Chiral Recognition ofD-Kyotorphin by Lipidic Membranes: Relevance Toward Improved Analgesic Efficiency

Mechanistic insights on the antibacterial action of the kyotorphin peptide derivatives revealed by in vitro studies and Galleria mellonella proteomic analysis

OBJECTIVES

The selected kyotorphin derivatives were tested to improve their antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity. The antimicrobial screening of the KTP derivatives were ascertained in the representative strains of bacteria, including Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

METHODS

Kyotorphin derivatives, KTP-NH2, KTP-NH2-DL, IbKTP, IbKTP-NH2, MetKTP-DL, MetKTP-LD, were designed and synthesized to improve lipophilicity and resistance to enzymatic degradation. Peptides were synthesized by standard solution or solid-phase peptide synthesis and purified using RP-HPLC, which resulted in >95 % purity, and were fully characterized by mass spectrometry and 1H NMR. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) determined for bacterial strains were between 20 and 419 μM. The direct effect of IbKTP-NH2 on bacterial cells was imaged using scanning electron microscopy. The absence of toxicity, high survival after infection and an increase in the hemocytes count was evaluated by injections of derivatives in Galleria mellonella larvae. Proteomics analyses of G. mellonella hemolymph were performed to investigate the underlying mechanism of antibacterial activity of IbKTP-NH2 at MIC.

RESULTS

IbKTP-NH2 induces morphological changes in bacterial cell, many differentially expressed proteins involved in DNA replication, synthesis of cell wall, and virulence were up-regulated after the treatment of G. mellonella with IbKTP-NH2.

CONCLUSION

We suggest that this derivative, in addition to its physical activity on the bacterial membranes, can elicit a cellular and humoral immune response, therefore, it could be considered for biomedical applications.

Stereochemical Effects on the Antimicrobial Properties of Tetrasubstituted 2,5-Diketopiperazines

Antimicrobial drug resistance is a looming health crisis facing us in the modern era, and new drugs are urgently needed to combat this growing problem. Synthetic mimics of antimicrobial peptides have recently emerged as a promising class of compounds for the treatment of persistent microbial infections. In the current study, we investigate five cyclic N-alkylated amphiphilic 2,5-diketopiperazines against 15 different strains of bacteria and fungi, including drug-resistant clinical isolates. Several of the 2,5-diketopiperazines displayed activities similar or superior to antibiotics currently in clinical use, with activities coupled to both the cationic and hydrophobic substituents. All possible stereoisomers of the lead peptide were prepared, and the effects of stereochemistry and amphiphilicity were investigated via 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy, solution dynamics, and membrane interaction modeling. Clear differences in solution structures and membrane interaction potentials explain the differences seen in the bioactivity and physicochemical properties of each stereoisomer.

Probing the Role of Chirality in Phospholipid Membranes

Nucleotides, amino acids, sugars, and lipids are almost ubiquitously homochiral within individual cells on Earth. While oligonucleotides and proteins exist as one natural chirality throughout the tree of life, two stereoisomers of phospholipids have separately emerged in archaea and bacteria, an evolutionary divergence known as "the lipid divide". Within this review, we focus on the emergence of phospholipid homochirality and compare the stability of synthetic homochiral and heterochiral membranes in vitro. We discuss chemical probes designed to study the stereospecific interactions of lipid membranes in vitro. Overall, we aim to highlight studies that help elucidate the determinants of stereospecific interactions between lipids, peptides, and small molecule ligands. Continued work in understanding the drivers of favorable interactions between chiral molecules and biological membranes will lead to the design of increasingly selective chemical tools for bioorthogonal labeling of lipid membranes and safer membrane-associating pharmaceuticals.

