Graduate Student Adeyemi Odudimu

"Bioorthogonal Click Chemistry: A tool for visualizing subcellular structures and molecules"

Bioorthogonal click chemistry, the subject of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2022,1 is a powerful chemical strategy for selective labeling and modification of biomolecules of interest without perturbation of the intrinsic biological function and processes. It involves using biologically stable and inert chemical reactions with high selectivity and efficiency under physiological conditions as required by biological systems.
Song et al.,2 employed an in-situ one-step strategy for labeling exosomes from metabolite-treated human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells using a Strain-Promoted Azide-Alkyne Cycloaddition reaction3. The Exosome label obtained via the bioorthogonal click reaction was found to be more efficient, stable, and biocompatible than using existing labeling and tracking strategies for exosomes in vitro and in vivo.
Tamura et al,4 developed a technique for organelle-selective phosphocholine labeling under physiological conditions for live cells. In the technology, an azide group was metabolically incorporated into the choline phospholipid of cells, which was followed by a bioorthogonal click reaction. The group used the technique to visualize ER-Golgi and mitochondria in live cells.

References:

(1) Zaia, J. The 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the Development of Click Chemistry and Bioorthogonal Chemistry. Anal Bioanal Chem 2023, 415 (4), 527–532. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-022-04483-9.
(2) Song, S.; Shim, M. K.; Lim, S.; Moon, Y.; Yang, S.; Kim, J.; Hong, Y.; Yoon, H. Y.; Kim, I.-S.; Hwang, K. Y.; Kim, K. In Situ One-Step Fluorescence Labeling Strategy of Exosomes via Bioorthogonal Click Chemistry for Real-Time Exosome Tracking In Vitro and In Vivo. Bioconjugate Chem. 2020, 31 (5), 1562–1574. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.0c00216.
(3) Mbua, N. E.; Guo, J.; Wolfert, M. A.; Steet, R.; Boons, G.-J. Strain-Promoted Alkyne-Azide Cycloadditions (SPAAC) Reveal New Features of Glycoconjugate Biosynthesis. ChemBioChem 2011, 12 (12), 1912–1921. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbic.201100117.
(4) Tamura, T.; Fujisawa, A.; Tsuchiya, M.; Shen, Y.; Nagao, K.; Kawano, S.; Tamura, Y.; Endo, T.; Umeda, M.; Hamachi, I. Organelle Membrane-Specific Chemical Labeling and Dynamic Imaging in Living Cells. Nat Chem Biol 2020, 16 (12), 1361–1367. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-020-00651-z.