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Fattahi N, Gorgannezhad L, Masoule SF, Babanejad N, Ramazani A, Raoufi M, Sharifikolouei E, Foroumadi A, Khoobi M. PEI-based functional materials: Fabrication techniques, properties, and biomedical applications. Adv Colloid Interface Sci 2024; 325:103119. [PMID: 38447243 DOI: 10.1016/j.cis.2024.103119] [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: 09/29/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Cationic polymers have recently attracted considerable interest as research breakthroughs for various industrial and biomedical applications. They are particularly interesting due to their highly positive charges, acceptable physicochemical properties, and ability to undergo further modifications, making them attractive candidates for biomedical applications. Polyethyleneimines (PEIs), as the most extensively utilized polymers, are one of the valuable and prominent classes of polycations. Owing to their flexible polymeric chains, broad molecular weight (MW) distribution, and repetitive structural units, their customization for functional composites is more feasible. The specific beneficial attributes of PEIs could be introduced by purposeful functionalization or modification, long service life, biocompatibility, and distinct geometry. Therefore, PEIs have significant potential in biotechnology, medicine, and bioscience. In this review, we present the advances in PEI-based nanomaterials, their transfection efficiency, and their toxicity over the past few years. Furthermore, the potential and suitability of PEIs for various applications are highlighted and discussed in detail. This review aims to inspire readers to investigate innovative approaches for the design and development of next-generation PEI-based nanomaterials possessing cutting-edge functionalities and appealing characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadia Fattahi
- Drug Design and Development Research Center, The Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (TIPS), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1417614411, Iran; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Zanjan, Zanjan 45371-38791, Iran
| | - Lena Gorgannezhad
- Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre, Nathan Campus, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Brisbane, QLD 4111, Australia
| | - Shabnam Farkhonde Masoule
- Drug Design and Development Research Center, The Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (TIPS), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1417614411, Iran
| | - Niloofar Babanejad
- College of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
| | - Ali Ramazani
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Zanjan, Zanjan 45371-38791, Iran.
| | - Mohammad Raoufi
- Nanotechnology Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 13169-43551, Iran
| | - Elham Sharifikolouei
- Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca Degli Abruzzi 24, 10129, Turin (TO), Italy
| | - Alireza Foroumadi
- Drug Design and Development Research Center, The Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (TIPS), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1417614411, Iran; Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mehdi Khoobi
- Drug Design and Development Research Center, The Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (TIPS), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1417614411, Iran; Department of Radiopharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
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Liposomal Formulations of a Polyleucine-Antigen Conjugate as Therapeutic Vaccines against Cervical Cancer. Pharmaceutics 2023; 15:pharmaceutics15020602. [PMID: 36839923 PMCID: PMC9965676 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15020602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Human papilloma virus (HPV) is responsible for all cases of cervical cancer. While prophylactic vaccines are available, the development of peptide-based vaccines as a therapeutic strategy is still under investigation. In comparison with the traditional and currently used treatment strategies of chemotherapy and surgery, vaccination against HPV is a promising therapeutic option with fewer side effects. A peptide derived from the HPV-16 E7 protein, called 8Qm, in combination with adjuvants showed promise as a therapeutic vaccine. Here, the ability of polymerized natural amino acids to act as a self-adjuvating delivery system as a therapeutic vaccine was investigated for the first time. Thus, 8Qm was conjugated to polyleucine by standard solid-phase peptide synthesis and self-assembled into nanoparticles or incorporated in liposomes. The liposome bearing the 8Qm conjugate significantly increased mice survival and decreased tumor growth after a single immunization. Further, these liposomes eradicated seven-day-old well-established tumors in mice. Dendritic cell (DC)-targeting moieties were introduced to further enhance vaccine efficacy, and the newly designed liposomal vaccine was tested in mice bearing 11-day-old tumors. Interestingly, these DCs-targeting moieties did not significantly improve vaccine efficacy, whereas the simple liposomal formulation of 8Qm-polyleucine conjugate was still effective in tumor eradication. In summary, a peptide-based anticancer vaccine was developed that stimulated strong cellular immune responses without the help of a classical adjuvant.
