dissolved in 1.5 mL water, transferred to a 2 mL Eppendorfvial and lyophilized.

Analysis, purification and desalting of RNA 8 and 9. The crude RNAs were then purified by semi-preparative IEX-HPLC with a 20 min linear gradient of 0% to 60% of eluent B in eluent A. The pure fractions of each RNA were pooled in a 100 mL round-bottomed flask and were concentrated to dryness under reduced pressure. The residues were dissolved in 100 mL TEAAc buffer, pH 7 and they were desalted using a C18 cartridge (Sep-Pak®, Waters) equilibrated with a 100 mM TEAAc buffer solution. The desired compound was eluted with a 12.5 mM TEAAc/ CH3CN (50/50) solution in a 50 mL round-bottomed flask and was lyophilized. The residue was dissolved in 1.5 mL water (divided in 3 portions 0.8 mL, 0.4 mL and 0.3 mL for flask rinsing), transferred to a 2 mL Eppendorf-vial and lyophilized. Purified RNAs 8 and 9 were characterized by MALDI-TOF MS and quantified by UV measurement

Procedures for conjugation of RNAs in solution.

Preparation of RNA-sugar conjugates 17, 18 and RNA-GSH 19. A 10 mM solution of of 1-thio-β-D-glucose 10, 1-thio-β-D-galactose 11, or glutathione 12 was prepared in HEPES buffer (34 mM NaCl, 1 mM MgCl2, 0.05 mM EDTA, 7.5 mM HEPES, pH 8). The buffered solution (10µL by nmol of RNA) was added to the lyophilized RNA 8 in a 0.5 mL Eppendorf. The mixture was stirred at 37°C for 24 h using a thermoshaker (Thermal Shake lite ® ). The reaction was stopped by freezing in liquid nitrogen. The RNA conjugates 17, 18 and 19 were purified by IEX-HPLC, desalted and characterized by MALDI-TOF MS using the procedures described above.

Preparation of RNA-4-methylcoumarin conjugate 20. A 10 mM solution of 7-Mercapto-4-methylcoumarin 13 was prepared in 1:1 mixture of HEPES buffer (34 mM NaCl, 1 mM MgCl2, 0.05 mM EDTA, 7.5 mM HEPES, pH 8) and DMF. The buffered solution (10 µL by nmol of RNA) was added to the freeze-dried RNA 8 in a 0.5 mL Eppendorf. Then, the mixture was stirred at 37°C for 24 h using a thermoshaker. The reaction was stopped by freezing in liquid nitrogen. The RNA-4-methylcoumarin conjugate 20 was purified by IEX-HPLC, desalted and characterized by MALDI-TOF spectrometry using the procedures described above.

Preparation of RNA-biotin conjugate 21. A 10 mM solution of (+) -Biotin N-2-(pyridin-2-yldisulfanyl)ethyl amide 14 was prepared in 1:1 mixture of HEPES buffer (34 mM NaCl, 1 mM MgCl2, 0.05 mM EDTA, 7.5 mM HEPES, pH 8) and DMF. 100 µL of this solution (1000 nmol, 100 equiv.) were diluted with 84 µL of HEPES buffer pH 8 and 16 µL of a buffered solution of TCEP (50 nmol / µL, 80 equiv,). The mixture was stirred for 2 h at 37°C using a thermoshaker. Then the solution was added to the freeze-dried RNA 8 in a 0.5 mL Eppendorf and stirred at 37°C for 24 h using a thermoshaker. The reaction was stopped by freezing in liquid nitrogen and the RNA-biotin conjugate 21 was purified by IEX-HPLC, desalted and characterized by MALDI-TOF MS using the procedures described above.

