1
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El-Fakharany EM, El-Gendi H, Saleh AK, El-Sayed MH, Alalawy AI, Jame R, Abdelaziz MA, Alshareef SA, El-Maradny YA. The use of proteins and peptides-based therapy in managing and preventing pathogenic viruses. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 270:132254. [PMID: 38729501 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.132254] [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: 04/20/2024] [Revised: 05/06/2024] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024]
Abstract
Therapeutic proteins have been employed for centuries and reached approximately 50 % of all drugs investigated. By 2023, they represented one of the top 10 largest-selling pharma products ($387.03 billion) and are anticipated to reach around $653.35 billion by 2030. Growth hormones, insulin, and interferon (IFN α, γ, and β) are among the leading applied therapeutic proteins with a higher market share. Protein-based therapies have opened new opportunities to control various diseases, including metabolic disorders, tumors, and viral outbreaks. Advanced recombinant DNA biotechnology has offered the production of therapeutic proteins and peptides for vaccination, drugs, and diagnostic tools. Prokaryotic and eukaryotic expression host systems, including bacterial, fungal, animal, mammalian, and plant cells usually applied for recombinant therapeutic proteins large-scale production. However, several limitations face therapeutic protein production and applications at the commercial level, including immunogenicity, integrity concerns, protein stability, and protein degradation under different circumstances. In this regard, protein-engineering strategies such as PEGylation, glycol-engineering, Fc-fusion, albumin conjugation, and fusion, assist in increasing targeting, product purity, production yield, functionality, and the half-life of therapeutic protein circulation. Therefore, a comprehensive insight into therapeutic protein research and findings pave the way for their successful implementation, which will be discussed in the current review.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esmail M El-Fakharany
- Protein Research Department, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute GEBRI, City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SRTA city), New Borg El-Arab, Alexandria 21934, Egypt; Pharmaceutical and Fermentation Industries Development Centre (PFIDC), City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SRTA-City), New Borg Al-Arab, Alexandria, Egypt.
| | - Hamada El-Gendi
- Bioprocess Development Department, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute, City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SRTA city), New Borg El-Arab, Alexandria 21934, Egypt
| | - Ahmed K Saleh
- Cellulose and Paper Department, National Research Centre, El-Tahrir St., Dokki 12622, Giza, Egypt
| | - Mohamed H El-Sayed
- Department of Biology, College of Sciences and Arts-Rafha, Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia
| | - Adel I Alalawy
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, Tabuk 71491, Saudi Arabia
| | - Rasha Jame
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, Tabuk 71491, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mahmoud A Abdelaziz
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, Tabuk 71491, Saudi Arabia
| | | | - Yousra A El-Maradny
- Pharmaceutical and Fermentation Industries Development Centre (PFIDC), City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SRTA-City), New Borg Al-Arab, Alexandria, Egypt; Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT), Alamein 51718, Egypt
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2
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Carrow KP, Hamilton HL, Hopps MP, Li Y, Qiao B, Payne NC, Thompson MP, Zhang X, Magassa A, Fattah M, Agarwal S, Vincent MP, Buyanova M, Bertin PA, Mazitschek R, Olvera de la Cruz M, Johnson DA, Johnson JA, Gianneschi NC. Inhibiting the Keap1/Nrf2 Protein-Protein Interaction with Protein-Like Polymers. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2024; 36:e2311467. [PMID: 38241649 PMCID: PMC11257647 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202311467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 01/21/2024]
Abstract
Successful and selective inhibition of the cytosolic protein-protein interaction (PPI) between nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and Kelch-like ECH-associating protein 1 (Keap1) can enhance the antioxidant response, with the potential for a therapeutic effect in a range of settings including in neurodegenerative disease (ND). Small molecule inhibitors have been developed, yet many have off-target effects, or are otherwise limited by poor cellular permeability. Peptide-based strategies have also been attempted to enhance specificity, yet face challenges due to susceptibility to degradation and lack of cellular penetration. Herein, these barriers are overcome utilizing a polymer-based proteomimetics. The protein-like polymer (PLP) consists of a synthetic, lipophilic polymer backbone displaying water soluble Keap1-binding peptides on each monomer unit forming a brush polymer architecture. The PLPs are capable of engaging Keap1 and displacing the cellular protective transcription factor Nrf2, which then translocates to the nucleus, activating the antioxidant response element (ARE). PLPs exhibit increased Keap1 binding affinity by several orders of magnitude compared to free peptides, maintain serum stability, are cell-penetrant, and selectively activate the ARE pathway in cells, including in primary cortical neuronal cultures. Keap1/Nrf2-inhibitory PLPs have the potential to impact the treatment of disease states associated with dysregulation of oxidative stress, such as NDs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kendal P Carrow
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering, Medical Scientist Training Program, Feinberg School of Medicine, International Institute for Nanotechnology, Northwestern University, Evanston, 60208, IL, USA
| | - Haylee L Hamilton
- School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 57305, WI, USA
| | - Madeline P Hopps
- International Institute for Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, 60208, IL, USA
| | - Yang Li
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, 60208, IL, USA
| | - Baofu Qiao
- Department of Natural Sciences, Baruch College, City University of New York, New York, 10010, NY, USA
| | - N Connor Payne
- Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, 02138, MA, USA
| | - Matthew P Thompson
- International Institute for Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, 60208, IL, USA
| | - Xiaoyu Zhang
- International Institute for Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, 60208, IL, USA
| | - Assa Magassa
- International Institute for Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, 60208, IL, USA
| | - Mara Fattah
- International Institute for Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, 60208, IL, USA
| | - Shivangi Agarwal
- Grove Biopharma, Inc, 1375 W. Fulton St., Ste. 650, Chicago, 60558, IL, USA
| | - Michael P Vincent
- Grove Biopharma, Inc, 1375 W. Fulton St., Ste. 650, Chicago, 60558, IL, USA
| | - Marina Buyanova
- Grove Biopharma, Inc, 1375 W. Fulton St., Ste. 650, Chicago, 60558, IL, USA
| | - Paul A Bertin
- Grove Biopharma, Inc, 1375 W. Fulton St., Ste. 650, Chicago, 60558, IL, USA
| | - Ralph Mazitschek
- Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, 02142, MA, USA
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, 02115, MA, USA
| | - Monica Olvera de la Cruz
- Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Center for Computation and Theory of Soft Materials, Northwestern University, Evanston, 60208, IL, USA
| | - Delinda A Johnson
- School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 57305, WI, USA
| | - Jeffrey A Johnson
- School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 57305, WI, USA
| | - Nathan C Gianneschi
- Departments of Chemistry, Materials Science & Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Pharmacology, Simpson Querrey Institute, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Lurie Cancer Center, International Institute for Nanotechnology, Northwestern University, Evanston, 60208, IL, USA
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3
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Tomazini A, Shifman JM. Targeting Ras with protein engineering. Oncotarget 2023; 14:672-687. [PMID: 37395750 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.28469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Ras proteins are small GTPases that regulate cell growth and division. Mutations in Ras genes are associated with many types of cancer, making them attractive targets for cancer therapy. Despite extensive efforts, targeting Ras proteins with small molecules has been extremely challenging due to Ras's mostly flat surface and lack of small molecule-binding cavities. These challenges were recently overcome by the development of the first covalent small-molecule anti-Ras drug, sotorasib, highlighting the efficacy of Ras inhibition as a therapeutic strategy. However, this drug exclusively inhibits the Ras G12C mutant, which is not a prevalent mutation in most cancer types. Unlike the G12C variant, other Ras oncogenic mutants lack reactive cysteines, rendering them unsuitable for targeting via the same strategy. Protein engineering has emerged as a promising method to target Ras, as engineered proteins have the ability to recognize various surfaces with high affinity and specificity. Over the past few years, scientists have engineered antibodies, natural Ras effectors, and novel binding domains to bind to Ras and counteract its carcinogenic activities via a variety of strategies. These include inhibiting Ras-effector interactions, disrupting Ras dimerization, interrupting Ras nucleotide exchange, stimulating Ras interaction with tumor suppressor genes, and promoting Ras degradation. In parallel, significant advancements have been made in intracellular protein delivery, enabling the delivery of the engineered anti-Ras agents into the cellular cytoplasm. These advances offer a promising path for targeting Ras proteins and other challenging drug targets, opening up new opportunities for drug discovery and development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atilio Tomazini
- Department of Biological Chemistry, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel
| | - Julia M Shifman
- Department of Biological Chemistry, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel
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4
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Qian L, Lin X, Gao X, Khan RU, Liao JY, Du S, Ge J, Zeng S, Yao SQ. The Dawn of a New Era: Targeting the "Undruggables" with Antibody-Based Therapeutics. Chem Rev 2023. [PMID: 37186942 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.2c00915] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
The high selectivity and affinity of antibodies toward their antigens have made them a highly valuable tool in disease therapy, diagnosis, and basic research. A plethora of chemical and genetic approaches have been devised to make antibodies accessible to more "undruggable" targets and equipped with new functions of illustrating or regulating biological processes more precisely. In this Review, in addition to introducing how naked antibodies and various antibody conjugates (such as antibody-drug conjugates, antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates, antibody-enzyme conjugates, etc.) work in therapeutic applications, special attention has been paid to how chemistry tools have helped to optimize the therapeutic outcome (i.e., with enhanced efficacy and reduced side effects) or facilitate the multifunctionalization of antibodies, with a focus on emerging fields such as targeted protein degradation, real-time live-cell imaging, catalytic labeling or decaging with spatiotemporal control as well as the engagement of antibodies inside cells. With advances in modern chemistry and biotechnology, well-designed antibodies and their derivatives via size miniaturization or multifunctionalization together with efficient delivery systems have emerged, which have gradually improved our understanding of important biological processes and paved the way to pursue novel targets for potential treatments of various diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linghui Qian
- Institute of Drug Metabolism and Pharmaceutical Analysis, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cancer Center, & Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Xuefen Lin
- Institute of Drug Metabolism and Pharmaceutical Analysis, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cancer Center, & Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Xue Gao
- Institute of Drug Metabolism and Pharmaceutical Analysis, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cancer Center, & Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Rizwan Ullah Khan
- Institute of Drug Metabolism and Pharmaceutical Analysis, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cancer Center, & Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Jia-Yu Liao
- Institute of Drug Metabolism and Pharmaceutical Analysis, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cancer Center, & Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Shubo Du
- School of Bioengineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
| | - Jingyan Ge
- Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Synthesis of Zhejiang Province, College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
| | - Su Zeng
- Institute of Drug Metabolism and Pharmaceutical Analysis, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cancer Center, & Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Shao Q Yao
- Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 4 Science Drive 2, Singapore, 117544
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5
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Ebrahimi SB, Samanta D. Engineering protein-based therapeutics through structural and chemical design. Nat Commun 2023; 14:2411. [PMID: 37105998 PMCID: PMC10132957 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38039-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 41.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Protein-based therapeutics have led to new paradigms in disease treatment. Projected to be half of the top ten selling drugs in 2023, proteins have emerged as rivaling and, in some cases, superior alternatives to historically used small molecule-based medicines. This review chronicles both well-established and emerging design strategies that have enabled this paradigm shift by transforming protein-based structures that are often prone to denaturation, degradation, and aggregation in vitro and in vivo into highly effective therapeutics. In particular, we discuss strategies for creating structures with increased affinity and targetability, enhanced in vivo stability and pharmacokinetics, improved cell permeability, and reduced amounts of undesired immunogenicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sasha B Ebrahimi
- Drug Product Development-Steriles, GlaxoSmithKline, Collegeville, PA, 19426, USA.
| | - Devleena Samanta
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.
