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Xiang K, Li Y, Cong H, Yu B, Shen Y. Peptide-based non-viral gene delivery: A comprehensive review of the advances and challenges. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 266:131194. [PMID: 38554914 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.131194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2023] [Revised: 03/14/2024] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
Gene therapy is the most effective treatment option for diseases, but its effectiveness is affected by the choice and design of gene carriers. The genes themselves have to pass through multiple barriers in order to enter the cell and therefore require additional vectors to carry them inside the cell. In gene therapy, peptides have unique properties and potential as gene carriers, which can effectively deliver genes into specific cells or tissues, protect genes from degradation, improve gene transfection efficiency, and enhance gene targeting and biological responsiveness. This paper reviews the research progress of peptides and their derivatives in the field of gene delivery recently, describes the obstacles encountered by foreign materials to enter the interior of the cell, and introduces the following classes of functional peptides that can carry materials into the interior of the cell, and assist in transmembrane translocation of carriers, thus breaking through endosomal traps to enable successful entry of genetic materials into the nucleus of the cell. The paper also discusses the combined application of peptide vectors with other vectors to enhance its transfection ability, explores current challenges encountered by peptide vectors, and looks forward to future developments in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai Xiang
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of Biomedical Materials and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China
| | - Yanan Li
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of Biomedical Materials and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China
| | - Hailin Cong
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of Biomedical Materials and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China; State Key Laboratory of Bio-Fibers and Eco-Textiles, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China; School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255000, China.
| | - Bing Yu
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of Biomedical Materials and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China; State Key Laboratory of Bio-Fibers and Eco-Textiles, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China.
| | - Youqing Shen
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of Biomedical Materials and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China; Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Center for Bio nanoengineering, and Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
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2
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Gharatape A, Sadeghi-Abandansari H, Seifalian A, Faridi-Majidi R, Basiri M. Nanocarrier-based gene delivery for immune cell engineering. J Mater Chem B 2024; 12:3356-3375. [PMID: 38505950 DOI: 10.1039/d3tb02279j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/21/2024]
Abstract
Clinical advances in genetically modified immune cell therapies, such as chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapies, have raised hope for cancer treatment. The majority of these biotechnologies are based on viral methods for ex vivo genetic modification of the immune cells, while the non-viral methods are still in the developmental phase. Nanocarriers have been emerging as materials of choice for gene delivery to immune cells. This is due to their versatile physicochemical properties such as large surface area and size that can be optimized to overcome several practical barriers to successful gene delivery. The in vivo nanocarrier-based gene delivery can revolutionize cell-based cancer immunotherapies by replacing the current expensive autologous cell manufacturing with an off-the-shelf biomaterial-based platform. The aim of this research is to review current advances and strategies to overcome the challenges in nanoparticle-based gene delivery and their impact on the efficiency, safety, and specificity of the process. The main focus is on polymeric and lipid-based nanocarriers, and their recent preclinical applications for cancer immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alireza Gharatape
- Department of Medical Nanotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
| | - Hamid Sadeghi-Abandansari
- Department of Cell Engineering, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, Tehran, Iran
| | - Alexander Seifalian
- Nanotechnology & Regenerative Medicine Commercialisation Centre (NanoRegMed Ltd, Nanoloom Ltd, & Liberum Health Ltd), London BioScience Innovation Centre, London, UK
| | - Reza Faridi-Majidi
- Department of Medical Nanotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
| | - Mohsen Basiri
- Department of Stem Cells and Developmental Biology and Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, Tehran, Iran
- T Cell Therapeutics Research Labs, Cellular Immunotherapy Center, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, USA.
