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Pham TL, Thomas F. Design of Functional Globular β-Sheet Miniproteins. Chembiochem 2024; 25:e202300745. [PMID: 38275210 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202300745] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 01/26/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
The design of discrete β-sheet peptides is far less advanced than e. g. the design of α-helical peptides. The reputation of β-sheet peptides as being poorly soluble and aggregation-prone often hinders active design efforts. Here, we show that this reputation is unfounded. We demonstrate this by looking at the β-hairpin and WW domain. Their structure and folding have been extensively studied and they have long served as model systems to investigate protein folding and folding kinetics. The resulting fundamental understanding has led to the development of hyperstable β-sheet scaffolds that fold at temperatures of 100 °C or high concentrations of denaturants. These have been used to design functional miniproteins with protein or nucleic acid binding properties, in some cases with such success that medical applications are conceivable. The β-sheet scaffolds are not always completely rigid, but can be specifically designed to respond to changes in pH, redox potential or presence of metal ions. Some engineered β-sheet peptides also exhibit catalytic properties, although not comparable to those of natural proteins. Previous reviews have focused on the design of stably folded and non-aggregating β-sheet sequences. In our review, we now also address design strategies to obtain functional miniproteins from β-sheet folding motifs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Truc Lam Pham
- Truc Lam Pham, Prof. Dr. Franziska Thomas, Institute of Organic Chemistry, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 270, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Franziska Thomas
- Truc Lam Pham, Prof. Dr. Franziska Thomas, Institute of Organic Chemistry, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 270, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
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Wang Y, Zhang L, Liu C, Luo Y, Chen D. Peptide-Mediated Nanocarriers for Targeted Drug Delivery: Developments and Strategies. Pharmaceutics 2024; 16:240. [PMID: 38399294 PMCID: PMC10893007 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics16020240] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2024] [Revised: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Effective drug delivery is essential for cancer treatment. Drug delivery systems, which can be tailored to targeted transport and integrated tumor therapy, are vital in improving the efficiency of cancer treatment. Peptides play a significant role in various biological and physiological functions and offer high design flexibility, excellent biocompatibility, adjustable morphology, and biodegradability, making them promising candidates for drug delivery. This paper reviews peptide-mediated drug delivery systems, focusing on self-assembled peptides and peptide-drug conjugates. It discusses the mechanisms and structural control of self-assembled peptides, the varieties and roles of peptide-drug conjugates, and strategies to augment peptide stability. The review concludes by addressing challenges and future directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yubo Wang
- Medical College, Guangxi University, Da-Xue-Dong Road No. 100, Nanning 530004, China;
| | - Lu Zhang
- School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China;
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China;
| | - Chen Liu
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China;
| | - Yiming Luo
- Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University and Institute of Hematology, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, 55 Zhenhai Road, Xiamen 361003, China
- The School of Clinical Medicine, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 351002, China
| | - Dengyue Chen
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target Research, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China;
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Nazzaro A, Lu B, Sawyer N, Watkins AM, Arora PS. Macrocyclic β-Sheets Stabilized by Hydrogen Bond Surrogates. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2023; 62:e202303943. [PMID: 37170337 PMCID: PMC10592574 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202303943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2023] [Revised: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Mimics of protein secondary and tertiary structure offer rationally-designed inhibitors of biomolecular interactions. β-Sheet mimics have a storied history in bioorganic chemistry and are typically designed with synthetic or natural turn segments. We hypothesized that replacement of terminal inter-β-strand hydrogen bonds with hydrogen bond surrogates (HBS) may lead to conformationally-defined macrocyclic β-sheets without the requirement for natural or synthetic β-turns, thereby providing a minimal mimic of a protein β-sheet. To access turn-less antiparallel β-sheet mimics, we developed a facile solid phase synthesis protocol. We surveyed a dataset of protein β-sheets for naturally observed interstrand side chain interactions. This bioinformatics survey highlighted an over-abundance of aromatic-aromatic, cation-π and ionic interactions in β-sheets. In correspondence with natural β-sheets, we find that minimal HBS mimics show robust β-sheet formation when specific amino acid residue pairings are incorporated. In isolated β-sheets, aromatic interactions endow superior conformational stability over ionic or cation-π interactions. Circular dichroism and NMR spectroscopies, along with high-resolution X-ray crystallography, support our design principles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Nazzaro