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6
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Kapelner RA, Fisher RS, Elbaum-Garfinkle S, Obermeyer AC. Protein charge parameters that influence stability and cellular internalization of polyelectrolyte complex micelles. Chem Sci 2022; 13:14346-14356. [PMID: 36545145 PMCID: PMC9749388 DOI: 10.1039/d2sc00192f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Proteins are an important class of biologics, but there are several recurring challenges to address when designing protein-based therapeutics. These challenges include: the propensity of proteins to aggregate during formulation, relatively low loading in traditional hydrophobic delivery vehicles, and inefficient cellular uptake. This last criterion is particularly challenging for anionic proteins as they cannot cross the anionic plasma membrane. Here we investigated the complex coacervation of anionic proteins with a block copolymer of opposite charge to form polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) micelles for use as a protein delivery vehicle. Using genetically modified variants of the model protein green fluorescent protein (GFP), we evaluated the role of protein charge and charge localization in the formation and stability of PEC micelles. A neutral-cationic block copolymer, poly(oligoethylene glycol methacrylate-block-quaternized 4-vinylpyridine), POEGMA79-b-qP4VP175, was prepared via RAFT polymerization for complexation and microphase separation with the panel of engineered anionic GFPs. We found that isotropically supercharged proteins formed micelles at higher ionic strength relative to protein variants with charge localized to a polypeptide tag. We then studied GFP delivery by PEC micelles and found that they effectively delivered the protein cargo to mammalian cells. However, cellular delivery varied as a function of protein charge and charge distribution and we found an inverse relationship between the PEC micelle critical salt concentration and delivery efficiency. This model system has highlighted the potential of polyelectrolyte complexes to deliver anionic proteins intracellularly. Using this model system, we have identified requirements for the formation of PEC micelles that are stable at physiological ionic strength and that smaller protein-polyelectrolyte complexes effectively deliver proteins to Jurkat cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel A Kapelner
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University New York NY 10027 USA +1-212-853-1215
| | - Rachel S Fisher
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University New York NY 10027 USA +1-212-853-1215
- Structural Biology Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center New York NY USA
| | - Shana Elbaum-Garfinkle
- Structural Biology Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center New York NY USA
- PhD Programs in Biochemistry and Biology at the Graduate Center, City University of New York NY USA
| | - Allie C Obermeyer
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University New York NY 10027 USA +1-212-853-1215
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7
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Li G, Wang Q, Feng J, Wang J, Wang Y, Huang X, Shao T, Deng X, Cao Y, Zhou M, Zhao C. Recent insights into the role of defensins in diabetic wound healing. Biomed Pharmacother 2022; 155:113694. [PMID: 36099789 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2022.113694] [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: 07/13/2022] [Revised: 09/07/2022] [Accepted: 09/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Diabetic wound, one of the most common serious complications of diabetic patients, is an important factor in disability and death. Much of the research on the pathophysiology of diabetic wound healing has long focused on mechanisms mediated by hyperglycemia, chronic inflammation, microcirculatory and macrocirculatory dysfunction. However, recent evidence suggests that defensins may play a crucial role in the development and perpetuation of diabetic wound healing. The available findings suggest that defensins exert a beneficial influence on diabetic wound healing through antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, angiogenic, tissue regenerator effects, and insulin resistance improvement. Therefore, summarizing the existing research progress on defensins in the diabetic wound may present a promising strategy for diabetic patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gen Li
- Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200082, China; Graduate School, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Qixue Wang
- Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200082, China; Institute for Interdisciplinary Medicine Sciences, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China; Graduate School, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Jiawei Feng
- Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200082, China; Graduate School, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Jialin Wang
- Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200082, China; Graduate School, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Yuqing Wang
- Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200082, China; Graduate School, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Xiaoting Huang
- Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200082, China; Graduate School, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Tengteng Shao
- Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200082, China
| | - Xiaofei Deng
- Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200082, China
| | - Yemin Cao
- Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200082, China
| | - Mingmei Zhou
- Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200082, China; Institute for Interdisciplinary Medicine Sciences, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China.
| | - Cheng Zhao
- Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200082, China.
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8
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Cavazzini D, Spagnoli G, Mariz FC, Reggiani F, Maggi S, Franceschi V, Donofrio G, Müller M, Bolchi A, Ottonello S. Enhanced immunogenicity of a positively supercharged archaeon thioredoxin scaffold as a cell-penetrating antigen carrier for peptide vaccines. Front Immunol 2022; 13:958123. [PMID: 36032169 PMCID: PMC9405434 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.958123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 07/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Polycationic resurfaced proteins hold great promise as cell-penetrating bioreagents but their use as carriers for the intracellular delivery of peptide immuno-epitopes has not thus far been explored. Here, we report on the construction and functional characterization of a positively supercharged derivative of Pyrococcus furiosus thioredoxin (PfTrx), a thermally hyperstable protein we have previously validated as a peptide epitope display and immunogenicity enhancing scaffold. Genetic conversion of 13 selected amino acids to lysine residues conferred to PfTrx a net charge of +21 (starting from the -1 charge of the wild-type protein), along with the ability to bind nucleic acids. In its unfused form, +21 PfTrx was readily internalized by HeLa cells and displayed a predominantly cytosolic localization. A different intracellular distribution was observed for a +21 PfTrx-eGFP fusion protein, which although still capable of cell penetration was predominantly localized within endosomes. A mixed cytosolic/endosomal partitioning was observed for a +21 PfTrx derivative harboring three tandemly repeated copies of a previously validated HPV16-L2 (aa 20-38) B-cell epitope grafted to the display site of thioredoxin. Compared to its wild-type counterpart, the positively supercharged antigen induced a faster immune response and displayed an overall superior immunogenicity, including a substantial degree of self-adjuvancy. Altogether, the present data point to +21 PfTrx as a promising novel carrier for intracellular antigen delivery and the construction of potentiated recombinant subunit vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Cavazzini
- Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences & Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Gloria Spagnoli
- Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences & Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Filipe Colaco Mariz
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Tumorvirus-specific Vaccination Strategies (F035), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Filippo Reggiani
- Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences & Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Stefano Maggi
- Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences & Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | | | - Gaetano Donofrio
- Department of Veterinary Science, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
- Interdepartmental Center Biopharmanet-Tec, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Martin Müller
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Tumorvirus-specific Vaccination Strategies (F035), Heidelberg, Germany
- *Correspondence: Martin Müller, ; Angelo Bolchi,
| | - Angelo Bolchi
- Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences & Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
- Interdepartmental Center Biopharmanet-Tec, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
- *Correspondence: Martin Müller, ; Angelo Bolchi,
| | - Simone Ottonello
- Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences & Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
- Interdepartmental Center Biopharmanet-Tec, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
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9
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Negi S, Hamori M, Kawahara-Nakagawa Y, Imanishi M, Kurehara M, Kitada C, Kawahito Y, Kishi K, Manabe T, Kawamura N, Kitagishi H, Mashimo M, Shibata N, Sugiura Y. Importance of two-dimensional cation clusters induced by protein folding in intrinsic intracellular membrane permeability. RSC Chem Biol 2022; 3:1076-1084. [PMID: 35975000 PMCID: PMC9347356 DOI: 10.1039/d2cb00098a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Two-dimensional cation clusters formed on the surface of proteins play an important role in their intracellular translocation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shigeru Negi
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Doshisha Women's University, Koudo, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0395, Japan
| | - Mami Hamori
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Doshisha Women's University, Koudo, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0395, Japan
| | - Yuka Kawahara-Nakagawa
- Graduate School of Life Science, University of Hyogo, 3-2-1 Kouto, Kamigori-cho, Ako-gun, Hyogo, 678-1297, Japan
| | - Miki Imanishi
- Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan
| | - Miku Kurehara
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Doshisha Women's University, Koudo, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0395, Japan
| | - Chieri Kitada
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Doshisha Women's University, Koudo, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0395, Japan
| | - Yuri Kawahito
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Doshisha Women's University, Koudo, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0395, Japan
| | - Kanae Kishi
- Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8553, Japan
| | - Takayuki Manabe
- Clinical Research Support Center, Asahikawa Medical University Hospital, 2-1-1-1 Midorigaokahigashi, Asahikawa 078-8510, Japan
| | - Nobuyuki Kawamura
- Education Center for Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Niigata University of Pharmacy and Applied Life Sciences, 265-1 Higashijima, Akiha-ku, Niigata City, Niigata 956-8603, Japan
| | - Hiroaki Kitagishi
- Department of Molecular Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Doshisha University, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0321, Japan
| | - Masato Mashimo
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Doshisha Women's University, Koudo, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0395, Japan
| | - Nobuhito Shibata
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Doshisha Women's University, Koudo, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0395, Japan
| | - Yukio Sugiura
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Doshisha Women's University, Koudo, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0395, Japan
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10
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Horn JM, Obermeyer AC. Genetic and Covalent Protein Modification Strategies to Facilitate Intracellular Delivery. Biomacromolecules 2021; 22:4883-4904. [PMID: 34855385 PMCID: PMC9310055 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.1c00745] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Protein-based therapeutics represent a rapidly growing segment of approved disease treatments. Successful intracellular delivery of proteins is an important precondition for expanded in vivo and in vitro applications of protein therapeutics. Direct modification of proteins and peptides for improved cytosolic translocation are a promising method of increasing delivery efficiency and expanding the viability of intracellular protein therapeutics. In this Review, we present recent advances in both synthetic and genetic protein modifications for intracellular delivery. Active endocytosis-based and passive internalization pathways are discussed, followed by a review of modification methods for improved cytosolic delivery. After establishing how proteins can be modified, general strategies for facilitating intracellular delivery, such as chemical supercharging or inclusion of cell-penetrating motifs, are covered. We then outline protein modifications that promote endosomal escape. We finally examine the delivery of two potential classes of therapeutic proteins, antibodies and associated antibody fragments, and gene editing proteins, such as cas9.
