Recent developments in aryne chemistry are reviewed with a particular focus on synthetic methods. This includes an overview of the precursors of arynes and their activators; the generation of arynes with functional groups and their ensuing reactivities; and the novel transformations achieved via aryne intermediates. These newly developed methods have enabled the synthesis of a variety of previously inaccessible aromatic compounds, allowing the construction of a diversity-enriched chemical library that will further facilitate future drug discoveries.

Familial dysautonomia (FD), a hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy, is caused by missplicing of exon 20, resulting from an intronic mutation in the inhibitor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B cells, kinase complex-associated protein (IKBKAP) gene encoding IKK complex-associated protein (IKAP)/elongator protein 1 (ELP1). A newly established splicing reporter assay allowed us to visualize pathogenic splicing in cells and to screen small chemicals for the ability to correct the aberrant splicing of IKBKAP. Using this splicing reporter, we screened our chemical libraries and identified a compound, rectifier of aberrant splicing (RECTAS), that rectifies the aberrant IKBKAP splicing in cells from patients with FD. Here, we found that the levels of modified uridine at the wobble position in cytoplasmic tRNAs are reduced in cells from patients with FD and that treatment with RECTAS increases the expression of IKAP and recovers the tRNA modifications. These findings suggest that the missplicing of IKBKAP results in reduced tRNA modifications in patients with FD and that RECTAS is a promising therapeutic drug candidate for FD. Significance Familial dysautonomia (FD) is caused by missplicing of the IκB kinase complex-associated protein (IKAP) gene, which results in the skipping of exon 20, especially in neurons. FD would be treatable if exon 20 inclusion were increased correctly to reestablish correct splicing. Here, we have established a dual-color splicing reporter that recapitulates FD-type splicing. By using this reporter, we have identified a small chemical compound, named rectifier of aberrant splicing (RECTAS), that rectifies the aberrant splicing of FD. RECTAS promotes both exon 20 inclusion and the product IKAP expression in cells of patients with FD. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that modification levels of wobble uridine residues of several tRNAs are reduced in FD cells and that RECTAS can recover not only tRNA modifications but also cell viability of FD cells.