Spacer arms

Jervis used porous silica coated with chemisorbed polyacrylhydrazide for immobilization of adenosine monophosphate (AMP) [117]. After periodate oxidation of its ribose residue the ligand was coupled to the carrier and used for isolation of lactate dehydrogenase from rabbit muscle. The specific capacity was 2 mg of protein/g adsorbent with a ligand content of 10 pmol/g, whereas recovery of enzymatic activity after elution was 85%. Hipwell et al. [118] found that for effective binding of lactate dehydrogenases on AMP-o-aminoalkyl-Sepharose the spacer arm length required at least 4 methylene links. Apparently, a macromolecule of polyacrylhydrazide acts itself like an extended spacer arm and thus allow AMP to bind the enzyme. 

Compounds 13 and 20 were obtained in five and seven steps respectively from the intermediate alcohol 6. They, as well as the acetylated derivative 12, were tested in vivo i and proved to be, as their free acids, gratuitous inducers of pectinases in Erwinia chiysanthemi. These results provide evidence that the hydroxyl function in C-5 is not required for the recognition between inducers and the KdgR repressor protein. Tharefore we can now envisage the preparation of affinity columns, by immoWlizing inducers on suppc rts using a spacer arm boimd to the C-5 hydroxyl. Such columns could then be used for the purification of the repressor protein. 

SH,-----COOH) for coupling ligands or spacer arms (3) physical... 

Position of spacer arm. The position of the linker group on the target analyte that connects it to the immunogen has a profound influence on the selectivity and sensitivity of the subsequent assays. The handle should be attached as far as possible from the unique determinant groups, allowing maximum exposure of the important... 

Figure 8 Structure of immunogen haptens for pyrethroids with spacer arm attachment at the a-position of the alcohol moiety. Since the whole pyrethroid molecule is available for recognition by the antibody, assays resulting from these immunogens were selective for the parent pyrethroids...

In some situations, the direct attachment of a large group (such as fluorescamine) to a biologically active substrate can reduce activity. This is due to steric hindrance which can cause a change in conformation or physically block an active site. This condition can be obviated in many cases by attaching the bulky moiety to a spacer arm composed of two or more methylene groups. To this end, a variant of F-D was also synthesized in which a spacer arm of beta-alanine was inserted between the fluorescent and chemically reactive moieties of the reagent. 

Two strategies for preparation of neutral and monocationic porphyrin models were used. The presence of a spacer arm directly attached to the meso phenyl position of the porphyrins gave access to a series of dimers with different substituents on the meso position and with different geometries. 

The unique properties of oligonucleotides create crosslinking options that are far different from any other biological molecule. Nucleic acids are the only major class of macromolecule that can be specifically duplicated in vitro by enzymatic means. The addition of modified nucleoside triphosphates to an existing DNA strand by the action of polymerases or transferases allows addition of spacer arms or detection components at random or discrete sites along the chain. Alternatively, chemical methods that modify nucleotides at selected functional groups can be used to produce spacer arm derivatives or activated intermediates for subsequent coupling to other molecules. 

Alternatively, spacer arms can be introduced into a macromolecule to extend a reactive group away from its surface. The extra length of a spacer can provide less steric hindrance to conjugation and often yields more active complexes. 

SMPT, succinimidyloxycarbonyl-a-methyl-a-(2-pyridyldithio)toluene, contains an NHS ester end and a pyridyl disulfide end similar to SPDP, but its hindered disulfide makes conjugates formed with this reagent more stable (Thorpe et al., 1987) (Chapter 5, Section 1.2). The reagent is especially useful in forming immunotoxin conjugates for in vivo administration (Chapter 21, Section 2.1). A water-soluble analog of this crosslinker containing an extended spacer arm is also commercially available as sulfo-LC-SMPT (Thermo Fisher). 

Succinic anhydride also is a convenient extender for creating spacer arms on chromatography supports. Supports derivatized with amine-terminal spacers may be succinylated to totally block the amine functionalities and form terminal carboxylic acid linkers for coupling amine-containing affinity ligands (Cuatrecasas, 1970). 

Since sialic acid is a frequent terminal sugar constituent of the polysaccharide trees on glycoproteins, this method selectively forms reactive aldehydes on the most accessible parts for subsequent modifications. The carbohydrate polymer of a protein provides a long spacer arm that can be used to conjugate another large macromolecule, such as a second protein, with little steric problems. 

Figure 4.1 The general design of a homobifunctional crosslinking agent. The two reactive groups are identical and typically are located at the ends of an organic spacer arm. The length of the spacer may be designed to accommodate the optimal distance between two molecules to be conjugated.

B/s-diazotized benzidine has been used to create active-hydrogen-reactive spacer arms on chromatographic matrices (Silman et al., 1966 Lowe and Dean, 1971). The compound may be used similarly to o-tolidine for the conjugation of active-hydrogen-containing molecules (see Section 9.1, this chapter, and Chapter 2, Section 6.1). 

SIACX, or succinimidyl-6-((((4-(iodoacetyl)amino)methyl)cyclohexane-l-carbonyl)amino) hexanoate, is an analog of SIAC that contains an additional aminohexanoate spacer group next to its NHS ester end (Invitrogen). The result is the creation of an approximately 16-atom spacer arm between conjugated molecules. All other properties of SIACX are similar to SIAC. 

The synthesis and structure of a dendrimer can be illustrated by the well-known poly (amidoamine) type (called PAMAM), which describes the monomers making up the complete polymer. The synthesis starts from a core diamine (or ammonia) molecule. The diamine can be of various lengths and spacer arm properties and even contain cleavable components. Typically, the core... 

A common choice of crosslinker for this type of reaction is sulfo-SMCC, which has been used extensively for antibody conjugation (Chapter 20, Section 1.1). A better option for dendrimer conjugation is to use a similar crosslinker design, but one that contains a hydrophilic PEG spacer arm to promote dendrimer hydrophilicity after modification. Derivatization of an amine-dendrimer with a NHS-PEG-maleimide can create an intermediate that is coated with water-soluble PEG spacers. This modification helps to mask any potential for nonspecific interactions that the PAMAM surface may have, while providing terminal thiol-reactive maleimides for coupling ligands (Figure 7.10). 

If a NHS-PEG-maleimide compound is used for this type of activation and coupling, the intermediate maleimide-activated dendrimer should be quickly purified of excess crosslinker and reaction by-products and immediately used to couple ligand. This is due to the fact that the maleimide hydrolyzes in aqueous solution at a higher rate than an SMCC-type crosslinker, because of the extreme hydrophilicity of the PEG spacer arm compared to the cyclohexane spacer of SMCC. 

Hong et al. (2004) also found that modification of PAMAM dendrimers with a short PEG linker arm could act to reduce nonspecificity caused by the amines on the dendrimer-modified surface. An azido-PEGj-aininc spacer was activated with nitrophenyl carbamate to yield an activated intermediate that could be used to modify the amines on the dendrimer (Figure 7.24). Reaction at high molar ratio resulted in about 61 PEG-azido spacers on the dendrimer. Reduction of the azido group to an amine using triphenylphosphine in THF provided the dendrimer-PEG-amine derivative for surface modification. The added presence of the PEG spacer arm reduced... 

---