Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41667439›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Reactive oxygen species-activated bioorthogonal chemistry in living systems enabled by boronate-caged dihydrotetrazines.

Dongqing Ming, Jiaxue Zhang, Binsong Mu, Dongxue Peng, Yanjun Wang, Yangyang Kong, Wenjing Wang, Ling Chu, Rui Wang, Luping Liu

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Supramolecular Degraders: An Emerging Paradigm in Targeted Protein Degradation.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
    Review
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Dongqing Ming *State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China.
Jiaxue Zhang *State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China.
Binsong Mu *State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China.
Dongxue PengState Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China.
Yanjun WangState Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China.
Yangyang KongState Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China.
Wenjing WangSchool of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, PR China.
Ling ChuSchool of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, PR China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4418-6850
Rui WangState Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China. wangrui@imm.ac.cn.
Luping LiuState Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China. lpliu@imm.ac.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1440-9275

Funding

Beijing Nova Program 2022048
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Bioorthogonal chemistry has become a robust toolbox with growing applications in biology and medicine. To meet diverse needs in research, new types of on-demand bioorthogonal reactions capable of responding to biological triggers or exogenous stimuli are highly valuable, to achieve spatial and temporal control over reactions in living systems. Elevated levels of reactive oxygen species have been implicated in aging and multiple diseases, serving as remarkable endogenous triggers for prodrugs, probes and materials, however ROS-activated bioorthogonal ligation remains as a challenge. Here we report a reactive oxygen species activated tetrazine ligation enabled by boronate-caged dihydrotetrazines. Bioorthogonal handle tetrazines can be in situ generated from boronate-caged dihydrotetrazines upon the elevated level of hydrogen peroxide, resulting in spatiotemporal control of subsequent reactions with dienophiles. Using this strategy, a reactive oxygen species triggered construction of proteolysis targeting chimera for targeted degradation of the protein of interest bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) is successfully established by tagging boronate-caged dihydrotetrazines with a cereblon E3 ligase recruiter. Furthermore, we demonstrate a reactive oxygen species triggered tetrazine ligation enabled tumor-selective drug delivery in both living cells and mice. The present reactive oxygen species responsive delivery of cytotoxin doxorubicin via a click-to-release reaction between boronate-caged dihydrotetrazines and trans-cyclooctene modified doxorubicin shows excellent chemotherapeutic efficacy and safety in suppressing the growth of some tumors, superior to both direct administration of doxorubicin and reactive oxygen species sensitive prodrug of boronate-caged doxorubicin. We expect this reactive oxygen species responsive bioorthogonal reaction will offer compelling opportunities for precision therapy and provide approaches for studying pathogenesis.

Indexed as

Boronic AcidsReactive Oxygen SpeciesAnimalsCell Line, TumorDoxorubicinHumansHydrogen PeroxideMiceProteolysis Targeting ChimeraBoronic AcidsDoxorubicinHydrogen PeroxideProteolysis Targeting ChimeraReactive Oxygen Species

Identifiers

PMID41667439
PMCPMC13000174

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.