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11
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Chemically Induced pH Perturbations for Analyzing Biological Barriers Using Ion-Sensitive Field-Effect Transistors. SENSORS 2021; 21:s21217277. [PMID: 34770587 PMCID: PMC8588202 DOI: 10.3390/s21217277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2021] [Revised: 10/27/2021] [Accepted: 10/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Potentiometric pH measurements have long been used for the bioanalysis of biofluids, tissues, and cells. A glass pH electrode and ion-sensitive field-effect transistor (ISFET) can measure the time course of pH changes in a microenvironment as a result of physiological and biological activities. However, the signal interpretation of passive pH sensing is difficult because many biological activities influence the spatiotemporal distribution of pH in the microenvironment. Moreover, time course measurement suffers from stability because of gradual drifts in signaling. To address these issues, an active method of pH sensing was developed for the analysis of the cell barrier in vitro. The microenvironmental pH is temporarily perturbed by introducing a low concentration of weak acid (NH4+) or base (CH3COO−) to cells cultured on the gate insulator of ISFET using a superfusion system. Considering the pH perturbation originates from the semi-permeability of lipid bilayer plasma membranes, induced proton dynamics are used for analyzing the biomembrane barriers against ions and hydrated species following interaction with exogenous reagents. The unique feature of the method is the sensitivity to the formation of transmembrane pores as small as a proton (H+), enabling the analysis of cell–nanomaterial interactions at the molecular level. The new modality of cell analysis using ISFET is expected to be applied to nanomedicine, drug screening, and tissue engineering.
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12
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Kettisen K, Dicko C, Smeds E, Bülow L. Site-Specific Introduction of Negative Charges on the Protein Surface for Improving Global Functions of Recombinant Fetal Hemoglobin. Front Mol Biosci 2021; 8:649007. [PMID: 33859997 PMCID: PMC8042259 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.649007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2021] [Accepted: 03/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Due to its compatible oxygen-transporting abilities, hemoglobin (Hb) is a protein of interest in the development of artificial oxygen therapeutics. Despite continuous formulation attempts, extracellular Hb solution often exhibits undesirable reactions when applied in vivo. Therefore, protein engineering is frequently used to examine alternative ways of controlling the unwanted reactions linked to cell-free Hb solutions. In this study, three mutants of human fetal hemoglobin (HbF) are evaluated; single mutants αA12D and αA19D, and a double mutant αA12D/A19D. These variants were obtained by site-directed mutagenesis and recombinant production in E. coli, and carry negative charges on the surface of the α-subunit at the designated mutation sites. Through characterization of the mutant proteins, we found that the substitutions affected the protein in several ways. As expected, the isoelectric points (pIs) were lowered, from 7.1 (wild-type) down to 6.6 (double mutant), which influenced the anion exchange chromatographic procedures by shifting conditions toward higher conductivity for protein elution. The biological and physiological properties of HbF could be improved by these small modifications on the protein surface. The DNA cleavage rate associated with native HbF could be reduced by 55%. In addition, the negatively charged HbF mutant had an extended circulation time when examined in a mouse model using top load Hb additions. At the same time, the mutations did not affect the overall structural integrity of the HbF molecule, as determined by small-angle X-ray scattering. In combination with circular dichroism and thermal stability, modest structural shifts imposed by the mutations could possibly be related to changes in secondary structure or reorganization. Such local deformations were too minor to be determined within the resolution of the structural data; and overall, unchanged oxidation and heme loss kinetics support the conclusion that the mutations did not adversely affect the basic structural properties of Hb. We confirm the value of adding negatively charged residues onto the surface of the protein to improve the global functions of recombinant Hb.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karin Kettisen
- Division of Pure and Applied Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Cedric Dicko
- Division of Pure and Applied Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Emanuel Smeds
- Division of Infection Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Leif Bülow
- Division of Pure and Applied Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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13
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Pannecoucke E, Van Trimpont M, Desmet J, Pieters T, Reunes L, Demoen L, Vuylsteke M, Loverix S, Vandenbroucke K, Alard P, Henderikx P, Deroo S, Baatz F, Lorent E, Thiolloy S, Somers K, McGrath Y, Van Vlierberghe P, Lasters I, Savvides SN. Cell-penetrating Alphabody protein scaffolds for intracellular drug targeting. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:7/13/eabe1682. [PMID: 33771865 PMCID: PMC7997521 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abe1682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2020] [Accepted: 02/05/2021] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
The therapeutic scope of antibody and nonantibody protein scaffolds is still prohibitively limited against intracellular drug targets. Here, we demonstrate that the Alphabody scaffold can be engineered into a cell-penetrating protein antagonist against induced myeloid leukemia cell differentiation protein MCL-1, an intracellular target in cancer, by grafting the critical B-cell lymphoma 2 homology 3 helix of MCL-1 onto the Alphabody and tagging the scaffold's termini with designed cell-penetration polypeptides. Introduction of an albumin-binding moiety extended the serum half-life of the engineered Alphabody to therapeutically relevant levels, and administration thereof in mouse tumor xenografts based on myeloma cell lines reduced tumor burden. Crystal structures of such a designed Alphabody in complex with MCL-1 and serum albumin provided the structural blueprint of the applied design principles. Collectively, we provide proof of concept for the use of Alphabodies against intracellular disease mediators, which, to date, have remained in the realm of small-molecule therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erwin Pannecoucke
- VIB Center for Inflammation Research, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
- Unit for Structural Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Maaike Van Trimpont
- Department of Biomolecular Medicine, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Cancer Research Institute Ghent (CRIG), Ghent, Belgium
| | | | - Tim Pieters
- Department of Biomolecular Medicine, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Cancer Research Institute Ghent (CRIG), Ghent, Belgium
| | - Lindy Reunes
- Department of Biomolecular Medicine, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Cancer Research Institute Ghent (CRIG), Ghent, Belgium
| | - Lisa Demoen
- Department of Biomolecular Medicine, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Cancer Research Institute Ghent (CRIG), Ghent, Belgium
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Pieter Van Vlierberghe
- Department of Biomolecular Medicine, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Cancer Research Institute Ghent (CRIG), Ghent, Belgium
| | | | - Savvas N Savvides
- VIB Center for Inflammation Research, 9052 Ghent, Belgium.
- Unit for Structural Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
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14
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Zhang X, Wu S, Zhu Y, Chu CQ. Exploiting Joint-Resident Stem Cells by Exogenous SOX9 for Cartilage Regeneration for Therapy of Osteoarthritis. Front Med (Lausanne) 2021; 8:622609. [PMID: 33681252 PMCID: PMC7928416 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2021.622609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2020] [Accepted: 01/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The lack of effective treatment options for osteoarthritis (OA) is mostly due to the very limited regenerative capacity of articular cartilage. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been most extensively explored for cell-based therapy to induce cartilage regeneration for OA. However, current in vitro expanded MSC-based approaches have significant drawbacks. On the other hand, osteoarthritic joints contain chondrocyte progenitors and MSCs in several niches which have the potential yet fail to differentiate into chondrocytes for cartilage regeneration. One of the underlying mechanisms of the failure is that these chondrocyte progenitors and MSCs in OA joints are deficient in the activity of chondrogenic transcription factor SOX9 (SRY-type high-mobility group box-9). Thereby, replenishing with exogenous SOX9 would reactivate the potential of these stem cells to differentiate into chondrocytes. Cell-permeable, super-positively charged SOX9 (scSOX9) protein is able to promote hyaline-like cartilage regeneration by inducing chondrogenic differentiation of bone marrow derived MSCs in vivo. This scSOX9 protein can be administered into osteoarthritic joints by intra-articular injection. This one-step, cell-free supplement of exogenous SOX9 may harness the regenerative potential of the intrinsic MSCs within the joint cavity to stimulate cartilage regeneration in OA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaowei Zhang
- Division of Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States.,Section of Rheumatology, VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR, United States
| | - Shili Wu
- Vivoscript, Inc., Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Yong Zhu
- Vivoscript, Inc., Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Cong-Qiu Chu
- Division of Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States.,Section of Rheumatology, VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR, United States
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15
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Abeer MM, Rewatkar P, Qu Z, Talekar M, Kleitz F, Schmid R, Lindén M, Kumeria T, Popat A. Silica nanoparticles: A promising platform for enhanced oral delivery of macromolecules. J Control Release 2020; 326:544-555. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2020.07.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2020] [Revised: 07/11/2020] [Accepted: 07/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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16
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Shi J, Zhao D, Li X, Ding F, Tang X, Liu N, Huang H, Liu C. The conjugation of rhodamine B enables carrier-free mitochondrial delivery of functional proteins. Org Biomol Chem 2020; 18:6829-6839. [PMID: 32761021 DOI: 10.1039/d0ob01305f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/25/2024]
Abstract
The development of protein-based therapeutics faces many challenges, for example, carrier-dependence, safety concerns, endocytosis-dependence, and uncertain in vivo therapeutic outcomes. Small molecules are rarely used for intracellular organelle-targeting and disease tissue-specific carrier-independent delivery of therapeutic proteins. Here, we report that rhodamine B, after modification with proteins, is able to guide carrier-free delivery into mitochondria and tissue-dependent distributions of functional proteins through organic cation transporters (OCTs). The enrichment of the modified catalase in the cancer tissue efficiently suppresses xenograft human lung tumor in mice. This carrier-free delivery platform of proteins may emerge as a simple yet powerful approach for cancer treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiayuan Shi
- Key Laboratory of Pesticide and Chemical Biology of Ministry of Education, International Joint Research Center for Intelligent Biosensing Technology and Health, School of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079 China.
