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Hua C, Qiu L. Polymersomes for Therapeutic Protein and Peptide Delivery: Towards Better Loading Properties. Int J Nanomedicine 2024; 19:2317-2340. [PMID: 38476284 PMCID: PMC10929215 DOI: 10.2147/ijn.s444910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Therapeutics based on proteins and peptides have profoundly transformed the landscape of treatment for diseases, from diabetes mellitus to cancers, yet the short half-life and low bioavailability of therapeutic proteins and peptides hinder their wide applications. To break through this bottleneck, biomolecules-loaded polymersomes with strong adjustability and versatility have attracted more and more attentions recently. Loading proteins or peptides into polymersomes is the first but extremely important step towards developing high-quality formulation products. However, increasing protein and peptide loading content is quite challenging due to the inherent nature of self-assembled vesicle formation mechanism and physiochemical characteristics of biomacromolecules. This review highlights the potential of polymersomes as the next-generation therapeutic proteins and peptides carrier and emphatically introduces novel approaches and recent progress to achieve satisfactory encapsulation capability of polymersomes for proteins and peptides. On the one hand, with the help of intermolecular interactions, such as electrostatic, lipid-protein, and hydrophobic interactions, the drug loading could be significantly improved. On the other hand, loading improvement could be attained through innovation of preparation methods, ranging from modified traditional film hydration techniques to the novel phase-guided assembly method.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chengxu Hua
- Ministry of Educational (MOE) Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, People’s Republic of China
| | - Liyan Qiu
- Ministry of Educational (MOE) Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, People’s Republic of China
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Kawelah MR, Han S, Atila Dincer C, Jeon J, Brisola J, Hussain AF, Jeevarathinam AS, Bouchard R, Marras AE, Truskett TM, Sokolov KV, Johnston KP. Antibody-Conjugated Polymersomes with Encapsulated Indocyanine Green J-Aggregates and High Near-Infrared Absorption for Molecular Photoacoustic Cancer Imaging. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2024; 16:5598-5612. [PMID: 38270979 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c16584] [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] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Abstract
Imaging plays a critical role in all stages of cancer care from early detection to diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy monitoring. Recently, photoacoustic imaging (PAI) has started to emerge into the clinical realm due to its high sensitivity and ability to penetrate tissues up to several centimeters deep. Herein, we encapsulated indocyanine green J (ICGJ) aggregate, one of the only FDA-approved organic exogenous contrast agents that absorbs in the near-infrared range, at high loadings up to ∼40% w/w within biodegradable polymersomes (ICGJ-Ps) composed of poly(lactide-co-glycolide-b-polyethylene glycol) (PLGA-b-PEG). The small Ps hydrodynamic diameter of 80 nm is advantageous for in vivo applications, while directional conjugation with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) targeting cetuximab antibodies renders molecular specificity. Even when exposed to serum, the ∼11 nm-thick membrane of the Ps prevents dissociation of the encapsulated ICGJ for at least 48 h with a high ratio of ICGJ to monomeric ICG absorbances (i.e., I895/I780 ratio) of approximately 5.0 that enables generation of a strong NIR photoacoustic (PA) signal. The PA signal of polymersome-labeled breast cancer cells is proportional to the level of cellular EGFR expression, indicating the feasibility of molecular PAI with antibody-conjugated ICGJ-Ps. Furthermore, the labeled cells were successfully detected with PAI in highly turbid tissue-mimicking phantoms up to a depth of 5 mm with the PA signal proportional to the amount of cells. These data show the potential of molecular PAI with ICGJ-Ps for clinical applications such as tumor margin detection, evaluation of lymph nodes for the presence of micrometastasis, and laparoscopic imaging procedures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammed R Kawelah
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Sangheon Han
- Department of Imaging Physics, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Ceren Atila Dincer
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ankara Universit, Ankara 06100, Turkey
| | - Jongyeong Jeon
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Joel Brisola
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Aasim F Hussain
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | | | - Richard Bouchard
- Department of Imaging Physics, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Alexander E Marras
- Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
- Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Thomas M Truskett
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
- Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Konstantin V Sokolov
- Department of Imaging Physics, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Keith P Johnston
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
- Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
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Li J, Tan YS, Verma CS. Dissecting the geometric and hydrophobic constraints of stapled peptides. Proteins 2024. [PMID: 38196284 DOI: 10.1002/prot.26662] [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: 09/20/2023] [Revised: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/11/2024]
Abstract
Stapled peptides are a promising class of molecules with potential as highly specific probes of protein-protein interactions and as therapeutics. Hydrocarbon stapling affects the peptide properties through the interplay of two factors: enhancing the overall hydrophobicity and constraining the conformational flexibility. By constructing a series of virtual peptides, we study the role of each factor in modulating the structural properties of a hydrocarbon-stapled peptide PM2, which has been shown to enter cells, engage its target Mouse Double Minute 2 (MDM2), and activate p53. Hamiltonian replica exchange molecular dynamics (HREMD) simulations suggest that hydrocarbon stapling favors helical populations of PM2 through a combination of the geometric constraints and the enhanced hydrophobicity of the peptide. To further understand the conformational landscape of the stapled peptides along the binding pathway, we performed HREMD simulations by restraining the peptide at different distances from MDM2. When the peptide approaches MDM2, the binding pocket undergoes dehydration which appears to be greater in the presence of the stapled peptide compared with the linear peptide. In the binding pocket, the helicity of the stapled peptide is increased due to the favorable interactions between the peptide residues as well as the staple and the microenvironment of the binding pocket, contributing to enhanced affinity. The dissection of the multifaceted mechanism of hydrocarbon stapling into individual factors not only deepens fundamental understanding of peptide stapling, but also provides guidelines for the design of new stapled peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianguo Li
- Bioinformatics Institute, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore
- Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Yaw Sing Tan
- Bioinformatics Institute, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore
| | - Chandra S Verma
- Bioinformatics Institute, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
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