Lipopolythiourea Transfecting Agents: Lysine Thiourea Derivatives

Current Trends in Sirtuin Activator and Inhibitor Development

Sirtuins are NAD+-dependent protein deacylases and key metabolic regulators, coupling the cellular energy state with selective lysine deacylation to regulate many downstream cellular processes. Humans encode seven sirtuin isoforms (Sirt1-7) with diverse subcellular localization and deacylase targets. Sirtuins are considered protective anti-aging proteins since increased sirtuin activity is canonically associated with lifespan extension and decreased activity with developing aging-related diseases. However, sirtuins can also assume detrimental cellular roles where increased activity contributes to pathophysiology. Modulation of sirtuin activity by activators and inhibitors thus holds substantial potential for defining the cellular roles of sirtuins in health and disease and developing therapeutics. Instead of being comprehensive, this review discusses the well-characterized sirtuin activators and inhibitors available to date, particularly those with demonstrated selectivity, potency, and cellular activity. This review also provides recommendations regarding the best-in-class sirtuin activators and inhibitors for practical research as sirtuin modulator discovery and refinement evolve.

Structural Modifications to the Internal Oligoguanidinium Transporter Uncover Two Potent Analogues that Effectively Deliver the Proapoptotic Peptide in Multiple Cancer Cell Lines

Efficient cytosolic delivery with serum-independent kinetics and low toxicity are the ultimate challenges towards the transformation of an antisense oligonucleotide or a therapeutic peptide to a suitable drug candidate for clinical trials. Most delivery vehicles falter on at least one of the above requirements, which hinders their potential in in vivo models as well. Our previous reports on internal guanidinium transporters (IGTs) have established the diversity of this particular class of molecule with the efficient delivery of antisense phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligonucleotides. In this paper, we report twenty IGTs with different types of evidence-backed structural modifications with different types of head-group linkage R, which significantly change the transfection, toxicity, and endosomal escape. Based on these three criteria, the analogues were sorted systematically to find the more promising IGTs, which were then further examined by LysoTracker studies. Finally, two analogues, with cholesteryl linkage (R = Chol) and pentafluorobenzyl linkage (R = PF Cbz), were selected for a proapoptotic peptide delivery as the final validation using a long-chain di-acid linker conjugation. Detailed mechanistic studies also revealed that the primary pathway of endocytosis is macropinocytosis, and that other pathways play different roles depending on the head group of the IGT. Since endocytosis pathways for entry depend on the nature of the cell line, we have shown the mechanistic variations in two cell lines for validation.

Synthesis of thioureido peptidomimetics employing alkyl azides and dithiocarbamates

An unprecedented approach for the assembly of thioureido peptidomimetics is developed employing alkyl azides and dithiocarbamates. Dithiocarbamates react with alkyl azides with the liberation of N2 and elemental sulfur thereby leading to thiourea in a traceless manner. Thioureido peptidomimetics are thus furnished in good yields with no epimerization. This process is mild, free from the use of a base, scalable and step economic. The practicability of this methodology has been highlighted by the synthesis of N,N'-orthogonally protected thioureido peptidomimetics.

Lipids for Nucleic Acid Delivery: Cationic or Neutral Lipoplexes, Synthesis, and Particle Formation

Lipidic vesicles have been extensively studied for their capacity to condensate and deliver nucleic acids to the cells. Many different amphiphilic lipidic structures have been proposed each of them bringing some advances in nonviral gene transfection. The ionic or neutral nature of the lipids induces tremendous differences in the behavior of the corresponding liposomes, from the complexation of nucleic acid to the delivery to the cell. An efficient delivery in vitro or in vivo also depends closely on the structure of the lipids and very often, efficient liposomes in vitro have been found useless for in vivo administration.We describe in this chapter the chemical synthesis of two different lipids, one cationic and the other essentially neutral, and the formulation to obtain liposomes and DNA-liposome complexes. The different ways and tricks for the formulation of the two different structures are especially highlighted.

Cyclodextrin-scaffolded glycotransporters for gene delivery

Conventional drugs consist of a formulation of a bioactive species and a carrier, the former accounting for most of the sophistication of the design. In the case of biomolecular drugs, however, the role of the carrier becomes decisive in enabling the load to reach its target to carry out its designed therapeutic function. Thus, the clinical success of gene therapy, where the active principles are nucleic acids, critically depends on the use of efficient and safe delivery systems. Carbohydrates have proven particularly useful in this regard. Glycocoating, similarly to poly(ethylene)glycol (PEG)-coating (pegylation), can stabilize colloidal aggregates by improving solvation and preventing nonspecific interactions, for example, with serum proteins. Moreover, glycoconjugates can drive specific recognition and receptor-mediated internalization in target cells. Actually, the inherent flexibility of carbohydrate and glycoconjugate chemistry has greatly contributed to enlarging the range of functional materials that can be rationally conceived for gene delivery. Herein, this is illustrated with selected examples that focus on controlling the architectural parameters of the vectors to make them suitable for structure–activity relationship (SAR) and optimization studies. The members of the cyclomaltooligosaccharide (cyclodextrin, CD) family will be the central actors of the story.

