Tetrazine-mediated bioorthogonal prodrug–prodrug activation

Abstract

The selective and biocompatible activation of prodrugs within complex biological systems remains a key challenge in medical chemistry and chemical biology. Herein we report, for the first time, a dual prodrug activation strategy that fully satisfies the principle of bioorthogonality by the symbiotic formation of two active drugs. This dual and traceless prodrug activation strategy takes advantage of the _INVDA chemistry of tetrazines (here a prodrug), generating a pyridazine-based miR21 inhibitor and the anti-cancer drug camptothecin and offers a new concept in prodrug activation.