Chirality-Dependent Adsorption between Amphipathic Peptide and POPC Membrane

The interactions between chiral molecules and cell membranes have attracted more and more attention in recent decades, due to their importance in molecular science and medical applications. It is observed that some peptides composed of different chiral amino acids may have distinct interactions with a membrane. How does the membrane exhibit a selective behavior related to the chirality of the peptides? Microscopically, the interactions between the peptides and the membrane are poorly understood. In this work, we study the interactions between an amphipathic peptide (C6) and POPC membrane with simulations. The kinetics and thermodynamics of peptide enantiomers during the adsorption to the membrane are characterized with direct simulations and umbrella sampling. It is observed that there are slow kinetics for the peptide composed of D-type amino acids. Along the observed pathways, the free energy landscapes are determined with umbrella sampling techniques. A free-energy barrier for the peptide composed of D-amino acids is observed, which is consistent with the kinetic observations. The results indicate the concurrent adsorption and rotation of the peptide helix. The local interactions between the peptides and the membrane are examined in detail, including the contact interactions between the peptides and the membrane, and the distributions of the lipids around the peptide. There are observable differences of the local interactions for the cases related to different peptide enantiomers. These results further demonstrate the importance of the rotation of peptide helix during the adsorption. More interestingly, all these kinetic differences between peptide enantiomers can be explained based on the conformations of the residue Trp and interactions between Trp and lipid molecules. These results give us a molecular understanding of the mechanism of the chirality-dependent peptide-membrane interactions, and may provide clues to designing systems which are sensitive to the chirality of membranes.

Pharmacological Potential of the Endogenous Dipeptide Kyotorphin and Selected Derivatives

The endogenous peptide kyotorphin (KTP) has been extensively studied since it was discovered in 1979. The dipeptide is distributed unevenly over the brain but the majority is concentrated in the cerebral cortex. The putative KTP receptor has not been identified yet. As many other neuropeptides, KTP clearance is mediated by extracellular peptidases and peptide transporters. From the wide spectrum of biological activity of KTP, analgesia was by far the most studied. The mechanism of action is still unclear, but researchers agree that KTP induces Met-enkephalins release. More recently, KTP was proposed as biomarker of Alzheimer disease. Despite all that, KTP limited pharmacological value prompted researchers to develop derivatives more lipophilic and therefore more prone to cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB), and also more resistant to enzymatic degradation. Conjugation of KTP with functional molecules, such as ibuprofen, generated a new class of compounds with additional biological properties. Moreover, the safety profile of these derivatives compared to opioids and their efficacy as neuroprotective agents greatly increases their pharmacological value.

Characterization and performance of short cationic antimicrobial peptide isomers

Cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs) represent an ancient defense mechanism against invading bacteria, with peptides such as the cathelicidins being essential elements of vertebrate innate immunity. CAMPs are typically associated with broad-spectrum antimicrobial potency and limited bacterial resistance. The cathelicidin identified from the elapid snake Naja atra (NA-CATH) contains a semi-conserved repeated 11-residue motif (ATRA motif) with a sequence pattern consistent with formation of an amphipathic helical conformation. Short peptide amides (ATRA-1, -1A, -1P, and -2) generated based on the pair of ATRA motifs in NA-CATH exhibited varied antimicrobial potencies. The small size of the ATRA peptides, coupled with their varied antimicrobial performances, make them interesting models to study the impact various physico-chemical properties have on antimicrobial performance in helical CAMPs. Accordingly, the D- and L-enantiomers of the peptide ATRA-1A, which in earlier studies had shown both good antimicrobial performance and strong helical character, were investigated in order to assess the impact peptide stereochemistry has on antimicrobial performance and interaction with chiral membranes. The ATRA-1A isomers exhibit varied potencies against four bacterial strains, and their conformational properties in the presence of mixed zwitterionic/anionic liposomes are influenced by anionic lipid content. These studies reveal subtle differences in the properties of the peptide isomers. Differences are also seen in the abilities of the ATRA-1A isomers to induce liposome fusion/aggregation, bilayer rearrangement and lysing through turbidity studies and fluorescence microscopy. The similarities and differences in the properties of the ATRA-1A isomers could aid in efforts to develop D-peptide-based therapeutics using high-performing L-peptides as templates.

Improvement of the pharmacological properties of amidated kyotorphin by means of iodination

Iodination resulted in a slow release-like process that converted KTP, a drug rapidly cleared and having a fast transient effect, into a pro drug having delayed and prolonged action.