- Department of Chemistry, New York University, 100 Washington Square East, NY 10013, New York, USA
| | - Brandon Lu
- Department of Chemistry, New York University, 100 Washington Square East, NY 10013, New York, USA
| | - Nicholas Sawyer
- Department of Chemistry, New York University, 100 Washington Square East, NY 10013, New York, USA
| | | | - Paramjit S Arora
- Department of Chemistry, New York University, 100 Washington Square East, NY 10013, New York, USA
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Harmon TW, Horne WS. Protein Backbone Alteration in Non-Hairpin β-Turns: Impacts on Tertiary Folded Structure and Folded Stability. Chembiochem 2023; 24:e202300113. [PMID: 36920327 PMCID: PMC10239330 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202300113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2023] [Revised: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023]
Abstract
The importance of β-turns to protein folding has motivated extensive efforts to stabilize the motif with non-canonical backbone connectivity. Prior work has focused almost exclusively on turns between strands in a β-sheet (i. e., hairpins). Turns in other structural contexts are also common in nature and have distinct conformational preferences; however, design principles for their mimicry remain poorly understood. Here, we report strategies that stabilize non-hairpin β-turns through systematic evaluation of the impacts of backbone alteration on the high-resolution folded structure and folded stability of a helix-loop-helix prototype protein. Several well-established hairpin turn mimetics are shown detrimental to folded stability and/or hydrophobic core packing, while less-explored modification schemes that reinforce alternate turn types lead to improved stability and more faithful structural mimicry. Collectively, these results have implications in control over protein folding through chemical modification as well as the design of protein mimetics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas W Harmon
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, 219 Parkman Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
| | - W Seth Horne
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, 219 Parkman Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
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Gou F, Shi D, Kou B, Li Z, Yan X, Wu X, Jiang YB. One-Pot Cyclization to Large Peptidomimetic Macrocycles by In Situ-Generated β-Turn-Enforced Folding. J Am Chem Soc 2023; 145:9530-9539. [PMID: 37037798 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c11684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/12/2023]
Abstract
Macrocycles have been targets of extensive synthetic efforts for decades because of their potent molecular recognition and self-assembly capabilities. Yet, efficient syntheses of macrocyclic molecules via irreversible covalent bonds remain challenging. Here, we report an efficient approach to large peptidomimetic macrocycles by using the in situ-generated β-turn structural motifs afforded in the amidothiourea moieties from the early steps of the reaction of 2 molecules of bilateral amino acid-based acylhydrazine with 2 molecules of diisothiocyanate. Four chiral and achiral peptidomimetic large macrocycles were successfully synthesized in high yields of 45-63% in a feasible one-pot reaction under sub-molar concentration conditions and were purified by simple filtration. X-ray crystallographic characterization of three macrocycles reveals an important feature that their four β-turn structures, each maintained by four 10-membered intramolecular hydrogen bonds, alternatively network the four aromatic arms. This affords an interesting conformation switching mode upon anion binding. Binding of SO42- to 1L or 1D that contains 4 alanine residues (with the lowest steric hinderance among the macrocycles) leads to an inside-out structural change of the host macrocycle, as confirmed by the X-ray crystal structure of 1L-SO42- and 1D-SO42- complexes, accompanied by an inversion of the CD signals. On the basis of the strong sulfate affinity of the macrocycles, we succeeded in the removal of sulfate anions from water via a macrocycle-mediated liquid-liquid extraction method. Our synthetic protocol can be easily extended to other macrocycles of varying arms and/or chiral amino acid residues; thus, a variety of structurally and functionally diverse macrocycles are expected to be readily made.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Gou
- Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, The MOE Key Laboratory of Spectrochemical Analysis and Instrumentation, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Di Shi
- Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, The MOE Key Laboratory of Spectrochemical Analysis and Instrumentation, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Bohan Kou
- Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, The MOE Key Laboratory of Spectrochemical Analysis and Instrumentation, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Zhao Li
- Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, The MOE Key Laboratory of Spectrochemical Analysis and Instrumentation, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Xiaosheng Yan
- Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, The MOE Key Laboratory of Spectrochemical Analysis and Instrumentation, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China
| | - Xin Wu
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Yun-Bao Jiang
- Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, The MOE Key Laboratory of Spectrochemical Analysis and Instrumentation, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
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