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17
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Knox SL, Steinauer A, Alpha-Cobb G, Trexler A, Rhoades E, Schepartz A. Quantification of protein delivery in live cells using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. Methods Enzymol 2020; 641:477-505. [PMID: 32713536 DOI: 10.1016/bs.mie.2020.05.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) is a quantitative single-molecule method that measures the concentration and rate of diffusion of fluorophore-tagged molecules, both large and small, in vitro and within live cells, and even within discrete cellular compartments. FCS is exceptionally well-suited to directly quantify the efficiency of intracellular protein delivery-specifically, how well different "cell-penetrating" proteins and peptides guide proteinaceous materials into the cytosol and nuclei of live mammalian cells. This article provides an overview of the procedures necessary to execute robust FCS experiments and evaluate endosomal escape efficiencies: preparation of fluorophore-tagged proteins, incubation with mammalian cells and preparation of FCS samples, setup and execution of an FCS experiment, and a detailed discussion of and custom MATLAB® script for analyzing the resulting autocorrelation curves in the context of appropriate diffusion models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan L Knox
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - Angela Steinauer
- Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Garrett Alpha-Cobb
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Adam Trexler
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Elizabeth Rhoades
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Alanna Schepartz
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA, United States; Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, United States.
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18
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Abstract
Proteins are versatile macromolecules with diverse structure, charge, and function. They are ideal building blocks for biomaterials for drug delivery, biosensing, or tissue engineering applications. Simultaneously, the need to develop green alternatives to chemical processes has led to renewed interest in multienzyme biocatalytic routes to fine, specialty, and commodity chemicals. Therefore, a method to reliably assemble protein complexes using protein-protein interactions would facilitate the rapid production of new materials. Here we show a method for modular assembly of protein materials using a supercharged protein as a scaffolding "hub" onto which target proteins bearing oppositely charged domains have been self-assembled. The physical properties of the material can be tuned through blending and heating and disassembly triggered using changes in pH or salt concentration. The system can be extended to the synthesis of living materials. Our modular method can be used to reliably direct the self-assembly of proteins using small charged tag domains that can be easily encoded in a fusion protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- James A. J. Arpino
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
- Imperial College Centre for Synthetic Biology, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - Karen Marie Polizzi
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
- Imperial College Centre for Synthetic Biology, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
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19
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Ma C, Malessa A, Boersma AJ, Liu K, Herrmann A. Supercharged Proteins and Polypeptides. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2020; 32:e1905309. [PMID: 31943419 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201905309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2019] [Revised: 10/10/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Electrostatic interactions play a vital role in nature. Biomacromolecules such as proteins are orchestrated by electrostatics, among other intermolecular forces, to assemble and organize biochemistry. Natural proteins with a high net charge exist in a folded state or are unstructured and can be an inspiration for scientists to artificially supercharge other protein entities. Recent findings show that supercharging proteins allows for control of their properties such as temperature resistance and catalytic activity. One elegant method to transfer the favorable properties of supercharged proteins to other proteins is the fabrication of fusions. Genetically engineered, supercharged unstructured polypeptides (SUPs) are just one promising fusion tool. SUPs can also be complexed with artificial entities to yield thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystals and liquids. These architectures represent novel bulk materials that are sensitive to external stimuli. Interestingly, SUPs undergo fluid-fluid phase separation to form coacervates. These coacervates can even be directly generated in living cells or can be combined with dissipative fiber assemblies that induce life-like features. Supercharged proteins and SUPs are developed into exciting classes of materials. Their synthesis, structures, and properties are summarized. Moreover, potential applications are highlighted and challenges are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Ma
- Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Anke Malessa
- Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Arnold J Boersma
- DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, Forckenbeckstr. 50, 52056, Aachen, Germany
| | - Kai Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 130022, Changchun, China
| | - Andreas Herrmann
- Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands
- DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, Forckenbeckstr. 50, 52056, Aachen, Germany
- Institute of Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Worringerweg 2, 52074, Aachen, Germany
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20
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Deng H, Yan S, Huang Y, Lei C, Nie Z. Design strategies for fluorescent proteins/mimics and their applications in biosensing and bioimaging. Trends Analyt Chem 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.trac.2019.115757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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21
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Kim YB, Zhao KT, Thompson DB, Liu DR. An anionic human protein mediates cationic liposome delivery of genome editing proteins into mammalian cells. Nat Commun 2019; 10:2905. [PMID: 31266953 PMCID: PMC6606574 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-10828-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2018] [Accepted: 05/23/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Delivery into mammalian cells remains a significant challenge for many applications of proteins as research tools and therapeutics. We recently reported that the fusion of cargo proteins to a supernegatively charged (–30)GFP enhances encapsulation by cationic lipids and delivery into mammalian cells. To discover polyanionic proteins with optimal delivery properties, we evaluate negatively charged natural human proteins for their ability to deliver proteins into cultured mammalian cells and human primary fibroblasts. Here we discover that ProTα, a small, widely expressed, intrinsically disordered human protein, enables up to ~10-fold more efficient cationic lipid-mediated protein delivery compared to (–30)GFP. ProTα enables efficient delivery at low- to mid-nM concentrations of two unrelated genome editing proteins, Cre recombinase and zinc-finger nucleases, under conditions in which (–30)GFP fusion or cationic lipid alone does not result in substantial activity. ProTα may enable mammalian cell protein delivery applications when delivery potency is limiting. Inefficient delivery of proteins into mammalian cells limits their use in research and therapy. Here, the authors discover that ProTα, a small, intrinsically disordered human protein can facilitate efficient cationic lipid-mediated protein delivery of genome editing proteins into mammalian cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y Bill Kim
- Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA.,Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Kevin T Zhao
- Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA.,Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - David B Thompson
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.,Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - David R Liu
- Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA. .,Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA. .,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
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22
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Nucleic acid-based fluorescent methods for the determination of DNA repair enzyme activities: A review. Anal Chim Acta 2019; 1060:30-44. [DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2018.12.055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2018] [Revised: 12/09/2018] [Accepted: 12/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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23
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Rauch S, He E, Srienc M, Zhou H, Zhang Z, Dickinson BC. Programmable RNA-Guided RNA Effector Proteins Built from Human Parts. Cell 2019; 178:122-134.e12. [PMID: 31230714 PMCID: PMC6657360 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.05.049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2018] [Revised: 03/14/2019] [Accepted: 05/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Epitranscriptomic regulation controls information flow through the central dogma and provides unique opportunities for manipulating cells at the RNA level. However, both fundamental studies and potential translational applications are impeded by a lack of methods to target specific RNAs with effector proteins. Here, we present CRISPR-Cas-inspired RNA targeting system (CIRTS), a protein engineering strategy for constructing programmable RNA control elements. We show that CIRTS is a simple and generalizable approach to deliver a range of effector proteins, including nucleases, degradation machinery, translational activators, and base editors to target transcripts. We further demonstrate that CIRTS is not only smaller than naturally occurring CRISPR-Cas programmable RNA binding systems but can also be built entirely from human protein parts. CIRTS provides a platform to probe fundamental RNA regulatory processes, and the human-derived nature of CIRTS provides a potential strategy to avoid immune issues when applied to epitranscriptome-modulating therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Rauch
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Emily He
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Michael Srienc
- Pritzker School of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Huiqing Zhou
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA; Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Zijie Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Bryan C Dickinson
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
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24
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Goda T, Imaizumi Y, Hatano H, Matsumoto A, Ishihara K, Miyahara Y. Translocation Mechanisms of Cell-Penetrating Polymers Identified by Induced Proton Dynamics. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2019; 35:8167-8173. [PMID: 31094202 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.9b00856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Unlike the majority of nanomaterials designed for cellular uptake via endocytic pathways, some of the functional nanoparticles and nanospheres directly enter the cytoplasm without overt biomembrane injuries. Previously, we have shown that a water-soluble nanoaggregate composed of amphiphilic random copolymer of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) and n-butyl methacrylate (BMA), poly(MPC- random-BMA) (PMB), passes live cell membranes in an endocytosis-free manner. Yet, details in its translocation mechanism remain elusive due to the lack of proper analytical methods. To understand this phenomenon experimentally, we elaborated the original pH perturbation assay that is extremely sensitive to the pore formation on cell membranes. The ultimate sensitivity originates from the detection of the smallest indicator H+ (H3O+) passed through the molecularly sized transmembrane pores upon challenge by exogenous reagents. We revealed that water-soluble PMB at the 30 mol % MPC unit (i.e., PMB30W) penetrated into the cytosol of model mammalian cells without any proton leaks, in contrast to conventional cell-penetrating peptides, TAT and R8 as well as the surfactant, Triton X-100. While exposure of PMB30W permeabilized cytoplasmic lactate dehydrogenase out of the cells, indicating the alteration of cell membrane polarity by partitioning of amphiphilic PMB30W into the lipid bilayers. Nevertheless, the biomembrane alterations by PMB30W did not exhibit cytotoxicity. In summary, elucidating translocation mechanisms by proton dynamics will guide the design of nanomaterials with controlled permeabilization to cell membranes for bioengineering applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatsuro Goda
- Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering , Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) , 2-3-10 Kanda-Surugadai , Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-0062 , Japan
- Nano Innovation Institute , Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities , No. 22 HuoLinHe Street , Tongliao , Inner Mongolia 028000 , P. R. China
| | - Yuki Imaizumi
- Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering , Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) , 2-3-10 Kanda-Surugadai , Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-0062 , Japan
| | - Hiroaki Hatano
- Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering , Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) , 2-3-10 Kanda-Surugadai , Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-0062 , Japan
| | - Akira Matsumoto
- Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering , Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) , 2-3-10 Kanda-Surugadai , Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-0062 , Japan
- Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Science and Technology (KISTEC) , 705-1 Shimoimaizumi , Ebina , Kanagawa 243-0435 , Japan
| | | | - Yuji Miyahara
- Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering , Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) , 2-3-10 Kanda-Surugadai , Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-0062 , Japan
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25
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Pulsipher KW, Bulos JA, Villegas JA, Saven JG, Dmochowski IJ. A protein-protein host-guest complex: Thermostable ferritin encapsulating positively supercharged green fluorescent protein. Protein Sci 2019; 27:1755-1766. [PMID: 30051936 DOI: 10.1002/pro.3483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2018] [Revised: 07/10/2018] [Accepted: 07/12/2018] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
We characterize the encapsulation of supercharged green fluorescent protein, GFP(+36), by thermophilic ferritin from Archaeoglobus fulgidus (AfFtn). The AfFtn-GFP(+36) assembly is rapid, nearly stoichiometric, and robust. Using a more stably assembled mutant AfFtn, we show that encapsulation can occur in the presence of mostly assembled cages, in addition to encapsulation starting from AfFtn individual subunits. Assembly and encapsulation do not occur with non-supercharged GFP or the alternately supercharged GFP(-30), highlighting the role of complementary electrostatic interactions between the cargo and AfFtn cage interior. We also present a method for verifying protein-protein encapsulation, using nickel nitrilotriacetic acid agarose resin. AfFtn-supercharged protein host-guest complexes could find applications in enzyme studies, protein separations, and in vivo protein stabilization and targeted delivery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine W Pulsipher
