1
|
Abstract
From the first clinical trial by Dr. W.F. Anderson to the most recent US Food and Drug Administration-approved Luxturna (Spark Therapeutics, 2017) and Zolgensma (Novartis, 2019), gene therapy has revamped thinking and practice around cancer treatment and improved survival rates for adult and pediatric patients with genetic diseases. A major challenge to advancing gene therapies for a broader array of applications lies in safely delivering nucleic acids to their intended sites of action. Peptides offer unique potential to improve nucleic acid delivery based on their versatile and tunable interactions with biomolecules and cells. Cell-penetrating peptides and intracellular targeting peptides have received particular focus due to their promise for improving the delivery of gene therapies into cells. We highlight key examples of peptide-assisted, targeted gene delivery to cancer-specific signatures involved in tumor growth and subcellular organelle-targeting peptides, as well as emerging strategies to enhance peptide stability and bioavailability that will support long-term implementation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sandeep Urandur
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA; ,
| | - Millicent O Sullivan
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA; ,
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Waszczuk L, Ogien J, Perrot JL, Dubois A. Co-localized line-field confocal optical coherence tomography and confocal Raman microspectroscopy for three-dimensional high-resolution morphological and molecular characterization of skin tissues ex vivo. BIOMEDICAL OPTICS EXPRESS 2022; 13:2467-2487. [PMID: 35519243 PMCID: PMC9045904 DOI: 10.1364/boe.450993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Revised: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Line-field confocal optical coherence tomography (LC-OCT) is an optical modality that provides three-dimensional (3D) images of the skin at cellular resolution. Confocal Raman microspectroscopy (CRM) is a label-free optical technique that can provide point measurement of the molecular content of the skin. This work presents a method to co-localize LC-OCT and CRM acquisitions for morpho-molecular analysis of ex vivo skin tissues at cellular level. The co-localization method allows acquisition of Raman spectra at specific locations in a sample identified from a 3D LC-OCT image, with an accuracy of ± 20 µm. The method was applied to the characterization of tattooed skin biopsies with adverse tattoo reactions. LC-OCT images allowed to target specific regions in the biopsies where the presence of tattoo ink was revealed by detection of the Raman signature of ink pigments. Micrometer-sized foreign bodies of various materials as well as inflammatory cells were also identified within the biopsies. From these results, we demonstrate the value of the LC-OCT-CRM co-localization method and its potential for future ex vivo analysis of suspicious skin lesions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Léna Waszczuk
- Université Paris-Saclay, Institut d’Optique Graduate School, CNRS, Laboratoire Charles Fabry, Palaiseau 91127, France
- DAMAE Medical, Paris 75013, France
| | | | - Jean-Luc Perrot
- University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, Department of Dermatology, 42055 Saint-Etienne, France
| | - Arnaud Dubois
- Université Paris-Saclay, Institut d’Optique Graduate School, CNRS, Laboratoire Charles Fabry, Palaiseau 91127, France
- DAMAE Medical, Paris 75013, France
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Cerrato CP, Langel Ü. An update on cell-penetrating peptides with intracellular organelle targeting. Expert Opin Drug Deliv 2022; 19:133-146. [PMID: 35086398 DOI: 10.1080/17425247.2022.2034784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) technologies represent an important strategy to address drug delivery to specific intracellular compartments by covalent conjugation to targeting sequences, potentially enabling strategies to combat most diseases. AREAS COVERED This updated review article provides an overview of current intracellular organelle targeting by CPP. The targeting strategies of CPP and CPP/cargo complexes to specific cells or intracellular organelles are summarized, and the review provides an update on the current data for their pharmacological and therapeutical applications. EXPERT OPINION Targeted drug delivery is moving from the level of tissue or specific pathogenic cell to the level of specific organelle that is the target of the drug, an important aspect in drug design and development. Organelle-targeted drug delivery results in improved efficacy, ability to control mode of action, reduction of undesired toxicities and side effects, and possibility to overcome drug resistance mechanisms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Ülo Langel
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.,Laboratory of Molecular Biotechnology, Institute of Technology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Cell-Penetrating Peptides and Transportan. Pharmaceutics 2021; 13:pharmaceutics13070987. [PMID: 34210007 PMCID: PMC8308968 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics13070987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Revised: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 06/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In the most recent 25–30 years, multiple novel mechanisms and applications of cell-penetrating peptides (CPP) have been demonstrated, leading to novel drug delivery systems. In this review, I present a brief introduction to the CPP area with selected recent achievements. This is followed by a nostalgic journey into the research in my own laboratories, which lead to multiple CPPs, starting from transportan and paving a way to CPP-based therapeutic developments in the delivery of bio-functional materials, such as peptides, proteins, vaccines, oligonucleotides and small molecules, etc.
