1
|
Mahdi WA, Absar MS, Choi S, Yang VC, Kwon YM. Enhanced control of bioactivity of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) through domain-directed enzymatic oxidation of terminal galactose. BIOIMPACTS : BI 2022; 12:479-486. [PMID: 36644546 PMCID: PMC9809136 DOI: 10.34172/bi.2022.23477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2020] [Revised: 03/17/2021] [Accepted: 05/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Introduction: In targeted enzyme prodrug constructs, it is critical to control the bioactivity of the drug in its prodrug form. The preparation of such constructs often involves conjugation reactions directed to functional groups on amino acid side chains of the protein, which result in random conjugation and incomplete control of bioactivity of a prodrug, which may result in significant nontarget effect. Thus, more specific method of modification is desired. If the drug is a glycoprotein, enzymatic oxidation may offer an alternative approach for therapeutic glycoproteins. Methods: Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), a model glycoprotein enzyme, was treated with galactose oxidase (GO) and horseradish peroxidase, followed by thiolation reaction and conjugation with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH). The LMWH-tPA conjugate was isolated by ion-exchange chromatography followed by centrifugal filtration. The conjugate was characterized for its fibrinolytic activity and for its plasminogen activation through an indirect amidolytic assay with a plasmin-specific substrate S-2251 when LMWH-tPA conjugate is complexed with protamine-albumin conjugate, followed by triggered activation in the presence of heparin. Results: LMWH-tPA conjugate prepared via enzymatic oxidation retained ~95% of its fibrinolytic activity with respect to native tPA. Upon complexation with protamine-albumin conjugate, the activity of LMWH-tPA was effectively inhibited (~90%) whereas the LMWH-tPA prepared by random thiolation exhibited ~55% inhibition. Addition of heparin fully generated the activities of both conjugates. Conclusion: The tPA was successfully modified via enzymatic oxidation by GO, resulting in enhanced control of its activity in the prodrug construct. This approach can be applied to other therapeutic glycoproteins.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wael A. Mahdi
- Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohammad S. Absar
- Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC), School of Pharmacy, Amarillo, TX 79106, USA
| | - Suna Choi
- Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC), School of Pharmacy, Amarillo, TX 79106, USA
| | - Victor C. Yang
- Tianjin Key Laboratory on Technologies Enabling Development of Clinical Therapeutics and Diagnosis, School of Pharmacy, Tianjin Medical University Tianjin 300070, China
,University of Michigan, College of Pharmacy, MI 48109-1065, USA
| | - Young M. Kwon
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
,Corresponding author: Young M. Kwon, ykwon1nova.edu
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Wang H, Moon C, Shin MC, Wang Y, He H, Yang VC, Huang Y. Heparin-Regulated Prodrug-Type Macromolecular Theranostic Systems for Cancer Therapy. Nanotheranostics 2017; 1:114-130. [PMID: 29071181 PMCID: PMC5646728 DOI: 10.7150/ntno.18292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2016] [Accepted: 01/13/2017] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Heparin is a kind of naturally occurring polymer with excellent biocompatibility and solubility. It is characterized by dense of negative charge, higher than any endogenous components. Heparin can bind with various cationic peptides and proteins, thereby providing a useful noncovalent linkage for building a drug delivery system. As a case in point, heparin/cell-penetrating peptides (CPP) interaction is strong, and remains stable in vivo. They can be used to modify different proteins, respectively, and subsequently, by simply mixing the modified proteins, a protein-protein conjugate can be form via the stable heparin/CPP linkage. This linkage could not be broken unless addition of protamine that bears higher cationic charge density than CPP, and CPP thus can be substituted and released. Of note, heparin is a potent antagonist of CPP, and their binding naturally inhibits CPP-mediated drug cell penetration. Based on this method, we developed a heparin-regulated macromolecular prodrug-type system, termed ATTEMPTS, for drug targeting delivery. In this review article, we mainly summary the application of ATTEMPTS in delivery of various macromolecular drugs for cancer therapy, and also introduce the heparin-regulated nanoprobes for tumor imaging.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Huiyuan Wang
- Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Cheol Moon
- College of Pharmacy, Sunchon National University, Republic of Korea
| | - Meong Cheol Shin
- College of Pharmacy and Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Gyeongsang National University, Gyeongnam, Republic of Korea
| | - Yaping Wang
- Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China.,Tianjin Key Laboratory on Technologies Enabling Development of Clinical Therapeutics and Diagnosis, School of Pharmacy, Tianjin Medical University Tianjin 300070, China
| | - Huining He
