Rationally designed squaryldiamides - a novel class of sugar-nucleotide mimics?

Sugar-nucleotides such as GDP-mannose, GDP-fucose and UDP-glucose are important biomolecules with a central role in carbohydrate and glycoconjugate biosynthesis, metabolism and cell signalling. Analogues and mimics of naturally occurring sugar-nucleotides are sought after as chemical tools and inhibitor candidates for sugar-nucleotide-dependent enzymes including glycosyltransferases. Many sugar-nucleotides bind to their target glycosyltransferases via coordination of the diphosphate group to a divalent metal cofactor in the active site. The identification of uncharged, chemically stable surrogates for the diphosphate group, with the ability to coordinate to a divalent metal, is therefore an important design criteria for the development of sugar-nucleotide mimics. Here, we describe the rational design and synthesis of a novel class of sugar-nucleotide mimics based on a squaryldiamide scaffold, an uncharged phosphate isostere. We demonstrate by comprehensive NMR titration experiments that the new sugar-nucleotide mimics coordinate efficiently to Mg2+, and provide results from biological studies with a therapeutically relevant mannosyltransferase from Trypanosoma brucei. Our findings suggest that squaryldiamides are a promising template for the development of sugar-nucleotide mimics, and illustrate the considerable potential of the squarylamide group as a fragment for inhibitor design.