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Abbasi S, Uchida S. Multifunctional Immunoadjuvants for Use in Minimalist Nucleic Acid Vaccines. Pharmaceutics 2021; 13:644. [PMID: 34062771 PMCID: PMC8147386 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics13050644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Revised: 04/25/2021] [Accepted: 04/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Subunit vaccines based on antigen-encoding nucleic acids have shown great promise for antigen-specific immunization against cancer and infectious diseases. Vaccines require immunostimulatory adjuvants to activate the innate immune system and trigger specific adaptive immune responses. However, the incorporation of immunoadjuvants into nonviral nucleic acid delivery systems often results in fairly complex structures that are difficult to mass-produce and characterize. In recent years, minimalist approaches have emerged to reduce the number of components used in vaccines. In these approaches, delivery materials, such as lipids and polymers, and/or pDNA/mRNA are designed to simultaneously possess several functionalities of immunostimulatory adjuvants. Such multifunctional immunoadjuvants encode antigens, encapsulate nucleic acids, and control their pharmacokinetic or cellular fate. Herein, we review a diverse class of multifunctional immunoadjuvants in nucleic acid subunit vaccines and provide a detailed description of their mechanisms of adjuvanticity and induction of specific immune responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saed Abbasi
- Innovation Center of NanoMedicine, Kawasaki Institute of Industrial Promotion, 3-25-14 Tonomachi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki 210-0821, Japan
| | - Satoshi Uchida
- Innovation Center of NanoMedicine, Kawasaki Institute of Industrial Promotion, 3-25-14 Tonomachi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki 210-0821, Japan
- Medical Chemistry, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 1-5 Shimogamohangi-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-0823, Japan
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Xu M, Chen Y, Banerjee P, Zong L, Jiang L. Dendritic Cells Targeting and pH-Responsive Multi-layered Nanocomplexes for Smart Delivery of DNA Vaccines. AAPS PharmSciTech 2017; 18:2618-2625. [PMID: 28243887 DOI: 10.1208/s12249-017-0741-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2016] [Accepted: 02/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Specific and effective delivery of DNA vaccines into dendritic cells (DCs) to express antigens is a precondition for induction of immune responses. Construction of a new DNA vaccine delivery system with the ability of programmed gene transfection may achieve this objective. In this study, we successfully integrated dendritic lipopeptide, charge-reversible polymer, and APC-targeted material into DNA vaccine delivery system through layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly. By the means of adjusting the weight ratios and concentration ratios of components, stable complexes were formulated with a particle size of 256.8 ± 10.7 nm and zeta potential of 25.1 ± 2.3 mV. Moreover, this DNA vaccine delivery system could achieve specific delivery into DCs, high transfection efficiency and low cytotoxicity, holding great promise for immunotherapy.
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David A. Peptide ligand-modified nanomedicines for targeting cells at the tumor microenvironment. Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2017; 119:120-142. [PMID: 28506743 DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2017.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2016] [Revised: 03/17/2017] [Accepted: 05/09/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Since their initial discovery more than 30years ago, tumor-homing peptides have become an increasingly useful tool for targeted delivery of therapeutic and diagnostic agents into tumors. Today, it is well accepted that cells at the tumor microenvironment (TME) contribute in many ways to cancer development and progression. Tumor-homing peptide-decorated nanomedicines can interact specifically with surface receptors expressed on cells in the TME, improve cellular uptake of nanomedicines by target cells, and impair tumor growth and progression. Moreover, peptide ligand-modified nanomedicines can potentially accumulate in the target tissue at higher concentrations than would small conjugates, thus increasing overall target tissue exposure to the therapeutic agent, enhance therapeutic efficacy and reduce side effects. This review describes the most studied peptide ligands aimed at targeting cells in the TME, discusses major obstacles and principles in the design of ligands for drug targeting and provides an overview of homing peptides in ligand-targeted nanomedicines that are currently in development for cancer therapy and diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayelet David
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health Sciences, and the Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel.
