title: Development and application of bond cleavage reactions in bioorthogonal chemistry.
abstract: Bioorthogonal chemical reactions are a thriving area of chemical research in recent years as an unprecedented technique to dissect native biological processes through chemistry-enabled strategies. However, current concepts of bioorthogonal chemistry have largely centered on 'bond formation' reactions between two mutually reactive bioorthogonal handles. Recently, in a reverse strategy, a collection of 'bond cleavage' reactions has emerged with excellent biocompatibility. These reactions have expanded our bioorthogonal chemistry repertoire, enabling an array of exciting new biological applications that range from the chemically controlled spatial and temporal activation of intracellular proteins and small-molecule drugs to the direct manipulation of intact cells under physiological conditions. Here we highlight the development and applications of these bioorthogonal cleavage reactions. Furthermore, we lay out challenges and propose future directions along this appealing avenue of research.
authors.affiliation: Synthetic and Functional Biomolecules Center, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Synthetic and Functional Biomolecules Center, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China.|Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Peng R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000480:Alkynes / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D001386:Azides / Q000737:chemistry; D001671:Biochemistry / Q000266:history / Q000639:trends*; D060846:Cell Engineering; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D011355:Prodrugs / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000480:Alkynes; D001386:Azides; D011355:Prodrugs