Preparation of RNA-Dox conjugates 22 and 24. A 10 mM solution of Doxorubicine 2-(pyridin-2-yldisulfanyl)ethylcarbamate 15 was prepared in DMF. 100 µL of this solution (1000 nmol, 100 equiv) were diluted with 84 µL of HEPES buffer (34 mM NaCl, 1 mM MgCl2, 0.05 mM EDTA, 7.5 mM HEPES, pH 8) and 16 µL of a buffered solution of TCEP (50 nmol / µL, 80 equiv). The mixture was stirred for 2 h at 37°C using a thermoshaker. Then the solution was added to the freeze-dried RNA 8 or 9 in a 0.5 mL Eppendorf and stirred at 37°C for 5 min using a thermoshaker. The reaction was stopped by addition of a large excess of HEPES buffer pH 5. The RNA-Dox conjugates 22 and 24 were immediately purified by RP-HPLC, characterized IEX-HPLC and MALDI-TOF MS using the procedures described above Preparation of RNA-deoxycholic acid conjugate 23. A 10 mM solution of N-(2-(pyridin-2-yldisulfaneyl)ethyl)-3α.12α-dihydroxy-5β-cholan-24amide 16 was prepared in 2:3 mixture of HEPES buffer (34 mM NaCl, 1 mM MgCl2, 0.05 mM EDTA, 7.5 mM HEPES, pH 8) and DMF. 100 µL of the solution (1000 nmol, 100 equiv) were diluted with 86 µL of buffer and 16 µL of a buffered solution of TCEP (50 nmol / µL, 80 equiv). The mixture was stirred for 2 h at 37°C using a thermoshaker. Then, the solution was added to the freeze-dried RNA 8 in a 0.5 mL Eppendorf and stirred at 37°C for 24 h using a thermoshaker. The reaction was stopped by freezing in liquid nitrogen and the RNA-deoxycholic acid conjugate 23 was purified by RP-HPLC, evaporated and characterized by MALDI-TOF MS using the procedures described above.

Recovery yields for RNA-Dox conjugates 22 and 24 were calculated from UV absorption at 481 nm of the RNA conjugates. Other recovery yields were calculated from UV absorption at 260 nm of RNA-small molecule conjugates.

Reductive conversion of RNA under glutathione treatment.1 nmol of RNA-small molecule conjugates (1 nmol) were freeze-dried in 500 µL Eppendorf tubes then were dissolved in 100 µL of a glutathione-HEPES buffer (34 mM NaCl, 1 mM MgCl2, 0.05 mM EDTA, 7.5 mM HEPES, 10 mM glutathione, pH 8) and incubated at 37°C. For RNA-conjugates 17, 19, 20, 21 and 23, aliquots were collected after 5 min, 1.5 h, 6 h and 24 h. For RNA conjugate 18, aliquots were collected after 1.5 h, 6 h and 24 h. For RNA conjugate 22, aliquots were collected after 30 min, 4 h and 24 h. All aliquots were immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen and kept at -80°C until analysis. Samples were diluted with water and analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS.

  After RNA assembly, an activation step of the thiol function into pyridyldisulfanyl ethylcarbamate (2'-O-PySSEC) was performed on solid support, by treating 2'-O-AcSEC RNAs with a large excess of 2,2'-dithiodipyridine (1000 equiv. per modification) in anhydrous BuNH2/THF (1/3) solution for 15 min. During this reaction, cyanoethyl protecting groups were also removed from phosphates. Then 2'-O-PySSEC RNAs were released from solid support and deprotected (nucleobases and 2'-OH) with an aqueous concentrated ammonia solution for 3 h at 30°C. Crude 2'-O-PySSEC RNAs 8 and 9 were purified by Ion-Exchange HPLC (IEX-HPLC), characterized by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and obtained with high purity (FiguresS10-S11, Supplementary Information).

Figure 1 .

 1 Figure 1. Structures of small molecules used for conjugation to RNA

Figure 2

 2 Figure 2. a) IEX-HPLC profiles of solution phase conjugation of RNA 8 with 1-thio-β-D-glucose 10 to give RNA-glucose conjugate 17 (left panel) and glutathione 12 to give RNA-glutathione conjugate 19 (right panel) upon method A. b) RP-HPLC profiles of solution phase conjugation of RNA 8 (top panel) with Dox-SS-py derivative 15 (left panel) and deoxycholic acid derivative 16 (right panel) upon method B to afford RNA conjugates 22 and 23, respectively.

