Secretory phospholipase A2 activity in blood serum: The challenge to sense

Enzyme-responsive liposomes for controlled drug release

Compared to other nanovectors, liposomes exhibit unique advantages, such as good biosafety and high drug-loading capacity. However, slow drug release from conventional liposomes makes most payloads unavailable, restricting the therapeutic efficacy. Therefore, in the last ∼20 years, enzyme-responsive liposomes have been extensively investigated, which liberate drugs under the stimulation of enzymes overexpressed at disease sites. In this review, we elaborate on the research progress on enzyme-responsive liposomes. The involved enzymes mainly include phospholipases, particularly phospholipase A2, matrix metalloproteinases, cathepsins, and esterases. These enzymes can cleave ester bonds or specific peptide sequences incorporated in the liposomes for controlled drug release by disrupting the primary structure of liposomes, detaching protective polyethylene glycol shells, or activating liposome-associated prodrugs. Despite decades of efforts, there are still a lack marketed products of enzyme-responsive liposomes. Therefore, more efforts should be made to improve the safety and effectiveness of enzyme-responsive liposomes and address the issues associated with production scale-up.

Indane Based Molecular Motors: UV-Switching Increases Number of Isomers

We describe azophenylindane based molecular motors (aphin-switches) which have two different rotamers of trans-configuration and four different rotamers of cis-configuration. The behaviors of these motors were investigated both experimentally and computationally. The conversion of aphin-switch does not yield single isomer but a mixture of these. Although the trans to cis conversion leads to the increase of the system entropy some of the cis-rotamers can directly convert to each other while others should convert via trans-configuration. The motion of aphin-switches resembles the work of a mixing machine with indane group serving as a base and phenol group serving as a beater. The aphin-switches presented herein may provide a basis for promising applications in advanced biological systems or particularly in cases where on demand disordering of molecular packing has value, such as lipid bilayers.

sPLA2 Wobbles on the Lipid Bilayer between Three Positions, Each Involved in the Hydrolysis Process

Secreted phospholipases A2 (sPLA2s) are peripheral membrane enzymes that hydrolyze phospholipids in the sn-2 position. The action of sPLA2 is associated with the work of two active sites. One, the interface binding site (IBS), is needed to bind the enzyme to the membrane surface. The other one, the catalytic site, is needed to hydrolyze the substrate. The interplay between sites, how the substrate protrudes to, and how the hydrolysis products release from, the catalytic site remains in the focus of investigations. Here, we report that bee venom PLA2 has two additional interface binding modes and enzyme activity through constant switching between three different orientations (modes of binding), only one of which is responsible for substrate uptake from the bilayer. The finding was obtained independently using atomic force microscopy and molecular dynamics. Switching between modes has biological significance: modes are steps of the enzyme moving along the membrane, product release in biological milieu, and enzyme desorption from the bilayer surface.

Estimation of the Phospholipase A2 Selectivity on POPC/POPG Membranes Using the Interaction Map

Abstract

The regulation of the activity and selectivity of phospholipase A2 (PLA2), which is capable of cleaving fatty acid in the second position (sn-2) of the phospholipid, is carried out through the membrane-binding and catalytic sites of the enzyme. For hydrolytic activity, PLA2 must first bind to the phospholipid membrane, and the binding efficiency depends on the composition of the membrane. The membrane-binding site of PLA2 is formed by several tens of amino acids and its composition differs from enzyme to enzyme; hydrophobic and positively charged amino acids play a key role in the interaction. In this work, we investigated the interaction of PLA2 from bee venom with phospholipid bilayers of palmitoyl oleoylphosphatidylcholine (POPC) containing different amounts of palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylglycerol (POPG). On the basis of the measurements of the protein intrinsic fluorescence and the anisotropy of the fluorescence of the lipid probe we propose the construction of lipid–protein interaction maps, which reflect both the efficiency of protein binding and changes in the structure of the membrane. These changes cause alterations in the fluorescence anisotropy of the label, which in turn is a measure of the mobility of the lipid environment of the fluorescent probe. Analysis of interaction maps showed that there is a relationship between lipid mobility and enzyme binding efficiency: the optimum interaction of PLA2 with membranes from a POPC/POPG mixture lies in the region of the highest lipid mobility, and not in the region of the highest negative charge. This dependence complements the existing understanding of the process of recognition of the membrane surface by the enzyme and the selection of lipids by the enzyme already bound to the membrane. The proposed mapping method can be extended to other membrane-active proteins.

Phospholipidic Colchicinoids as Promising Prodrugs Incorporated into Enzyme-Responsive Liposomes: Chemical, Biophysical, and Enzymological Aspects

Enzyme-responsive liposomes release their cargo in response to pathologically increased levels of enzymes at the target site. We report herein an assembly of phospholipase A2-responsive liposomes based on colchicinoid lipid prodrugs incorporated into lipid bilayer of the nanosized vesicles. The liposomes were constructed to addresses two important issues: (i) the lipid prodrugs were designed to fit the structure of the enzyme binding site; and (ii) the concept of lateral pressure profile was used to design lipid prodrugs that introduce almost no distortions into the lipid bilayer packing, thus ensuring that corresponding liposomes are stable. The colchicinoid agents exhibit antiproliferative activity in subnanomolar range of concentrations.