Design and Synthesis of Polymeric Hydrogen Sulfide Donors

Abstract

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a gaseous signaling molecule that has several important biological functions in the human body. Because of the difficulties of handling H2S gas, small organic compounds that release H2S under physiological conditions have been developed. The observed bioactivities of these H2S donors have generally been directly correlated with their H2S release properties. However, apart from H2S release, these H2S donors also exert biological effects by direct interaction with intracellular components within the cytoplasm after passive diffusion across cellular membranes. Here we report polymeric H2S donors based on ADT-OH which would alter cellular trafficking of ADT-OH to minimize the unfavorable interactions with intracellular components. We designed and synthesized a poly(ethylene glycol)-ADT (PEG-ADT) conjugate having ADT linked via an ether bond. Whereas ADT-OH significantly reduced cell viability in murine macrophages, the PEG-ADT conjugate did not show obvious cytotoxicity. The PEG-ADT conjugate released H2S in murine macrophages but not in the presence of serum proteins. The PEG-ADT conjugate was taken up by the cell through the endocytic pathway and stayed inside endolysosomes, which is different from the small amphiphilic donor ADT-OH that can directly enter the cytoplasm. Furthermore, PEG-ADT was capable of potentiating LPS-induced inflammation. This polymeric H2S donor approach may help to better understand the H2S bioactivities of the H2S donor ADT-OH.

Medicinal Chemistry: Insights into the Development of Novel H2S Donors

“…Very recently, DTT-based polymeric H 2 S donors have been reported (Scheme 5) (Hasegawa and van del Vlies 2014). In this work DTT was conjugated to poly (ethylene glycol) polymers.…”

Gasotransmitter delivery via self-assembling peptides: Treating diseases with natural signaling gases

“…Similar to CO-releasing polymers, H 2 S-releasing polymers have only recently been reported. One light-triggered H 2 S-releasing polymer has been reported [109], while others are based on thiol-triggered H 2 S donors including SATOs [110], thiobenzamides [111], and dithiolethiones [112].…”

GYY4137, a Novel Water-Soluble, H2S-Releasing Molecule

“…Many of these compounds, that are now available commercially, have been reviewed elsewhere (Kashfi & Olson, 2013;Song et al, 2014). More recently, additional H 2 S donors have been introduced including poly(ethylene glycol)-ADT (PEG-ADT) (Hasegawa & van der Vlies, 2014), and S-aroylthiooximes (Foster, Powell, Radzinski, & Matson, 2014). In some cases, molecules which target delivery of H 2 S to specific organelles within cells, notably mitochondria, have been reported (Le Trionnaire, Perry, Whatmore, Wood, & Whiteman, 2013;Le Trionnaire et al, 2014).…”