Figure 3 .

 3 Figure 3. HPLC profiles of solution phase conjugation of RNA 9 with Dox-SS-Py derivative 15. RP-HPLC profiles of pure RNA 9 (panel a) and crude double DOX RNA conjugate 24 (panel b). Panel c: IEX-chromatogram and MALDI-TOF mass spectrum of pure RNA conjugate 24.

Glutathione treatment .

 treatment The reduction-responsive feature of the RNA-small molecule conjugates 17-23 was tested in the presence of glutathione (GSH) which is the most abundant thiol in the cytosol (up to 10 mM) whereas it is found at low concentration in extracellular medium. GSH sensitivity of all the conjugates 17-23 were evaluated with 5.6 mM GSH in HEPES buffer (pH 8) by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. After 5 min incubation, as shown in Figure4, the peak corresponding to the initial RNA-biotin conjugate 21 (m/z 7061.8) has disappeared and the peak at m/z 6764.2 was assigned to the intermediate thiol resulting from the disulfide cleavage.

Figure 4 .

 4 Figure 4. MALDI-TOF MS spectra of RNA-biotin conjugate 21 incubated in the presence of 5.6 mM GSH in HEPES buffer (pH 8) at 37°C, over 24h.

  1 H NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz) δ ppm: 9.14 (s, 1 H, NH), 8.28 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 2 H, Ph), 7.75 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 1 , H6), 7.38 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 2 H, Ph), 5.94 (s, 1 H, H1'), 5.74 (d, J = 8.4 Hz, 1 H, H5), 5.32 (d, J= 9.2 Hz, 1 H, H2'), 4.47 (dd, J= 9.2 Hz, J = 3.6 Hz, 1 H, H3'), 4.26 (d, J = 10.0 Hz, 1 H, H5'), 4.11 (d, J = 3.6 Hz, 1 H, H4'), 4.02 (d, J = 10.2 Hz, 1 H, H5'), 1.10-0.98 (m, 28 H, iPr) ppm. 13 C NMR (CDCl3, 100 MHz) δ ppm: 163.0, 155.

  (4 C) ppm. HRMS (ESI + ): m/z calcd. for C28H42N3O11Si2: 652.2358 [M+H] + , found 652.2365.

Table 1 .

 1 Synthesis of 2'-O-PySSEC RNAs 8 and 9

Conjugation of 2'-O-PySSEC RNA to various small molecules.

		5' GCAGCAGAACCCUUCUUAUGA 3'	/	/
	8	5' GCAGCAGAACCCURUCUUAUGA 3'	6867.4	6867.9
	9	5' GCAGCAGAACCCURUCUUAURGA 3'	7079.7	7079.5
	[a] UR = 2'-O-PySSEC Uridine. [b] Negative mode
	A large variety of molecules such as galactose, glucose,
	glutathione deoxycholic acid, biotin, 4-methylcoumarin and
	doxorubicin (Dox) have been anchored to a 21-mer RNA (Scheme

  P-NMR (CD3CN, 162 MHz) δ ppm: 149.66, 149.58. HRMS (ESI + ): m/z calcd for C44H54N5O11PS [M+H] + : 892.3278, found 892.3345. CPG) as solid support though a succinyl linker. Oligonucleotides were assembled in TWIST TM synthesis columns (Glen Research).

	Solid-phase synthesis of RNA 8 and 9. RNA oligonucleotides were
	synthesized using an ABI model 394 DNA/RNA synthesizer on 1 µmol
	scale using commercial 2'-O-PivOM ribonucleosides phosphoramidites
	(Chemgenes)	or	2'-O-[N-(acetylthioethyl)carbamoyl]	uridine
	phosphoramidite 7 and a long chain alkylamine (LCAA) controlled-pore
	glass (

Acknowledgments

Florian Gauthier thanks the University of Montpellier for financial support.

FULL PAPER

Entry for the Table of Contents

FULL PAPER

In this paper, we developed a post-synthesis conjugation of small molecules to RNA using a reduction sensitive disulfide linker connected to 2'OH via a carbamate function.

RNA conjugation