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Yu QY, Zhan YR, Zhang J, Luan CR, Wang B, Yu XQ. Aromatic Modification of Low Molecular Weight PEI for Enhanced Gene Delivery. Polymers (Basel) 2017; 9:polym9080362. [PMID: 30971039 PMCID: PMC6418655 DOI: 10.3390/polym9080362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2017] [Revised: 08/03/2017] [Accepted: 08/03/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Low molecular weight polyethylenimine (1800 Da, also referred to as oligoethylenimines, OEI) was modified with amino acids, including two aromatic amino acids (tryptophan, phenylalanine) and an aliphatic amino acid (leucine). The substitution degree of amino acids could be controlled by adjusting the feeding mole ratio of the reactants. Fluorescence spectroscopy and circular dichroism experiments demonstrated that the indole ring of tryptophan may intercalate into the DNA base pairs and contribute to efficient DNA condensation. In vitro gene expression results revealed that the modified OEIs (OEI-AAs) may provide higher transfection efficiency even than high molecular weight polyethylenimine (25 kDa, PEI), especially the aromatic tryptophan substituted OEI. Moreover, OEI-AAs exhibited excellent serum tolerance, and up to 137 times higher transfection efficiency than PEI 25 kDa that was obtained in the presence of serum. The cytotoxicity of OEI-AAs is much lower than PEI 25 kDa. This study may afford a new method for the development of low molecular weight oligomeric non-viral gene vectors with both high efficiency and biocompatibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qing-Ying Yu
- Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
| | - Yu-Rong Zhan
- Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
| | - Ji Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
| | - Chao-Ran Luan
- Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
| | - Bing Wang
- Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
| | - Xiao-Qi Yu
- Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Technology (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
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7
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingming Zhang
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biomedical Materials, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, 236 Baidi Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300192, China
| | - Yanhang Hong
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biomedical Materials, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, 236 Baidi Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300192, China
| | - Wenjuan Chen
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biomedical Materials, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, 236 Baidi Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300192, China
| | - Chun Wang
- Department
of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, 7-105 Hasselmo
Hall, 312 Church Street S. E., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
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Abstract
The use of gene delivery systems for the expression of antigenic proteins is an established means for activating a patient’s own immune system against the cancer they carry. Since tumor cells are poor antigen-presenting cells, cross-presentation of tumor antigens by dendritic cells (DCs) is essential for the generation of tumor-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses. A number of polymer-based nanomedicines have been developed to deliver genes into DCs, primarily by incorporating tumor-specific, antigen-encoding plasmid DNA with polycationic molecules to facilitate DNA loading and intracellular trafficking. Direct in vivo targeting of plasmid DNA to DC surface receptors can induce high transfection efficiency and long-term gene expression, essential for antigen loading onto major histocompatibility complex molecules and stimulation of T-cell responses. This chapter summarizes the physicochemical properties and biological information on polymer-based non-viral vectors used for targeting DCs, and discusses the main challenges for successful in vivo gene transfer into DCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth A. Howard
- Department of Molecular Biology and Gen, Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (i, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Thomas Vorup-Jensen
- Department of Biomedicine, Biophysical I, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Dan Peer
- Britannia Bldg, 2nd Fl, Rm 226, Tel-Aviv Univ, Dept Cell Research, Tel-Aviv, Israel
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Golan M, Feinshtein V, Polyak D, Scomparin A, Satchi-Fainaro R, David A. Inhibition of Gene Expression and Cancer Cell Migration by CD44v3/6-Targeted Polyion Complexes. Bioconjug Chem 2016; 27:947-60. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.6b00020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Dina Polyak
- Department
of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Anna Scomparin
- Department
of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Ronit Satchi-Fainaro
- Department
of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
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Kasprzak A, Poplawska M, Bystrzejewski M, Grudzinski IP. Sulfhydrylated graphene-encapsulated iron nanoparticles directly aminated with polyethylenimine: a novel magnetic nanoplatform for bioconjugation of gamma globulins and polyclonal antibodies. J Mater Chem B 2016; 4:5593-5607. [DOI: 10.1039/c6tb00838k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
A graphene layer was directly aminated with polyethylenimine and a novel magnetic nanoplatform for bioconjugation of biologically active compounds was obtained.
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Affiliation(s)
- Artur Kasprzak
- Faculty of Chemistry
- Warsaw University of Technology
- 00-664 Warsaw
- Poland
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11
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Formation of functional super-helical assemblies by constrained single heptad repeat. Nat Commun 2015; 6:8615. [PMID: 26468599 PMCID: PMC4634320 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2015] [Accepted: 09/10/2015] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Inspired by the key role of super-helical motifs in molecular self-organization, several tandem heptad repeat peptides were used as building blocks to form well-ordered supramolecular nano-assemblies. However, the need for stable helical structures limits the length of the smallest described units to three heptad repeats. Here we describe the first-ever self-assembling single heptad repeat module, based on the ability of the non-coded α-aminoisobutyric acid to stabilize very short peptides in helical conformation. A conformationally constrained peptide comprised of aromatic, but not aliphatic, residues, at the first and fourth positions formed helical fibrillar assemblies. Single crystal X-ray analysis of the peptide demonstrates super-helical packing in which phenylalanine residues formed an ‘aromatic zipper' arrangement at the molecular interface. The modification of the minimal building block with positively charged residues results in tight DNA binding ascribed to the combined factors of helicity, hydrophobicity and charge. The design of these peptides defines a new direction for assembly of super-helical nanostructures by minimal molecular elements. Advances in bionanotechnology demand an increased portfolio of assemblies beyond those currently available. Here, the authors design a crystallographically characterized super-helical sequence composed of single heptad repeats which, through derivatisation, offers vast potential applications.
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