- Tianjin Key Laboratory on Technologies Enabling Development of Clinical Therapeutics and Diagnosis, School of Pharmacy, Tianjin Medical University Tianjin 300070, China
| | - Victor C Yang
- Tianjin Key Laboratory on Technologies Enabling Development of Clinical Therapeutics and Diagnosis, School of Pharmacy, Tianjin Medical University Tianjin 300070, China.,University of Michigan, College of Pharmacy, MI 48109-1065, USA
| | - Yongzhuo Huang
- Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
CPP-Assisted Intracellular Drug Delivery, What Is Next? Int J Mol Sci 2016; 17:ijms17111892. [PMID: 27854260 PMCID: PMC5133891 DOI: 10.3390/ijms17111892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2016] [Revised: 11/08/2016] [Accepted: 11/09/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
For the past 20 years, we have witnessed an unprecedented and, indeed, rather miraculous event of how cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), the naturally originated penetrating enhancers, help overcome the membrane barrier that has hindered the access of bio-macromolecular compounds such as genes and proteins into cells, thereby denying their clinical potential to become potent anti-cancer drugs. By taking the advantage of the unique cell-translocation property of these short peptides, various payloads of proteins, nucleic acids, or even nanoparticle-based carriers were delivered into all cell types with unparalleled efficiency. However, non-specific CPP-mediated cell penetration into normal tissues can lead to widespread organ distribution of the payloads, thereby reducing the therapeutic efficacy of the drug and at the same time increasing the drug-induced toxic effects. In view of these challenges, we present herein a review of the new designs of CPP-linked vehicles and strategies to achieve highly effective yet less toxic chemotherapy in combating tumor oncology.
Collapse
|
4
|
Nose-to-brain delivery of macromolecules mediated by cell-penetrating peptides. Acta Pharm Sin B 2016; 6:352-8. [PMID: 27471676 PMCID: PMC4951590 DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2016.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2016] [Revised: 02/24/2016] [Accepted: 04/07/2016] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Brain delivery of macromolecular therapeutics (e.g., proteins) remains an unsolved problem because of the formidable blood–brain barrier (BBB). Although a direct pathway of nose-to-brain transfer provides an answer to circumventing the BBB and has already been intensively investigated for brain delivery of small drugs, new challenges arise for intranasal delivery of proteins because of their larger size and hydrophilicity. In order to overcome the barriers and take advantage of available pathways (e.g., epithelial tight junctions, uptake by olfactory neurons, transport into brain tissues, and intra-brain diffusion), a low molecular weight protamine (LMWP) cell-penetrating peptide was utilized to facilitate nose-to-brain transport. Cell-penetrating peptides (CPP) have been widely used to mediate macromolecular delivery through many kinds of biobarriers. Our results show that conjugates of LMWP–proteins are able to effectively penetrate into the brain after intranasal administration. The CPP-based intranasal method highlights a promising solution for protein therapy of brain diseases.
Collapse
|
5
|
15 years of ATTEMPTS: a macromolecular drug delivery system based on the CPP-mediated intracellular drug delivery and antibody targeting. J Control Release 2014; 205:58-69. [PMID: 25483423 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2014.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2014] [Revised: 11/18/2014] [Accepted: 12/01/2014] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Traditionally, any drug intended for combating the tumor would distribute profoundly to other organs and tissues as lack of targeting specificity, thus resulting in limited therapeutic effects toward the tumor but severe drug-induced toxic side effects. To prevail over this obstacle of drug-induced systemic toxicity, a novel approach termed "ATTEMPTS" (antibody targeted triggered electrically modified prodrug type strategy) was designed, which directly introduces both of the targeting and prodrug features onto the protein drugs. The ATTEMPTS system is composed of the antibody targeting component consisting of antibodies linked with heparin, and the cell penetrating peptide (CPP) modified drug component. The two components mentioned above self-assembled into a tight complex via the charge to charge interaction between the anionic heparin and cationic CPP. Once accumulated at the targeting site, the CPP modified drug is released from the blockage by a second triggering agent, while remaining inactive in the circulation during tumor targeting thus aborting its effect on normal tissues. We utilized the heparin-induced inhibition on the cell-penetrating activity of CPP to create the prodrug feature, and subsequently the protamine-induced reversal of heparin inhibition to resume cell transduction of the protein drug via the CPP function. Our approach is the first known system to overcome this selectivity issue, enabling CPP-mediated cellular drug delivery to be practically applicable clinically. In this review, we thoroughly discussed the historical and novel progress of the "ATTEMPTS" system.
