Here we report a robust bioconjugation method using cysteine arylation. This chemistry enables site-specific conjugation at cysteine residues within peptides, proteins, and antibodies. Our two developed approaches use either perfluoroaryl-cysteine SNAr chemistry or organometallic palladium reagents. This work lead to the discovery of a self-labeling four-residue sequence that enables regioselective conjugation at only one cysteine residue within an intact antibody containing natural amino acids. Recently, we discovered a new approach for the native conjugation of complex natural products such as vancomycin onto peptides and proteins without the introduction of linkers or chemical handles.

Cysteine arylation to produce site-specific antibody drug conjugates

256th National Meeting (2018)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.