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104
| | - Joshua A Bulos
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104
| | - José A Villegas
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104
| | - Jeffery G Saven
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104
| | - Ivan J Dmochowski
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104
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26
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Deprey K, Becker L, Kritzer J, Plückthun A. Trapped! A Critical Evaluation of Methods for Measuring Total Cellular Uptake versus Cytosolic Localization. Bioconjug Chem 2019; 30:1006-1027. [PMID: 30882208 PMCID: PMC6527423 DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.9b00112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Biomolecules have many properties that make them promising for intracellular therapeutic applications, but delivery remains a key challenge because large biomolecules cannot easily enter the cytosol. Furthermore, quantification of total intracellular versus cytosolic concentrations remains demanding, and the determination of delivery efficiency is thus not straightforward. In this review, we discuss strategies for delivering biomolecules into the cytosol and briefly summarize the mechanisms of uptake for these systems. We then describe commonly used methods to measure total cellular uptake and, more selectively, cytosolic localization, and discuss the major advantages and drawbacks of each method. We critically evaluate methods of measuring "cell penetration" that do not adequately distinguish total cellular uptake and cytosolic localization, which often lead to inaccurate interpretations of a molecule's cytosolic localization. Finally, we summarize the properties and components of each method, including the main caveats of each, to allow for informed decisions about method selection for specific applications. When applied correctly and interpreted carefully, methods for quantifying cytosolic localization offer valuable insight into the bioactivity of biomolecules and potentially the prospects for their eventual development into therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten Deprey
- Department of Chemistry, Tufts University, 62 Talbot Avenue, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Lukas Becker
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Joshua Kritzer
- Department of Chemistry, Tufts University, 62 Talbot Avenue, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Andreas Plückthun
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
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27
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Jones S, Osman S, Howl J. The planarian Schmidtea mediterranea as a model system for the discovery and characterization of cell-penetrating peptides and bioportides. Chem Biol Drug Des 2019; 93:1036-1049. [PMID: 30790457 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2018] [Revised: 12/13/2018] [Accepted: 12/27/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
The general utility of the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea, an organism with remarkable regenerative capacity, was investigated as a convenient three-dimensional model to analyse the import of cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) and bioportides (bioactive CPPs) into complex tissues. The unpigmented planarian blastema, 3 days post head amputation, is a robust platform to assess the penetration of red-fluorescent CPPs into epithelial cells and deeper tissues. Three planarian proteins, Ovo, ZicA and Djeya, which collectively control head remodelling and eye regeneration following decapitation, are a convenient source of novel cationic CPP vectors. One example, Djeya1 (RKLAFRYRRIKELYNSYR), is a particularly efficient and seemingly inert CPP vector that could be further developed to assist the delivery of bioactive payloads across the plasma membrane of eukaryotic cells. Eye regeneration, following head amputation, was utilized in an effort to identify bioportides capable of influencing stem cell-dependent morphogenesis. These investigations identified the tetradecapeptide mastoparan (INLKALAALAKKIL) as a bioportide able to influence the gross morphology of head development. We conclude that, compared with cellular monolayers, the S. mediterranea system provides many advantages and will support the identification of bioportides able to selectively modify the biology of totipotent neoblasts and, presumably, other mammalian stem cell types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Jones
- Molecular Pharmacology Group, Research Institute in Healthcare Science, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK
| | - Shaimaa Osman
- Peptide Chemistry Department, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt
| | - John Howl
- Molecular Pharmacology Group, Research Institute in Healthcare Science, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK
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28
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Wissner R, Steinauer A, Knox SL, Thompson AD, Schepartz A. Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy Reveals Efficient Cytosolic Delivery of Protein Cargo by Cell-Permeant Miniature Proteins. ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE 2018; 4:1379-1393. [PMID: 30410976 PMCID: PMC6202653 DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.8b00446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2018] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
New methods for delivering proteins into the cytosol of mammalian cells are being reported at a rapid pace. Differentiating between these methods in a quantitative manner is difficult, however, as most assays for evaluating cytosolic protein delivery are qualitative and indirect and thus often misleading. Here we make use of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) to determine with precision and accuracy the relative efficiencies with which seven different previously reported "cell-penetrating peptides" (CPPs) transport a model protein cargo-the self-labeling enzyme SNAP-tag-beyond endosomal membranes and into the cytosol. Using FCS, we discovered that the miniature protein ZF5.3 is an exceptional vehicle for delivering SNAP-tag to the cytosol. When delivered by ZF5.3, SNAP-tag can achieve a cytosolic concentration as high as 250 nM, generally at least 2-fold and as much as 6-fold higher than any other CPP evaluated. Additionally, we show that ZF5.3 can be fused to a second enzyme cargo-the engineered peroxidase APEX2-and reliably delivers the active enzyme to the cell interior. As FCS allows one to realistically assess the relative merits of protein transduction domains, we anticipate that it will greatly accelerate the identification, evaluation, and optimization of strategies to deliver large, intact proteins to intracellular locales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca
F. Wissner
- Department
of Chemistry, and Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental
Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Angela Steinauer
- Department
of Chemistry, and Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental
Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Susan L. Knox
- Department
of Chemistry, and Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental
Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Alexander D. Thompson
- Department
of Chemistry, and Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental
Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Alanna Schepartz
- Department
of Chemistry, and Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental
Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
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29
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Brock DJ, Kustigian L, Jiang M, Graham K, Wang TY, Erazo-Oliveras A, Najjar K, Zhang J, Rye H, Pellois JP. Efficient cell delivery mediated by lipid-specific endosomal escape of supercharged branched peptides. Traffic 2018; 19:421-435. [PMID: 29582528 DOI: 10.1111/tra.12566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2017] [Revised: 03/14/2018] [Accepted: 03/15/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Various densely charged polycationic species, whether of biological or synthetic origin, can penetrate human cells, albeit with variable efficiencies. The molecular underpinnings involved in such transport remain unclear. Herein, we assemble 1, 2 or 3 copies of the HIV peptide TAT on a synthetic scaffold to generate branched cell-permeable prototypes with increasing charge density. We establish that increasing TAT copies dramatically increases the cell penetration efficiency of the peptides while simultaneously enabling the efficient cytosolic delivery of macromolecular cargos. Cellular entry involves the leaky fusion of late endosomal membranes enriched with the anionic lipid BMP. Derivatives with multiple TAT branches induce the leakage of BMP-containing lipid bilayers, liposomal flocculation, fusion and an increase in lamellarity. In contrast, while the monomeric counterpart 1TAT binds to the same extent and causes liposomal flocculation, 1TAT does not cause leakage, induce fusion or a significant increase in lamellarity. Overall, these results indicate that an increase in charge density of these branched structures leads to the emergence of lipid specific membrane-disrupting and cell-penetrating activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dakota J Brock
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
| | - Lauren Kustigian
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
| | - Mengqiu Jiang
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
| | - Kristin Graham
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
| | - Ting-Yi Wang
- Department of Biological Statistics and Computational Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
| | | | - Kristina Najjar
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
| | - Junjie Zhang
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
| | - Hays Rye
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
| | - Jean-Philippe Pellois
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.,Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
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30
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A High-Throughput Synthetic Platform Enables the Discovery of Proteomimetic Cell Penetrating Peptides and Bioportides. Int J Pept Res Ther 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s10989-018-9681-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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31
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Bournaud C, Gillet FX, Murad AM, Bresso E, Albuquerque EVS, Grossi-de-Sá MF. Meloidogyne incognita PASSE-MURAILLE (MiPM) Gene Encodes a Cell-Penetrating Protein That Interacts With the CSN5 Subunit of the COP9 Signalosome. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2018; 9:904. [PMID: 29997646 PMCID: PMC6029430 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2018.00904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2018] [Accepted: 06/07/2018] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
The pathogenicity of phytonematodes relies on secreted virulence factors to rewire host cellular pathways for the benefits of the nematode. In the root-knot nematode (RKN) Meloidogyne incognita, thousands of predicted secreted proteins have been identified and are expected to interact with host proteins at different developmental stages of the parasite. Identifying the host targets will provide compelling evidence about the biological significance and molecular function of the predicted proteins. Here, we have focused on the hub protein CSN5, the fifth subunit of the pleiotropic and eukaryotic conserved COP9 signalosome (CSN), which is a regulatory component of the ubiquitin/proteasome system. We used affinity purification-mass spectrometry (AP-MS) to generate the interaction network of CSN5 in M. incognita-infected roots. We identified the complete CSN complex and other known CSN5 interaction partners in addition to unknown plant and M. incognita proteins. Among these, we described M. incognita PASSE-MURAILLE (MiPM), a small pioneer protein predicted to contain a secretory peptide that is up-regulated mostly in the J2 parasitic stage. We confirmed the CSN5-MiPM interaction, which occurs in the nucleus, by bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC). Using MiPM as bait, a GST pull-down assay coupled with MS revealed some common protein partners between CSN5 and MiPM. We further showed by in silico and microscopic analyses that the recombinant purified MiPM protein enters the cells of Arabidopsis root tips in a non-infectious context. In further detail, the supercharged N-terminal tail of MiPM (NTT-MiPM) triggers an unknown host endocytosis pathway to penetrate the cell. The functional meaning of the CSN5-MiPM interaction in the M. incognita parasitism is discussed. Moreover, we propose that the cell-penetrating properties of some M. incognita secreted proteins might be a non-negligible mechanism for cell uptake, especially during the steps preceding the sedentary parasitic phase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Bournaud
- Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Brasília, Brazil
- *Correspondence: Caroline Bournaud
| | | | - André M. Murad
- Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Brasília, Brazil
| | - Emmanuel Bresso
- Université de Lorraine, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Inria, Laboratoire Lorrain de Recherche en Informatique et ses Applications, Nancy, France
| | | | - Maria F. Grossi-de-Sá
- Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Brasília, Brazil
- Post-Graduation Program in Genomic Science and Biotechnology, Universidade Católica de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil
- Maria F. Grossi-de-Sá
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32
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Broadly neutralizing antiviral responses induced by a single-molecule HPV vaccine based on thermostable thioredoxin-L2 multiepitope nanoparticles. Sci Rep 2017; 7:18000. [PMID: 29269879 PMCID: PMC5740060 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-18177-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2017] [Accepted: 12/04/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Vaccines targeting the human papillomavirus (HPV) minor capsid protein L2 are emerging as chemico-physically robust and broadly protective alternatives to the current HPV (L1-VLP) vaccines. We have previously developed a trivalent L2 vaccine prototype exploiting Pyrococcus furiosus thioredoxin (PfTrx) as a thermostable scaffold for the separate presentation of three distinct HPV L2(20–38) epitopes. With the aim of achieving a highly immunogenic, yet simpler and more GMP-production affordable formulation, we report here on a novel thermostable nanoparticle vaccine relying on genetic fusion of PfTrx-L2 with the heptamerizing coiled-coil polypeptide OVX313. A prototype HPV16 monoepitope version of this nanoparticle vaccine (PfTrx-L2-OVX313; median radius: 8.6 ± 1.0 nm) proved to be approximately 10-fold more immunogenic and with a strikingly enhanced cross-neutralization capacity compared to its monomeric counterpart. Vaccine-induced (cross-)neutralizing responses were further potentiated in a multiepitope derivative displaying eight different L2(20–38) epitopes, which elicited neutralizing antibodies against 10 different HPVs including three viral types not represented in the vaccine. Considering the prospective safety of the PfTrx scaffold and of the OVX313 heptamerization module, PfTrx-OVX313 nanoparticles lend themselves as robust L2-based immunogens with a high translational potential as a 3rd generation HPV vaccine, but also as a novel and extremely versatile peptide-antigen presentation platform.