Collapse
|
6
|
Shin MC, Zhao J, Zhang J, Huang Y, He H, Wang M, Min KA, Yang VC. Recombinant TAT-gelonin fusion toxin: synthesis and characterization of heparin/protamine-regulated cell transduction. J Biomed Mater Res A 2014; 103:409-419. [PMID: 24733757 DOI: 10.1002/jbm.a.35188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2014] [Accepted: 03/31/2014] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Protein toxins, such as gelonin, are highly desirable anti-cancer drug candidates due to their unparalleled potency and repetitive reaction mechanism in inhibiting protein translation. However, for its potential application in cancer therapy, there remains the cell membrane barrier that allows permeation of only small molecules, which must be overcome. To address this challenge, we conjugated gelonin with a protein transduction domain (PTD), the TAT peptide, via genetic recombination. The chimeric TAT-gelonin fusion protein (TAT-Gel) retained equipotent N-glycosidase activity yet displayed greater cell uptake than unmodified recombinant gelonin (rGel), thereby yielding a significantly augmented cytotoxic activity. Remarkably, TAT-Gel displayed up to 177-fold lower IC₅₀ (avg. 54.3 nM) than rGel (avg. IC₅₀ : 3640 nM) in tested cell lines. This enhanced cytotoxicity, however, also raised potential toxicity concerns due to the non-selectivity of PTD in its mediated cell transduction. To solve this problem, we investigated the plausibility of regulating the cell transduction of TAT-Gel via a reversible masking using heparin and protamine. Here, we demonstrated, both in vitro and in vivo, that the cell transduction of TAT-Gel can be completely curbed with heparin and yet this heparin block can be efficiently reversed by the addition of protamine. This reversible tight regulation of the cell transduction of TAT-Gel by heparin and protamine sheds light of possible application of TAT-Gel in achieving a highly effective yet safe drug therapy for the treatment of tumors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Meong Cheol Shin
- Tianjin Key Laboratory on Technologies Enabling Development of Clinical Therapeutics and Diagnosis, School of Pharmacy, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China.,Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, 428 Church St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Jingwen Zhao
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Jian Zhang
- Biomedical Polymers Laboratory, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China
| | - Yongzhuo Huang
- Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 501 Hai-ke Rd, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Huining He
- Tianjin Key Laboratory on Technologies Enabling Development of Clinical Therapeutics and Diagnosis, School of Pharmacy, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China
| | - Mei Wang
- College of Pharmacy, Xinjiang Medical University, 393 Xinyi Road, Urumqi 830011, China
| | - Kyoung Ah Min
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, 428 Church St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Victor C Yang
- Tianjin Key Laboratory on Technologies Enabling Development of Clinical Therapeutics and Diagnosis, School of Pharmacy, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China.,Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, 428 Church St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
MacEwan S, Chilkoti A. Controlled apoptosis by a thermally toggled nanoscale amplifier of cellular uptake. NANO LETTERS 2014; 14:2058-2064. [PMID: 24611762 PMCID: PMC3985949 DOI: 10.1021/nl5002313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2014] [Revised: 03/06/2014] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Internalization into cancer cells is a significant challenge in the delivery of many anticancer therapeutics. Drug carriers can address this challenge by facilitating cellular uptake of cytotoxic cargo in the tumor, while preventing cellular uptake in healthy tissues. Here we describe an extrinsically controlled drug carrier, a nanopeptifier, that amplifies cellular uptake by modulating the activity of cell-penetrating peptides with thermally toggled self-assembly of a genetically encoded polypeptide nanoparticle. When appended with a proapoptotic peptide, the nanopeptifier creates a cytotoxic switch, inducing apoptosis only in its self-assembled state. The nanopeptifier provides a new approach to tune the cellular uptake and activity of anticancer therapeutics by an extrinsic thermal trigger.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sarah
R. MacEwan
- Department
of Biomedical Engineering and Research Triangle MRSEC, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States
| | - Ashutosh Chilkoti
- Department
of Biomedical Engineering and Research Triangle MRSEC, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