Chemical conjugation of the neuropeptide kyotorphin and ibuprofen enhances brain targeting and analgesia

The pharmaceutical potential of natural analgesic peptides is mainly hampered by their inability to cross the blood-brain barrier, BBB. Increasing peptide-cell membrane affinity through drug design is a promising strategy to overcome this limitation. To address this challenge, we grafted ibuprofen (IBP), a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, to kyotorphin (l-Tyr-l-Arg, KTP), an analgesic neuropeptide unable to cross BBB. Two new KTP derivatives, IBP-KTP (IbKTP-OH) and IBP-KTP-amide (IbKTP-NH(2)), were synthesized and characterized for membrane interaction, analgesic activity and mechanism of action. Ibuprofen enhanced peptide-membrane interaction, endowing a specificity for anionic fluid bilayers. A direct correlation between anionic lipid affinity and analgesic effect was established, IbKTP-NH(2) being the most potent analgesic (from 25 μmol · kg(-1)). In vitro, IbKTP-NH(2) caused the biggest shift in the membrane surface charge of BBB endothelial cells, as quantified using zeta-potential dynamic light scattering. Our results suggest that IbKTP-NH(2) crosses the BBB and acts by activating both opioid dependent and independent pathways.

Effects of D-kyotorphin on nociception and NADPH-d neurons in rat's periaqueductal gray after immobilization stress

D-kyotorphin (D-Kyo) is a synthetic analogue of the neuropeptide kyotorphin and produces naloxone reversible analgesia. Stress-induced analgesia (SIA) is an in-built mammalian pain-suppression response that occurs during or following exposure to a stressful stimulus. The periaqueductal gray (PAG) is implicated as a critical site for processing strategies for coping with different types of stress and pain and NO affects its activity. The objectives of the present study were twofold: (1) to examine the effects of D-Kyo (5 mg/kg) on acute immobilization SIA; (2) to investigate the effect of peptide on NO activity in rat PAG after the stress procedure mentioned above. All drugs were injected intraperitoneally in male Wistar rats. The nociception was measured by the paw pressure and hot plate tests. A histochemical procedure for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d)-reactive neurons was used as indirect marker of NO activity. Our results revealed that D-Kyo has modulating effects on acute immobilization stress-induced analgesia in rats may be by opioid and non-opioid systems. Although D-Kyo is incapable of crossing the blood-brain barrier it showed an increased number of NADPH-d reactive neurons in dorsolateral periaqueductal gray (dlPAG) in control but not in stressed groups. We may speculate that the effect of D-Kyo in the brain is due to structural and functional interaction between opioidergic and NO-ergic systems or D-Kyo appears itself as a stressor. Further studies are needed to clarify the exact mechanisms of its action.

The influence of cholesterol on the interaction of HIV gp41 membrane proximal region-derived peptides with lipid bilayers

A small amino acid sequence (LWYIK) inside the HIV-1 gp41 ectodomain membrane proximal region (MPR) is commonly referred to as a cholesterol-binding domain. To further study this unique and peculiar property we have used fluorescence spectroscopy techniques to unravel the membrane interaction properties of three MPR-derived synthetic peptides: the membrane proximal region peptide-complete (MPRP-C) which corresponds to the complete MPR; the membrane proximal region peptide-short (MPRP-S), which corresponds to the last five MPR amino acid residues (the putative cholesterol-binding domain) and the membrane proximal region peptide-intermediate (MPRP-I), which corresponds to the MPRP-C peptide without the MPRP-S sequence. MPRP-C and MPRP-I membrane interaction is largely independent of the membrane phase. Membrane interaction of MPRP-S occurs for fluid phase membranes but not in gel phase membranes or cholesterol-containing bilayers. The gp41 ectodomain MPR may have a very specific function in viral fusion through the concerted and combined action of cholesterol-binding and non-cholesterol-binding domains (i.e. domains corresponding to MPRP-S and MPRP-I, respectively).