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33
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Motevalli F, Bolhassani A, Hesami S, Shahbazi S. Supercharged green fluorescent protein delivers HPV16E7 DNA and protein into mammalian cells in vitro and in vivo. Immunol Lett 2017; 194:29-39. [PMID: 29273425 DOI: 10.1016/j.imlet.2017.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2017] [Revised: 12/15/2017] [Accepted: 12/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Macromolecules including DNA and proteins serve as important human therapeutics but are limited by their general inability to cross cell membranes. Supercharged proteins have been known as potent tools for delivery of macromolecules into mammalian cells. Thus, the use of these delivery systems is important to reduce the human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated malignancies through improvement of vaccine modalities. In this study, we used a supercharged green fluorescent protein (+36 GFP) for delivery of the full-length HPV16 E7 DNA and protein into mammalian cells and evaluated immune responses, and protective/therapeutic effects of different formulations in C57BL/6 tumor mice model. Our results showed that the complexes of E7 DNA/+36 GFP and also E7 protein/+36 GFP form stable nanoparticles through non-covalent binding with an average size of ∼ 200-300 nm. The efficient delivery of E7 DNA or protein by +36 GFP was detected in HEK-293T cell line for 4 h and 24 h post-transfection. Mice immunization with E7 protein/+36 GFP nanoparticles elicited a higher Th1 cellular immune response with the predominant IgG2a and IFN-γ levels than those induced by E7 protein, E7 DNA, E7 DNA/+36 GFP and control groups (p < .05). Moreover, the E7 DNA/+36 GFP and E7 protein/+36 GFP nanoparticles similarly protected mice against TC-1 tumor challenge (∼67%) as compared to E7 DNA and E7 protein (∼33%), respectively. These data suggest that +36 GFP may provide a promising platform to improve protein and DNA delivery in vitro and in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fatemeh Motevalli
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Azam Bolhassani
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
| | - Shilan Hesami
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Sepideh Shahbazi
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
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34
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Abstract
Over the past two decades, hundreds of new somatic mutations have been identified in tumours, and a few dozen novel cancer therapeutics that selectively target these mutated oncoproteins have entered clinical practice. This development has resulted in clinical breakthroughs for a few tumour types, but more commonly patients' overall survival has not improved because of the development of drug resistance. Furthermore, only a very limited number of oncoproteins, largely protein kinases, are successfully targeted, whereas most non-kinase oncoproteins inside cancer cells remain untargeted. Engineered small protein inhibitors offer great promise in targeting a larger variety of oncoproteins with better efficacy and higher selectivity. In this article, I focus on a promising class of synthetic binding proteins, termed monobodies, that we have shown to inhibit previously untargetable protein-protein interactions in different oncoproteins. I will discuss the great promise alongside the technical challenges inherent in converting monobodies from potent pre-clinical target validation tools to next-generation protein-based therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oliver Hantschel
- Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC), School of Life Sciences, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
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35
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Moretti R, Lyskov S, Das R, Meiler J, Gray JJ. Web-accessible molecular modeling with Rosetta: The Rosetta Online Server that Includes Everyone (ROSIE). Protein Sci 2017; 27:259-268. [PMID: 28960691 DOI: 10.1002/pro.3313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2017] [Revised: 09/21/2017] [Accepted: 09/25/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The Rosetta molecular modeling software package provides a large number of experimentally validated tools for modeling and designing proteins, nucleic acids, and other biopolymers, with new protocols being added continually. While freely available to academic users, external usage is limited by the need for expertise in the Unix command line environment. To make Rosetta protocols available to a wider audience, we previously created a web server called Rosetta Online Server that Includes Everyone (ROSIE), which provides a common environment for hosting web-accessible Rosetta protocols. Here we describe a simplification of the ROSIE protocol specification format, one that permits easier implementation of Rosetta protocols. Whereas the previous format required creating multiple separate files in different locations, the new format allows specification of the protocol in a single file. This new, simplified protocol specification has more than doubled the number of Rosetta protocols available under ROSIE. These new applications include pKa determination, lipid accessibility calculation, ribonucleic acid redesign, protein-protein docking, protein-small molecule docking, symmetric docking, antibody docking, cyclic toxin docking, critical binding peptide determination, and mapping small molecule binding sites. ROSIE is freely available to academic users at http://rosie.rosettacommons.org.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rocco Moretti
- Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Sergey Lyskov
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Rhiju Das
- Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California.,Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California
| | - Jens Meiler
- Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Jeffrey J Gray
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.,Program in Molecular Biophysics, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
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36
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Bruce VJ, McNaughton BR. Inside Job: Methods for Delivering Proteins to the Interior of Mammalian Cells. Cell Chem Biol 2017; 24:924-934. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2017.06.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2017] [Revised: 06/19/2017] [Accepted: 06/27/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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37
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Zhang X, Wu S, Naccarato T, Prakash-Damani M, Chou Y, Chu CQ, Zhu Y. Regeneration of hyaline-like cartilage in situ with SOX9 stimulation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0180138. [PMID: 28666028 PMCID: PMC5493350 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2017] [Accepted: 06/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Microfracture, a common procedure for treatment of cartilage injury, induces fibrocartilage repair by recruiting bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) to the site of cartilage injury. However, fibrocartilage is inferior biomechanically to hyaline cartilage. SRY-type high-mobility group box-9 (SOX9) is a master regulator of chondrogenesis by promoting proliferation and differentiation of MSC into chondrocytes. In this study we aimed to test the therapeutic potential of cell penetrating recombinant SOX9 protein in regeneration of hyaline cartilage in situ at the site of cartilage injury. We generated a recombinant SOX9 protein which was fused with super positively charged green fluorescence protein (GFP) (scSOX9) to facilitate cell penetration. scSOX9 was able to induce chondrogenesis of bone marrow derived MSC in vitro. In a rabbit cartilage injury model, scSOX9 in combination with microfracture significantly improved quality of repaired cartilage as shown by macroscopic appearance. Histological analysis revealed that the reparative tissue induced by microfracture with scSOX9 had features of hyaline cartilage; and collagen type II to type I ratio was similar to that in normal cartilage. This short term in vivo study demonstrated that when administered at the site of microfracture, scSOX9 was able to induce reparative tissue with features of hyaline cartilage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaowei Zhang
- Division of Arthritis and Rheumatic Disease, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States of America
- Section of Rheumatology, VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR, United States of America
| | - Shili Wu
- VivoScript, Inc, Costa Mesa, CA, United States of America
| | - Ty Naccarato
- VivoScript, Inc, Costa Mesa, CA, United States of America
| | | | - Yuan Chou
- Division of Arthritis and Rheumatic Disease, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States of America
- Section of Rheumatology, VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR, United States of America
| | - Cong-Qiu Chu
- Division of Arthritis and Rheumatic Disease, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States of America
- Section of Rheumatology, VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR, United States of America
- * E-mail: (CQC); (YZ)
| | - Yong Zhu
- VivoScript, Inc, Costa Mesa, CA, United States of America
- * E-mail: (CQC); (YZ)
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38
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Bolhassani A, Jafarzade BS, Mardani G. In vitro and in vivo delivery of therapeutic proteins using cell penetrating peptides. Peptides 2017; 87:50-63. [PMID: 27887988 DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2016.11.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 150] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2016] [Revised: 11/18/2016] [Accepted: 11/21/2016] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The failure of proteins to penetrate mammalian cells or target tumor cells restricts their value as therapeutic tools in a variety of diseases such as cancers. Recently, protein transduction domains (PTDs) or cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) have been shown to promote the delivery of therapeutic proteins or peptides into live cells. The successful delivery of proteins mainly depends on their physicochemical properties. Although, linear cell penetrating peptides are one of the most effective delivery vehicles; but currently, cyclic CPPs has been developed to potently transport bioactive full-length proteins into cells. Up to now, several small protein transduction domains from viral proteins including Tat or VP22 could be fused to other peptides or proteins to entry them in various cell types at a dose-dependent approach. A major disadvantage of PTD-fusion proteins is primary uptake into endosomal vesicles leading to inefficient release of the fusion proteins into the cytosol. Recently, non-covalent complex formation (Chariot) between proteins and CPPs has attracted a special interest to overcome some delivery limitations (e.g., toxicity). Many preclinical and clinical trials of CPP-based delivery are currently under evaluation. Generally, development of more efficient protein transduction domains would significantly increase the potency of protein therapeutics. Moreover, the synergistic or combined effects of CPPs with other delivery systems for protein/peptide drug delivery would promote their therapeutic effects in cancer and other diseases. In this review, we will describe the functions and implications of CPPs for delivering the therapeutic proteins or peptides in preclinical and clinical studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Azam Bolhassani
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
| | | | - Golnaz Mardani
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
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39
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Li T, Vandesquille M, Koukouli F, Dudeffant C, Youssef I, Lenormand P, Ganneau C, Maskos U, Czech C, Grueninger F, Duyckaerts C, Dhenain M, Bay S, Delatour B, Lafaye P. Camelid single-domain antibodies: A versatile tool for in vivo imaging of extracellular and intracellular brain targets. J Control Release 2016; 243:1-10. [PMID: 27671875 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2016.09.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2016] [Revised: 09/09/2016] [Accepted: 09/20/2016] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Detection of intracerebral targets with imaging probes is challenging due to the non-permissive nature of blood-brain barrier (BBB). The present work describes two novel single-domain antibodies (VHHs or nanobodies) that specifically recognize extracellular amyloid deposits and intracellular tau neurofibrillary tangles, the two core lesions of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Following intravenous administration in transgenic mouse models of AD, in vivo real-time two-photon microscopy showed gradual extravasation of the VHHs across the BBB, diffusion in the parenchyma and labeling of amyloid deposits and neurofibrillary tangles. Our results demonstrate that VHHs can be used as specific BBB-permeable probes for both extracellular and intracellular brain targets and suggest new avenues for therapeutic and diagnostic applications in neurology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tengfei Li