MacEwan SR, Chilkoti A. Harnessing the power of cell-penetrating peptides: activatable carriers for targeting systemic delivery of cancer therapeutics and imaging agents. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS-NANOMEDICINE AND NANOBIOTECHNOLOGY 2012; 5:31-48. [PMID: 22977001 DOI: 10.1002/wnan.1197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Targeted delivery of cancer therapeutics and imaging agents aims to enhance the accumulation of these molecules in a solid tumor while avoiding uptake in healthy tissues. Tumor-specific accumulation has been pursued with passive targeting by the enhanced permeability and retention effect, as well as with active targeting strategies. Active targeting is achieved by functionalization of carriers to allow specific interactions between the carrier and the tumor environment. Functionalization of carriers with ligands that specifically interact with overexpressed receptors on cancer cells represents a classic approach to active tumor targeting. Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) provide a non-specific and receptor-independent mechanism to enhance cellular uptake that offers an exciting alternative to traditional active targeting approaches. While the non-specificity of CPP-mediated internalization has the intriguing potential to make this approach applicable to a wide range of tumor types, their promiscuity is, however, a significant barrier to their clinical utility for systemically administered applications. Many approaches have been investigated to selectively turn on the function of systemically delivered CPP-functionalized carriers specifically in tumors to achieve targeted delivery of cancer therapeutics and imaging agents.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sarah R MacEwan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
9
|
Zhang X, Zhang X, Wang F. Intracellular transduction and potential of Tat PTD and its analogs: from basic drug delivery mechanism to application. Expert Opin Drug Deliv 2012; 9:457-72. [DOI: 10.1517/17425247.2012.663351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
|
10
|
Specific down regulation of 3T3-L1 adipocyte differentiation by cell-permeable antisense HIF1alpha-oligonucleotide. J Control Release 2010; 144:82-90. [PMID: 20109509 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2010.01.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2009] [Revised: 01/12/2010] [Accepted: 01/15/2010] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Hypoxia is a strong modulator of angiogenesis, accelerating adipose tissue expansion, suggesting that hypoxia inducible factor 1alpha (HIF1alpha) can be a novel target for anti-obesity. We conjugated antisense-HIF1alpha-oligonucleotide (ASO) with low molecular weight protamine (LMWP), a cell-penetrating peptide, to enhance its ability to block hypoxic-angiogenesis, thereby eliciting an anti-obesity effect. Nano-sized ASO-LMWP (AS-L) conjugates enhanced cellular uptake of ASO without yielding a cytotoxic effect and protected the ASO against enzymatic attack and chemical reduction. AS-L showed enhanced intra-cellular localization compared to naked ASO and the complex of ASO with lipofectamine during hypoxic-differentiation. Consequently AS-L induced significant down-regulation of leptin and VEGF gene expressions, thereby reducing fat accumulation in the cell. This proof-of-concept study shows that AS-L produces an inhibitory effect on adipogenesis and angiogenesis during differentiation, indicating LMWP mediated ASO delivery can potentially be a safe and promising treatment for obesity.
Collapse
|
11
|
He H, Dong W, Gong J, Wang J, Yang VC. Developing macromolecular therapeutics: the future drug-of-choice. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010. [DOI: 10.1007/s11705-009-0291-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
|
12
|
Kwon YM, Chung HS, Moon C, Yockman J, Park YJ, Gitlin SD, David AE, Yang VC. L-Asparaginase encapsulated intact erythrocytes for treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). J Control Release 2009; 139:182-9. [PMID: 19577600 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2009.06.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 95] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2009] [Revised: 06/01/2009] [Accepted: 06/26/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
As a primary drug for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), encapsulation of L-asparaginase (ASNase) into red blood cells (RBC) has been popular to circumvent immunogenicity from the exogenous protein. Unlike existing methods that perturbs RBC membranes, we introduce a novel method of RBC-incorporation of proteins using the membrane-translocating low molecular weight protamine (LMWP). Confocal study of fluorescence-labeled LMWP-ovalbumin, as a model protein conjugate, has shown significant fluorescence inside RBCs. Surface morphology by scanning electron microscopy of the RBCs loaded with LMWP-ASNase was indistinguishable with normal RBCs. These drug loaded RBCs also closely resembled the profile of the native erythrocytes in terms of osmotic fragility, oxygen dissociation and hematological parameters. The in vivo half-life of enzyme activity after administering 8 units of RBC/LMWP-ASNase in DBA/2 mice was prolonged to 4.5+/-0.5 days whereas that of RBCs loaded with ASNase via a hypotonic method was 2.4+/-0.7 days. Furthermore, the mean survival time of DBA/2 mice bearing mouse lymphoma cell L5178Y was improved by approximately 44% compared to the saline control group after treatment with the RBC loaded enzymes. From these data, an innovative, novel method for encapsulating proteins into intact and fully functional erythrocytes was established for potential treatment of ALL.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Young Min Kwon
- Tianjin Key Laboratory for Modern Drug Delivery and High Efficiency, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|