Exo-mechanism proximity-accelerated alkylations: investigations of linkers, electrophiles and surface mutations in engineered cyclophilin-cyclosporin systems

Investigations on the scope and utility of exo-mechanism proximity-accelerated reactions in engineered receptor-ligand systems are reported. We synthesized a series of electrophilic cyclosporin (CsA) derivatives by varying electrophiles and linker lengths, prepared a series of nucleophilic cysteine mutations on the surface of cyclophilin A (Cyp), and examined their reactivity and specificity in proximity-accelerated reactions. Acrylamide and epoxide electrophiles afforded useful reactivity and high specificity for alkylation of engineered receptors in Jurkat cell extracts. We found that remote cysteines (>17 A from the ligand) could be alkylated with useful rates under physiological conditions. The results from mutations of the receptor surface suggest that the dominant factors governing the rates of proximity-accelerated reactions are related to the local environment of the reactive group on the protein surface. This study defines several parameters affecting reactivity in exo-mechanism proximity-accelerated reactions and provides guidance for the design of experiments for biological investigations involving proximity-accelerated reactions.