Lipids for nucleic acid delivery: synthesis and particle formation

Lipidic vesicles have been extensively studied for their capacity to condensate and deliver nucleic acids to the cells. Many different amphiphilic lipidic structures have been proposed, each of them bringing some advances in nonviral gene transfection. The ionic or neutral nature of the lipids induces tremendous differences in the behavior of the corresponding liposomes, from the complexation of nucleic acid to the delivery to the cell. An efficient delivery in vitro or in vivo also depends closely on the structure of the lipids and very often, efficient liposomes in vitro have been found useless for in vivo administration.We wish to describe in this chapter the chemical synthesis of two different lipids, one cationic and the other essentially neutral, and the formulation to obtain liposomes and DNA/liposome complexes. The different ways and tricks for the formulation of the two different structures are especially highlighted.

Lipothioureas as Lipids for Gene Transfection: A Review

Non-viral gene therapy requires innovative strategies to achieve higher transfection efficacy. A few years ago, our group proposed bioinspired lipids whose interaction with DNA was not based on ionic interactions, but on hydrogen bonds. We thus developed lipids bearing a thiourea head which allowed an interaction with DNA phosphates through hydrogen bonds. After a proof of concept with a lipid bearing three thiourea functions, a molecular and cellular screening was performed by varying all parts of the lipids: the hydrophobic anchor, the spacer, the linker, and the thiourea head. Two lipothiourea-based structures were identified as highly efficient in vitro transfecting agents. The lipothioureas were shown to reduce non specific interactions with cell membranes and deliver their DNA content intracellularly more efficiently, as compared to cationic lipoplexes. These lipids could deliver siRNA efficiently and allowed specific cell targeting in vitro. In vivo, thiourea lipoplexes presented a longer retention time in the blood and less accumulation in the lungs after an intravenous injection in mice. They also induced luciferase gene expression in muscle and tumor after local administration in mice. Therefore, these novel lipoplexes represent an excellent alternative to cationic lipoplexes as transfecting agents. In this review we will focus on the structure activity studies that permitted the identification of the two most efficient thiourea lipids.

Protonation of lipids impacts the supramolecular and biological properties of their self-assembly

We assessed in this work how a chemical structure difference could influence a supramolecular organization and then its biological properties. In our case study, we considered two amphiphilic lipidic gene vectors. The chemical difference was situated on their hydrophilic part which was either a pure neutral thiourea head or a mixture of three thiourea function derivatives, thiourea, iminothiol, and charged iminothiol. This small difference was obtained thanks to the last chemical deprotection conditions of the polar head hydroxyl groups. Light, neutron, and X-ray scattering techniques have been used to investigate the spatial structure of the liposomes and lipoplexes formed by the lipids. The chemical structure difference impacts the supramolecular assemblies of the lipids and with DNA as shown by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), X-ray, and neutron scattering. Hence the structures formed were found to be highly different in terms of liposomes to DNA ratio and size and polydispersity of the aggregates. Finally, the transfection and internalization results proved that the differences in the structure of the lipid aggregates fully affect the biological properties of the lipopolythiourea compounds. The lipid containing three functions is a better gene transfection agent than the lipid which only contains one thiourea moiety. As a conclusion, we showed that the conditions of the last chemical step can influence the lipidic supramolecular structure which in turn strongly impacts their biological properties.

Cyclodextrin-based gene delivery systems

Cyclodextrin (CD) history has been largely dominated by their unique ability to form inclusion complexes with guests fitting in their hydrophobic cavity. Chemical funcionalization was soon recognized as a powerful mean for improving CD applications in a wide range of fields, including drug delivery, sensing or enzyme mimicking. However, 100 years after their discovery, CDs are still perceived as novel nanoobjects of undeveloped potential. This critical review provides an overview of different strategies to promote interactions between CD conjugates and genetic material by fully exploiting the inside-outside/upper-lower face anisotropy of the CD nanometric platform. Covalent modification, self-assembling and supramolecular ligation can be put forward with the ultimate goal to build artificial viruses for programmed and efficient gene therapy (222 references).

Comparative gene transfer between cationic and thiourea lipoplexes

BACKGROUND

We have previously developed lipopolythiourea lipids as neutral DNA condensing agents for systemic gene delivery. Optimization of the lipopolythiourea structure led to efficient transfecting agents. To further evaluate these lipids, we investigated the internalization process of the thiourea lipoplexes and their intracellular mechanism of transfection versus that of cationic lipoplexes.

