Peptide Stapling by Crosslinking Two Amines with α-Ketoaldehydes through Diverse Modified Glyoxal-Lysine Dimer Linkers

alpha-Ketoaldehydes play versatile roles in the ubiquitous natural processes of protein glycation. However, leveraging the reactivity of alpha-ketoaldehydes for biomedical applications has been challenging. Previously, the reactivity of alpha-ketoaldehydes with guanidine has been harnessed to design probes for labeling Arg residues on proteins in an aqueous medium. Herein, a highly effective, broadly applicable, and operationally simple protocol for stapling native peptides by cross-linking two amino groups through diverse imidazolium linkers with various alpha-ketoaldehyde reagents is described. The use of hexafluoroisopropanol as a solvent facilitates rapid and clean reactions under mild conditions and enables unique selectivity for Lys over Arg. The naturally occurring GOLD/MOLD linkers have been expanded to encompass a wide range of modified glyoxal-lysine dimer (OLD) linkers. In a proof-of-concept trial, these modular stapling reactions enabled a convenient two-round strategy to streamline the structure-activity relationship (SAR) study of the wasp venom peptide anoplin, leading to enhanced biological activities.