- Institut Pasteur, CITECH, Plateforme d'Ingénierie des Anticorps, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France; Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ. Paris 06 UMR S 1127, F-75013 Paris, France; Inserm U 1127, Paris, France; CNRS UMR 7225, Paris, France; ICM, Paris, France; Université Paris Descartes, Paris 5, France
| | - Matthias Vandesquille
- Institut Pasteur, Unité de Chimie des Biomolécules, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France; CNRS UMR 3523, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France; Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), Direction de la Recherche Fondamentale (DRF), Institut d'Imagerie Biomédicale (I2BM), MIRCen, F-92260 Fontenay-aux-Roses, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay UMR 9199, Neurodegenerative Diseases Laboratory, F-92260 Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
| | - Fani Koukouli
- Institut Pasteur, Neurobiologie intégrative des systèmes cholinergiques, CNRS UMR 3571, Paris, France
| | - Clémence Dudeffant
- Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ. Paris 06 UMR S 1127, F-75013 Paris, France; Inserm U 1127, Paris, France; CNRS UMR 7225, Paris, France; ICM, Paris, France; Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), Direction de la Recherche Fondamentale (DRF), Institut d'Imagerie Biomédicale (I2BM), MIRCen, F-92260 Fontenay-aux-Roses, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay UMR 9199, Neurodegenerative Diseases Laboratory, F-92260 Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
| | - Ihsen Youssef
- Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ. Paris 06 UMR S 1127, F-75013 Paris, France; Inserm U 1127, Paris, France; CNRS UMR 7225, Paris, France; ICM, Paris, France
| | - Pascal Lenormand
- Institut Pasteur, CITECH, Plateforme d'Ingénierie des Anticorps, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France
| | - Christelle Ganneau
- Institut Pasteur, Unité de Chimie des Biomolécules, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France; CNRS UMR 3523, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France
| | - Uwe Maskos
- Institut Pasteur, Neurobiologie intégrative des systèmes cholinergiques, CNRS UMR 3571, Paris, France
| | - Christian Czech
- F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development, NORD DTA, Roche Innovation Center Basel, CH-4070 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Fiona Grueninger
- F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development, NORD DTA, Roche Innovation Center Basel, CH-4070 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Charles Duyckaerts
- Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ. Paris 06 UMR S 1127, F-75013 Paris, France; Inserm U 1127, Paris, France; CNRS UMR 7225, Paris, France; ICM, Paris, France
| | - Marc Dhenain
- Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), Direction de la Recherche Fondamentale (DRF), Institut d'Imagerie Biomédicale (I2BM), MIRCen, F-92260 Fontenay-aux-Roses, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay UMR 9199, Neurodegenerative Diseases Laboratory, F-92260 Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
| | - Sylvie Bay
- Institut Pasteur, Unité de Chimie des Biomolécules, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France; CNRS UMR 3523, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France
| | - Benoît Delatour
- Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ. Paris 06 UMR S 1127, F-75013 Paris, France; Inserm U 1127, Paris, France; CNRS UMR 7225, Paris, France; ICM, Paris, France
| | - Pierre Lafaye
- Institut Pasteur, CITECH, Plateforme d'Ingénierie des Anticorps, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France.
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40
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Traxlmayr MW, Kiefer JD, Srinivas RR, Lobner E, Tisdale AW, Mehta NK, Yang NJ, Tidor B, Wittrup KD. Strong Enrichment of Aromatic Residues in Binding Sites from a Charge-neutralized Hyperthermostable Sso7d Scaffold Library. J Biol Chem 2016; 291:22496-22508. [PMID: 27582495 PMCID: PMC5077188 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m116.741314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2016] [Revised: 08/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
The Sso7d protein from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus is an attractive binding scaffold because of its small size (7 kDa), high thermal stability (Tm of 98 °C), and absence of cysteines and glycosylation sites. However, as a DNA-binding protein, Sso7d is highly positively charged, introducing a strong specificity constraint for binding epitopes and leading to nonspecific interaction with mammalian cell membranes. In the present study, we report charge-neutralized variants of Sso7d that maintain high thermal stability. Yeast-displayed libraries that were based on this reduced charge Sso7d (rcSso7d) scaffold yielded binders with low nanomolar affinities against mouse serum albumin and several epitopes on human epidermal growth factor receptor. Importantly, starting from a charge-neutralized scaffold facilitated evolutionary adaptation of binders to differentially charged epitopes on mouse serum albumin and human epidermal growth factor receptor, respectively. Interestingly, the distribution of amino acids in the small and rigid binding surface of enriched rcSso7d-based binders is very different from that generally found in more flexible antibody complementarity-determining region loops but resembles the composition of antibody-binding energetic hot spots. Particularly striking was a strong enrichment of the aromatic residues Trp, Tyr, and Phe in rcSso7d-based binders. This suggests that the rigidity and small size of this scaffold determines the unusual amino acid composition of its binding sites, mimicking the energetic core of antibody paratopes. Despite the high frequency of aromatic residues, these rcSso7d-based binders are highly expressed, thermostable, and monomeric, suggesting that the hyperstability of the starting scaffold and the rigidness of the binding surface confer a high tolerance to mutation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael W Traxlmayr
- From the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and .,Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 and
| | | | | | - Elisabeth Lobner
- Department of Chemistry, Division of Biochemistry, BOKU-University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - Alison W Tisdale
- From the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and.,Departments of Biological Engineering and
| | - Naveen K Mehta
- From the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and.,Departments of Biological Engineering and
| | - Nicole J Yang
- From the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and.,Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 and
| | | | - K Dane Wittrup
- From the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and .,Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 and.,Departments of Biological Engineering and
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41
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Crawford DW, Blakeley BD, Chen PH, Sherpa C, Le Grice SF, Laird-Offringa IA, McNaughton BR. An Evolved RNA Recognition Motif That Suppresses HIV-1 Tat/TAR-Dependent Transcription. ACS Chem Biol 2016; 11:2206-15. [PMID: 27253715 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.6b00145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Potent and selective recognition and modulation of disease-relevant RNAs remain a daunting challenge. We previously examined the utility of the U1A N-terminal RNA recognition motif as a scaffold for tailoring new RNA hairpin recognition and showed that as few as one or two mutations can result in moderate affinity (low μM dissociation constant) for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) trans-activation response element (TAR) RNA, an RNA hairpin controlling transcription of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) genome. Here, we use yeast display and saturation mutagenesis of established RNA-binding regions in U1A to identify new synthetic proteins that potently and selectively bind TAR RNA. Our best candidate has truly altered, not simply broadened, RNA-binding selectivity; it binds TAR with subnanomolar affinity (apparent dissociation constant of ∼0.5 nM) but does not appreciably bind the original U1A RNA target (U1hpII). It specifically recognizes the TAR RNA hairpin in the context of the HIV-1 5'-untranslated region, inhibits the interaction between TAR RNA and an HIV trans-activator of transcription (Tat)-derived peptide, and suppresses Tat/TAR-dependent transcription. Proteins described in this work are among the tightest TAR RNA-binding reagents-small molecule, nucleic acid, or protein-reported to date and thus have potential utility as therapeutics and basic research tools. Moreover, our findings demonstrate how a naturally occurring RNA recognition motif can be dramatically resurfaced through mutation, leading to potent and selective recognition-and modulation-of disease-relevant RNA.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Po-Han Chen
- Department of Surgery and Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California 90033, United States
| | - Chringma Sherpa
- Basic
Research Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702, United States
| | - Stuart F.J. Le Grice
- Basic
Research Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702, United States
| | - Ite A. Laird-Offringa
- Department of Surgery and Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California 90033, United States
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42
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Bruce VJ, Lopez-Islas M, McNaughton BR. Resurfaced cell-penetrating nanobodies: A potentially general scaffold for intracellularly targeted protein discovery. Protein Sci 2016; 25:1129-37. [PMID: 26991318 DOI: 10.1002/pro.2926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2016] [Accepted: 03/16/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
By virtue of their size, functional group diversity, and complex structure, proteins can often recognize and modulate disease-relevant macromolecules that present a challenge to small-molecule reagents. Additionally, high-throughput screening and evolution-based methods often make the discovery of new protein binders simpler than the analogous small-molecule discovery process. However, most proteins do not cross the lipid bilayer membrane of mammalian cells. This largely limits the scope of protein therapeutics and basic research tools to those targeting disease-relevant receptors on the cell surface or extracellular matrix. Previously, researchers have shown that cationic resurfacing of proteins can endow cell penetration. However, in our experience, many proteins are not amenable to such extensive mutagenesis. Here, we report that nanobodies-a small and stable protein that can be evolved to recognize virtually any disease-relevant receptor-are amenable to cationic resurfacing, which results in cell internalization. Once internalized, these nanobodies access the cytosol. Polycationic resurfacing does not appreciably alter the structure, expression, and function (target recognition) of a previously reported GFP-binding nanobody, and multiple nanobody scaffolds are amenable to polycationic resurfacing. Given this, we propose that polycationic resurfaced cell-penetrating nanobodies might represent a general scaffold for intracellularly targeted protein drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virginia J Bruce
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80523
| | - Monica Lopez-Islas
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80523
| | - Brian R McNaughton
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80523.,Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80523
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43
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Corbi-Verge C, Kim PM. Motif mediated protein-protein interactions as drug targets. Cell Commun Signal 2016; 14:8. [PMID: 26936767 PMCID: PMC4776425 DOI: 10.1186/s12964-016-0131-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2015] [Accepted: 02/25/2016] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein-protein interactions (PPI) are involved in virtually every cellular process and thus represent an attractive target for therapeutic interventions. A significant number of protein interactions are frequently formed between globular domains and short linear peptide motifs (DMI). Targeting these DMIs has proven challenging and classical approaches to inhibiting such interactions with small molecules have had limited success. However, recent new approaches have led to the discovery of potent inhibitors, some of them, such as Obatoclax, ABT-199, AEG-40826 and SAH-p53-8 are likely to become approved drugs. These novel inhibitors belong to a wide range of different molecule classes, ranging from small molecules to peptidomimetics and biologicals. This article reviews the main reasons for limited success in targeting PPIs, discusses how successful approaches overcome these obstacles to discovery promising inhibitors for human protein double minute 2 (HDM2), B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP), and provides a summary of the promising approaches currently in development that indicate the future potential of PPI inhibitors in drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carles Corbi-Verge
- Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3E1, Canada.
| | - Philip M Kim
- Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3E1, Canada.