METHODS

The MTT test was used for cytotoxicity assessment. Transfection efficiency was determined by luciferase read-out. Permeation to propidium iodide and enhanced green fluorescent protein was evaluated by flow cytometry. Kinetics of internalization and DNA release were monitored by confocal microscopy with labelled DNA. Endocytosis inhibitors were used to study the mechanisms of lipoplex internalization.

RESULTS

Although thiourea/DNA complexes exhibit an almost similar level of transfection compared to that of cationic complexes, the thiourea lipoplexes were shown to be six-fold less internalized. Complexes were able to permeabilize the cytoplasmic membrane to 30 kDa molecules. Finally, DNA was shown to be released in less than 10 min in the cellular cytoplasm versus 30 min for cationic lipoplexes.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite a weaker internalization compared to cationic lipids, the thiourea lipoplexes were able to transfect cells at a similar level as a result of its greater ability to destabilize the cytoplasmic membrane and release DNA.

Lipopolythiourea/DNA interaction: a biophysical study

Lipopolythioureas (LPT) are original non cationic systems representing an alternative to cationic lipids. Their high transfection efficiency prompted us to investigate further their biophysical properties, and in particular how thiourea lipids interact with DNA. The interaction of lipopolythiourea with DNA was investigated by fluorescence correlation microscopy (FCS). Influence of the lipid length and nature of the thiourea head on the thiourea/DNA interaction were studied. FCS revealed a strong interaction between lipopolythiourea and DNA, occurring at 1 equivalent of a thiourea lipid by a DNA phosphate group, and leading to a condensed plasmid state. From previous in vitro experiments, we could conclude that the lipid leading to the more condensed state of DNA was also the more efficient to transfect cells.

Anionic nucleotide--lipids for in vitro DNA transfection

A family of new anionic nucleotide based lipids featuring thymidine-3'-monophosphate as nucleotide and 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycerol as lipid moiety for in vitro delivery of nucleic acids is described. The nucleotide lipids were prepared in three steps starting from 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycerols and 2'-deoxythymidine-3'-phosphoramidite. Gel electrophoresis experiments show that nucleotide-based lipid-DNA complexes are observed at Ca(2+) concentration higher than 1 mM. The transfection experiments carried out on mammalian Hek cell lines clearly demonstrate that the nucleotide moiety enhances the transfection efficacy of the natural anionic DPPA and DPPG lipids. SAXS studies indicate that the enhancement in transfection for nucleotide-based lipid formulations compared to those of the abasic natural derivative (DPPA) is likely due to the presence of the 2D columnar inverted hexagonal phase (H(II)) with a unit cell parameter a = 69.1 A in the nucleotide lipid formulations. The cytotoxicity studies of lipoplexes, evaluated against Hek cells using an MTS assay, revealed that palmitoyl nucleotide derivative complexes were not toxic even after 4 h of incubation, thus indicating that the anionic nucleotide lipids presented in this work offer an alternative to cationic transfection reagents.

Iminothiol/thiourea tautomeric equilibrium in thiourea lipids impacts DNA compaction by inducing a cationic nucleation for complex assembly

Our research on lipidic vectors for transfection led us to develop thiourea lipids able to interact with DNA. Hence, we developed a series of lipopolythioureas based on the strong hydrogen bond donor ability of thiourea. More recently we have reported a branched hydroxylated bis-thiourea derivative with interesting transfecting properties. The last step of the syntheses involved a strong acidic condition, leading to an unstable product upon storage. Therefore we designed a new synthesis in mild acidic conditions. Though they exhibit the same mass, the lipids obtained in the two different conditions differ by their interaction with DNA. We therefore explored the physicochemical properties of these two lipids by different means that we describe in this article. In order to insure easier and reliable (13)C-NMR studies of the thiourea group we have designed the synthesis of the corresponding (13)C-labeled thiourea lipids. We have thus shown that when the lipid was submitted to mildly acidic medium; only the thiourea group was observed; while a thiourea/charged and/or uncharged iminothiol tautomeric equilibrium formed when the last step of the synthesis was submitted to low pH. NMR experiments showed that this tautomeric equilibrium could not form in polar solvents. However, UV experiments on the liposomal form of the lipopolythiourea showed the presence of the tautomers. Lipid/DNA interaction consequently differed according to the acidic treatment applied. Eventually, these results revealed that on this particular thiourea lipid, electrostatic interactions due to cationic thioureas are likely to be responsible for DNA compaction and that this tautomeric form of the thiourea could be stabilised by hydrogen bonds in a supramolecular assembly. Nevertheless, this does not reflect a general thiourea lipid/DNA interaction as other thiourea lipids that are able to compact DNA do not undergo an acidic treatment during the final stage of their synthesis.