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Jena H, Ahmadi Z, Kumar P, Dhawan G. Bioreducible polyethylenimine core-shell nanostructures as efficient and non-toxic gene and drug delivery vectors. Bioorg Med Chem 2022; 69:116886. [PMID: 35749840 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2022.116886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Revised: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Low molecular weight branched polyethylenimine (LMW bPEIs 1.8 kDa) have received considerable attention for the fabrication of nucleic acid carriers due to their biocompatible and non-toxic nature. However, due to the inadequate nucleic acid complexation ability and transportation across the cell membrane, these show poor transfection efficacy, limiting their clinical applications. Therefore, to overcome these challenges, in this study, we have grafted bPEI 1.8 kDa with a disulfide bond containing hydrophobic moiety, 3-(2-pyridyldithio) propionic acid (PDPA), via amide linkages through EDC/NHS-mediated coupling to obtain N-[3-(2-pyridyldithio)] propionoyl polyethylenimine (PDPP) conjugates. The best formulation for nucleic acid transfection was evaluated after preparing a series of PDPP conjugates by varying the amount of PDPA. In an aqueous environment, these PDPP conjugates self-assembled to form spherical shaped core-shell PDPP nanostructures with size ranging from ∼188-307 nm and zeta-potential from ∼ +3 to +19 mV. The positively charged surface of the core-shell nanocomposites helps in the binding of plasmid DNA (pDNA), its transportation inside the cell, and protection against enzymes. Evaluation of PDPP/pDNA complexes on mammalian cells revealed that all these complexes showed significantly improved transfection efficacy without hampering cytocompatibility. Amongst all, the pDNA complex of PDPP-2 exhibited the best transfection efficiency (i.e. >6-fold) in comparison to pDNA complex of the native bPEI. The nanocomposites exhibited the redox responsive behavior advantageous for therapeutic delivery to the tumor cells. The core of the nanostructures facilitate the encapsulation of a hydrophobic model drug, ornidazole. In vitro drug release analysis showed a faster release rate in response to a reductant mimicking the cellular environment. Altogether, these nanostructures have great potential to co-deliver both drug and gene simultaneously in response to tumor cell reductive microenvironment in vitro and could be used as the next-generation delivery system.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Jena
- Department of Biomedical Science, Acharya Narendra Dev College, University of Delhi, Kalkaji, New Delhi 110019, India; CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Mall Road, Delhi 110007, India
| | - Z Ahmadi
- CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Mall Road, Delhi 110007, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India
| | - P Kumar
- CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Mall Road, Delhi 110007, India.
| | - G Dhawan
- Department of Biomedical Science, Acharya Narendra Dev College, University of Delhi, Kalkaji, New Delhi 110019, India; Delhi School of Skill Enhancement & Entrepreneuship Development, Institute of Eminence, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007, India.
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Ahmadi Z, Jena H, Singh M, Dhawan G, Kumar P. Self-Assembled Biodegradable Core-Shell Nanocomposites of Amphiphilic Retinoic Acid-LMW bPEI Conjugates Exhibit Enhanced Transgene Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells With Inherent Anticancer Properties. J Pharm Sci 2021; 110:3047-3060. [PMID: 33933435 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2021.04.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Revised: 02/02/2021] [Accepted: 04/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Low molecular weight branched polyethylenimines (LMW bPEIs) are almost nontoxic but display poor transfection efficiency due to lack of adequate complexation ability with nucleic acids followed by transportation across the cell membrane. Here, a series of amphiphilic retinoyl-bPEI conjugates (RP-1, RP-2 and RP-3) has been synthesized by allowing the reaction between bPEI (1.8 kDa) and a bioactive and hydrophobic vitamin A metabolite, all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA), in varying amounts. In aqueous medium, these conjugates self-assembled into core-shell RP nanocomposites with size ranging from ~113-178 nm and zeta potential from ~ +15-35 mV. Evaluation of pDNA complexes of RP nanocomposites revealed that all the complexes exhibited significantly enhanced transfection efficiency without compromising on the cytocompatibility. RP-3/pDNA complex, with the highest content of retinoic acid, exhibited the best transfection efficiency. Further, due to anticancer properties of ATRA, these nanocomposites significantly reduced the viability of cancer cells (HepG2 and MCF-7 cells) without affecting the viability of non-cancerous cells (HEK 293 cells) demonstrating the cell-selective nature of the formulated nanocomposites. The intracellular trafficking and co-localization studies involving RP-3 nanocomposites also showed their higher uptake with intracellular and nuclear accumulation properties. Altogether, the results demonstrate the promising potential of the RP conjugates that can be used in future hepatocellular carcinoma targeted gene delivery applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zeba Ahmadi
- Nucleic Acids Research Laboratory, CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Mall Road, Delhi-110007, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovation Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad- 201002, India
| | - Harekrushna Jena
- Nucleic Acids Research Laboratory, CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Mall Road, Delhi-110007, India; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Acharya Narendra Dev College (University of Delhi), Govindpuri, Kalkaji, New Delhi- 110019, India
| | - Mahak Singh
- Department of Chemistry, Ramjas College (University of Delhi), University Enclave, Delhi-110007, India
| | - Gagan Dhawan
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Acharya Narendra Dev College (University of Delhi), Govindpuri, Kalkaji, New Delhi- 110019, India.
| | - Pradeep Kumar
- Nucleic Acids Research Laboratory, CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Mall Road, Delhi-110007, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovation Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad- 201002, India.