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3E1, Canada.
- Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3E1, Canada.
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44
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Emerging landscape of cell penetrating peptide in reprogramming and gene editing. J Control Release 2016; 226:124-37. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2016.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2015] [Revised: 01/31/2016] [Accepted: 02/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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45
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Highly efficient delivery of functional cargoes by the synergistic effect of GAG binding motifs and cell-penetrating peptides. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016; 113:E291-9. [PMID: 26733682 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1518634113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Protein transduction domains (PTDs) are powerful nongenetic tools that allow intracellular delivery of conjugated cargoes to modify cell behavior. Their use in biomedicine has been hampered by inefficient delivery to nuclear and cytoplasmic targets. Here we overcame this deficiency by developing a series of novel fusion proteins that couple a membrane-docking peptide to heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) with a PTD. We showed that this GET (GAG-binding enhanced transduction) system could deliver enzymes (Cre, neomycin phosphotransferase), transcription factors (NANOG, MYOD), antibodies, native proteins (cytochrome C), magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), and nucleic acids [plasmid (p)DNA, modified (mod)RNA, and small inhibitory RNA] at efficiencies of up to two orders of magnitude higher than previously reported in cell types considered hard to transduce, such as mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs), human ESCs (hESCs), and induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). This technology represents an efficient strategy for controlling cell labeling and directing cell fate or behavior that has broad applicability for basic research, disease modeling, and clinical application.
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46
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Liu Z, Lei C, Deng H, Lu G, Huang Y, Yao S. Sensitive and versatile fluorescent enzymatic assay of nucleases and DNA methyltransferase based on a supercharged fluorescent protein. RSC Adv 2016. [DOI: 10.1039/c6ra02711c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The ScGFP-based platform takes advantage of the DNA length-dependent binding affinity between ScGFP and DNA for multiple DNA enzyme detection including nucleases and DNA MTase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhuoliang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
- Hunan University
- Changsha
- P. R. China
| | - Chunyang Lei
- State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
- Hunan University
- Changsha
- P. R. China
| | - Honghua Deng
- State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
- Hunan University
- Changsha
- P. R. China
| | - Guoyan Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
- Hunan University
- Changsha
- P. R. China
| | - Yan Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
- Hunan University
- Changsha
- P. R. China
| | - Shouzhuo Yao
- State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
- Hunan University
- Changsha
- P. R. China
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47
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Semple F, MacPherson H, Webb S, Kilanowski F, Lettice L, McGlasson SL, Wheeler AP, Chen V, Millhauser GL, Melrose L, Davidson DJ, Dorin JR. Human β-Defensin 3 [corrected] Exacerbates MDA5 but Suppresses TLR3 Responses to the Viral Molecular Pattern Mimic Polyinosinic:Polycytidylic Acid. PLoS Genet 2015; 11:e1005673. [PMID: 26646717 PMCID: PMC4672878 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1005673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2015] [Accepted: 10/26/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Human β-defensin 3 (hBD3) is a cationic host defence peptide and is part of the innate immune response. HBD3 is present on a highly copy number variable block of six β-defensin genes, and increased copy number is associated with the autoimmune disease psoriasis. It is not known how this increase influences disease development, but psoriasis is a T cell-mediated disease and activation of the innate immune system is required for the initial trigger that leads to the amplification stage. We investigated the effect of hBD3 on the response of primary macrophages to various TLR agonists. HBD3 exacerbated the production of type I Interferon-β in response to the viral ligand mimic polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (polyI:C) in both human and mouse primary cells, although production of the chemokine CXCL10 was suppressed. Compared to polyI:C alone, mice injected with both hBD3 peptide and polyI:C also showed an enhanced increase in Interferon-β. Mice expressing a transgene encoding hBD3 had elevated basal levels of Interferon-β, and challenge with polyI:C further increased this response. HBD3 peptide increased uptake of polyI:C by macrophages, however the cellular response and localisation of polyI:C in cells treated contemporaneously with hBD3 or cationic liposome differed. Immunohistochemistry showed that hBD3 and polyI:C do not co-localise, but in the presence of hBD3 less polyI:C localises to the early endosome. Using bone marrow derived macrophages from knockout mice we demonstrate that hBD3 suppresses the polyI:C-induced TLR3 response mediated by TICAM1 (TRIF), while exacerbating the cytoplasmic response through MDA5 (IFIH1) and MAVS (IPS1/CARDIF). Thus, hBD3, a highly copy number variable gene in human, influences cellular responses to the viral mimic polyI:C implying that copy number may have a significant phenotypic effect on the response to viral infection and development of autoimmunity in humans. Defensins are classically known as antimicrobial peptides due to their ability to rapidly kill pathogens including bacteria, viruses and fungi. They are produced in the presence of infectious agents at body surfaces exposed to the environment. Increasingly, their functional repertoire is expanding, and they have been shown to modulate the immune system. In humans, there is a block of six β-defensin genes that varies in copy number in the population. Individuals with an increased number of β-defensin genes have an increased likelihood of developing the skin autoimmune disease psoriasis. It is not known how this increase in gene copy number influences development of the disease, and psoriasis is a complex interplay of genomic and environmental factors that trigger disease progression and include exposure to viruses. We examined whether a molecular pattern characteristic of viruses produces an altered immune response in the presence of the defensin human β-defensin 3 (hBD3). We find that hBD3 triggers a larger interferon defence response to this viral mimic by increasing accessibility to a cellular receptor that recognises viral patterns. Interferon is known to be important in autoimmunity and our work may explain why individuals with increased β-defensin number are predisposed to develop psoriasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fiona Semple
- MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, University of Edinburgh, Queen’s Medical Research Institute (QMRI), Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine (IGMM), University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Heather MacPherson
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine (IGMM), University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Sheila Webb
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine (IGMM), University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Fiona Kilanowski
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine (IGMM), University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Laura Lettice
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine (IGMM), University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Sarah L. McGlasson
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine (IGMM), University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Ann P. Wheeler
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine (IGMM), University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Valerie Chen
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America
| | - Glenn L. Millhauser
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America
| | - Lauren Melrose
- MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, University of Edinburgh, Queen’s Medical Research Institute (QMRI), Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Donald J. Davidson
- MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, University of Edinburgh, Queen’s Medical Research Institute (QMRI), Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Julia R. Dorin
- MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, University of Edinburgh, Queen’s Medical Research Institute (QMRI), Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine (IGMM), University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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48
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Saghatelian A, Couso JP. Discovery and characterization of smORF-encoded bioactive polypeptides. Nat Chem Biol 2015; 11:909-16. [PMID: 26575237 PMCID: PMC4956473 DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.1964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 184] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2015] [Accepted: 10/19/2015] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Analysis of genomes, transcriptomes and proteomes reveals the existence of hundreds to thousands of translated, yet non-annotated, short open reading frames (small ORFs or smORFs). The discovery of smORFs and their protein products, smORF-encoded polypeptides (SEPs), points to a fundamental gap in our knowledge of protein-coding genes. Various studies have identified central roles for smORFs in metabolism, apoptosis and development. The discovery of these bioactive SEPs emphasizes the functional potential of this unexplored class of biomolecules. Here, we provide an overview of this emerging field and highlight the opportunities for chemical biology to answer fundamental questions about these novel genes. Such studies will provide new insights into the protein-coding potential of genomes and identify functional genes with roles in biology and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan Saghatelian
- Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology, Helmsley Center for Genomic Medicine, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, San Diego, CA 92037
| | - Juan Pablo Couso
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 6PU, UK
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49
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Brodin JD, Sprangers AJ, McMillan JR, Mirkin CA. DNA-Mediated Cellular Delivery of Functional Enzymes. J Am Chem Soc 2015; 137:14838-41. [PMID: 26587747 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b09711] [Citation(s) in RCA: 98] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
We report a strategy for creating a new class of protein transfection materials composed of a functional protein core chemically modified with a dense shell of oligonucleotides. These materials retain the native structure and catalytic ability of the hydrolytic enzyme β-galactosidase, which serves as the protein core, despite the functionalization of its surface with ∼25 DNA strands. The covalent attachment of a shell of oligonucleotides to the surface of β-galactosidase enhances its cellular uptake of by up to ∼280-fold and allows for the use of working concentrations as low as 100 pM enzyme. DNA-functionalized β-galactosidase retains its ability to catalyze the hydrolysis of β-glycosidic linkages once endocytosed, whereas equal concentrations of protein show little to no intracellular catalytic activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey D Brodin
- International Institute of Nanotechnology, ‡Department of Chemistry, and §Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University , 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
| | - Anthony J Sprangers
- International Institute of Nanotechnology, ‡Department of Chemistry, and §Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University , 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
| | - Janet R McMillan
- International Institute of Nanotechnology, ‡Department of Chemistry, and §Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University , 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
| | - Chad A Mirkin
- International Institute of Nanotechnology, ‡Department of Chemistry, and §Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University , 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
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50
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Quantitative assessment of cellular uptake and cytosolic access of antibody in living cells by an enhanced split GFP complementation assay. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2015; 467:771-7. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2015.10.066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2015] [Accepted: 10/12/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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