Increasing the chemical space of L-SIGN specific glycomimetics

02 June 2025, Version 1
This content is a preprint and has not undergone peer review at the time of posting.

Abstract

Selective ligands for the C-type lectin receptor L-SIGN offer promising avenues in antiviral therapies and for tissue-specific delivery. We recently reported that a guanidine-bearing modified mannose glycomimetic, called Man84, binds to L-SIGN with micromolar affinity and high-selectivity against the homolog lectin DC-SIGN. Here we describe a series of Man84 isosteres (ligands 2-11) that maintain or improve on this selectivity. The affinity of the ligands for L-SIGN, as well as their selectivity against DC-SIGN, were evaluated by Surface Plasmon Resonance inhibition assays using immobilized SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein. Compounds 4, 5 and 9 were found to bind to L-SIGN with low micromolar affinity and 50-94-fold selectivity, thus matching or exceeding the performance of Man84. The crystal structure of the L-SIGN CRD/4 complex was solved and highlighted the critical role of a bifurcated H-bond interaction of the ligands with the side chain of E370 in L-SIGN.

Supplementary materials

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Supporting Information
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SI includes: sensorgrams and inhibition curves of SPR binding competition assays of DC-SIGN and L-SIGN; correlation graphs for L-SIGN affinity and selectivity; crystallographic data and statistics of L-SIGN CRD/4 complex; details of the computational (docking) studies; NMR spectral data of compounds 2-21, Molecular Formula Strings (cvs). Primary data can be found in supporting information or can be requested to the authors.
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