Collapse
|
5
|
Peier A, Ge L, Boyer N, Frost J, Duggal R, Biswas K, Edmondson S, Hermes JD, Yan L, Zimprich C, Sadruddin A, Kristal Kaan HY, Chandramohan A, Brown CJ, Thean D, Lee XE, Yuen TY, Ferrer-Gago FJ, Johannes CW, Lane DP, Sherborne B, Corona C, Robers MB, Sawyer TK, Partridge AW. NanoClick: A High Throughput, Target-Agnostic Peptide Cell Permeability Assay. ACS Chem Biol 2021; 16:293-309. [PMID: 33539064 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.0c00804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Macrocyclic peptides open new opportunities to target intracellular protein-protein interactions (PPIs) that are often considered nondruggable by traditional small molecules. However, engineering sufficient membrane permeability into these molecules is a central challenge for identifying clinical candidates. Currently, there is a lack of high-throughput assays to assess peptide permeability, which limits our capacity to engineer this property into macrocyclic peptides for advancement through drug discovery pipelines. Accordingly, we developed a high throughput and target-agnostic cell permeability assay that measures the relative cumulative cytosolic exposure of a peptide in a concentration-dependent manner. The assay was named NanoClick as it combines in-cell Click chemistry with an intracellular NanoBRET signal. We validated the approach using known cell penetrating peptides and further demonstrated a correlation to cellular activity using a p53/MDM2 model system. With minimal change to the peptide sequence, NanoClick enables the ability to measure uptake of molecules that enter the cell via different mechanisms such as endocytosis, membrane translocation, or passive permeability. Overall, the NanoClick assay can serve as a screening tool to uncover predictive design rules to guide structure-activity-permeability relationships in the optimization of functionally active molecules.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Peier
- Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey 07033, United States
| | - Lan Ge
- Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey 07033, United States
| | - Nicolas Boyer
- Merck & Co., Inc., Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - John Frost
- Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey 07033, United States
| | - Ruchia Duggal
- Merck & Co., Inc., Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Kaustav Biswas
- Merck & Co., Inc., Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Scott Edmondson
- Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey 07033, United States
| | | | - Lin Yan
- Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey 07033, United States
| | - Chad Zimprich
- Promega Corporation, Madison, Wisconsin 53711, United States
| | | | | | | | - Christopher J. Brown
- Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Singapore 138665, Singapore
| | - Dawn Thean
- Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Singapore 138665, Singapore
| | - Xue Er Lee
- Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Singapore 138665, Singapore
| | - Tsz Ying Yuen
- Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Singapore 138665, Singapore
| | | | - Charles W. Johannes
- Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Singapore 138665, Singapore
| | - David P. Lane
- Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Singapore 138665, Singapore
| | - Brad Sherborne
- Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey 07033, United States
| | - Cesear Corona
- Promega Biosciences Incorporated, San Luis Obispo, California 93401, United States
| | | | - Tomi K. Sawyer
- Merck & Co., Inc., Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | | |
Collapse
|