Polymeric "Clickase" Accelerates the Copper Click Reaction of Small Molecules, Proteins, and Cells

Recent work has shown that polymeric catalysts can mimic some of the remarkable features of metalloenzymes by binding substrates in proximity to a bound metal center. We report here an unexpected role for the polymer: multivalent, reversible, and adaptive binding to protein surfaces allowing for accelerated catalytic modification of proteins. The catalysts studied are a group of copper-containing single-chain polymeric nanoparticles (Cu^I-SCNP) that exhibit enzyme-like catalysis of the copper-mediated azide-alkyne cycloaddition reaction. The Cu^I-SCNP use a previously observed "uptake mode", binding small-molecule alkynes and azides inside a water-soluble amphiphilic polymer and proximal to copper catalytic sites, but with unprecedented rates. Remarkably, a combined experimental and computational study shows that the same Cu^I-SCNP perform a more efficient click reaction on modified protein surfaces and cell surface glycans than do small-molecule catalysts. The catalysis occurs through an "attach mode" where the SCNPs reversibly bind protein surfaces through multiple hydrophobic and electrostatic contacts. The results more broadly point to a wider capability for polymeric catalysts as artificial metalloenzymes, especially as it relates to bioapplications.