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Updated: May 21, 2025

Spatiotemporally Controlled Nuclear Translocation of Guests in Living Cells Using Caged Molecular Glues as Photoactivatable Tags
Published on: January 17, 2019
A conformationally adaptable tetrahedral cage with different guest encapsulation models
Hua Tang1, Yuyang Lu1, Yongwei Qian1
1Stoddart Institute of Molecular Science, Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University Hangzhou 310058 China lihao2015@zju.edu.cn hongliang.chen@zju.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Through imine condensation, a tetrahedral cage-shaped molecule was obtained in a one-pot manner, which comprises four trisamino vertices and four trisformyl faces each containing three meta-methyl-pyridyl units. Within the cage framework, each of the twelve pyridines undergoes pivoting around the corresponding imine-pyridine-phenyl axle, endowing the cage with adaptable conformations. By modulating the number of pyridyl nitrogen atoms that point inwards, the cage can switch the effective volume of its cavity where a wide range of guest molecules including quaternary ammoniums, or different amounts of alkali cations, are encapsulated, by utilizing dipole-cation forces and/or hydrogen bonding. This behavior is reminiscent of biological enzymes that can adjust their conformations to optimize binding affinity.
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