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Khan MM, Filipczak N, Torchilin VP. Cell penetrating peptides: A versatile vector for co-delivery of drug and genes in cancer. J Control Release 2020; 330:1220-1228. [PMID: 33248708 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2020.11.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2020] [Revised: 11/09/2020] [Accepted: 11/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Biological barriers hamper the efficient delivery of drugs and genes to targeted sites. Cell penetrating peptides (CPP) have the ability to rapidly internalize across biological membranes. CPP have been effective for delivery of various chemotherapeutic agents used to combat cancer. CPP can enhance delivery of drugs to a targeted site when combined with tumor targeting peptides. CPP can be linked with various cargos like nanoparticles, micelles and liposomes to deliver drugs and genes to the cancer cell. Here, we focus on CPP mediated delivery of drugs to the tumor sites, delivery of genes (siRNA,pDNA) and co-delivery of drugs and genes to combat drug resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Muzamil Khan
- Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and Nanomedicines, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Pharmacy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
| | - Nina Filipczak
- Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and Nanomedicines, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Departments of Lipids and Liposomes, Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Wroclaw, 50-383 Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Vladimir P Torchilin
- Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and Nanomedicines, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Oncology, Radiotherapy and Plastic Surgery I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow, Russia.
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Zilkowski I, Ziouti F, Schulze A, Hauck S, Schmidt S, Mainz L, Sauer M, Albrecht K, Jundt F, Groll J. Nanogels Enable Efficient miRNA Delivery and Target Gene Downregulation in Transfection-Resistant Multiple Myeloma Cells. Biomacromolecules 2018; 20:916-926. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.8b01553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Ilona Zilkowski
- Department for Functional Materials in Medicine and Dentistry and Bavarian Polymer Institute, University of Würzburg, Pleicherwall 2, 97070 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Fani Ziouti
- Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Würzburg, Oberdürrbacher Straße 6, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Andres Schulze
- Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Würzburg, Oberdürrbacher Straße 6, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Stefanie Hauck
- Department for Functional Materials in Medicine and Dentistry and Bavarian Polymer Institute, University of Würzburg, Pleicherwall 2, 97070 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Stefanie Schmidt
- Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Würzburg, Oberdürrbacher Straße 6, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Laura Mainz
- Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Würzburg, Oberdürrbacher Straße 6, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Markus Sauer
- Chair for Biotechnology and Biophysics, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Krystyna Albrecht
- Department for Functional Materials in Medicine and Dentistry and Bavarian Polymer Institute, University of Würzburg, Pleicherwall 2, 97070 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Franziska Jundt
- Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Würzburg, Oberdürrbacher Straße 6, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Jürgen Groll
- Department for Functional Materials in Medicine and Dentistry and Bavarian Polymer Institute, University of Würzburg, Pleicherwall 2, 97070 Würzburg, Germany
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Abstract
The diverse amino acid chemistries and secondary structures in peptides provide 'minimalist' mimics of motifs in proteins and offer many ideal properties for targeted delivery approaches. Several non-viral vectors (polymers and lipids) have been studied for their potential applications in gene delivery. However, non-specific uptake, lack of targeting, inability to escape endosomes, and inefficient nuclear delivery limit their application. Peptide-assisted trafficking of non-viral vectors can potentially overcome these biological barriers to improve gene delivery through targeted uptake using key cell-surface receptors (e.g., integrins, growth factor receptors, and G-protein coupled receptors); membrane disruption for endosomal escape; and nuclear importation. Furthermore, the capacity of peptides to regulate spatio-temporal control over gene delivery opens multi-faceted avenues for effective gene delivery in a variety of complex applications. Rigorous on-going in vitro and in vivo studies utilizing peptides for targeted and microenvironment-sensitive gene delivery could promote their widespread clinical usage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raj Kumar Thapa
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716
| | - Millicent O. Sullivan
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716
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