Dextran sulfhydryl-reactive derivatives

This type of modification process has been used to form sulfhydryl-reactive dextran polymers by coupling amine spacers with crosslinkers containing an amine reactive end and a thiol-reactive end (Brunswick et al., 1988 Noguchi et al., 1992). The result was a multivalent sulfhydryl-reactive dextran derivative that could couple numerous sulfhydryl-containing molecules per polymer chain. 

Another approach uses reactive alkyl halogen compounds containing a terminal carboxylate group on the other end to form spacer arms off the dextran polymer from each available hydroxyl. In this manner, Brunswick et al. (1988) used chloroacetic acid to modify the hydroxyl groups to form the carboxymethyl derivative. The carboxylates then were aminated with ethylene diamine to create an amine-terminal derivative (Inman, 1985). Finally, the amines were modified with iodoacetate to form a sulfhydryl-reactive polymer (Figure 25.14). 

In a somewhat similar scheme, Noguchi et al. (1992) prepared a carboxylate spacer arm by reacting 6-bromohexanoic acid with a dextran polymer. The carboxylate then was aminated with ethylene diamine to form an amine-terminal spacer (Figure 25.15). This dextran derivative finally was reacted with N-Succinimidyl 3-(2-pyridyldithio)propionate (SPDP) (Chapter 5, Section 1.1) to create the desired sulfhydryl-reactive polymer (Section 2.4, this chapter). The SPDP-activated polymer then could be used to prepare an immunoconjugate composed of an antibody against human colon cancer conjugated with the drug mitomycin-C. 

Figure 25.17 An amine-functionalized dextran derivative may be further reacted with SPDP to create a sulfhydryl-reactive product.

Figure 25.18 An amine-derivative of dextran may be coupled with iodoacetic acid using a carbodiimide reaction to produce a sulfhydryl-reactive iodoacetamide polymer.

Noguchi et al. (1992) used an amine-terminal spacer arm derivative of dextran to react with SPDP (Chapter 5, Section 1.1) in the creation of a pyridyldisulfide-activated polymer (Fig. 391). Brunswick etal. (1988) used a different amine-terminal spacer arm derivative of dextran and subsequently coupled iodoacetate to form a sulfhydryl-reactive polymer (Fig. 392). Heindel et al. (1991) used a unique approach. They... 

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