Dynamic measurements of membrane insertion potential of synthetic cell penetrating peptides

Cupid, a cell permeable peptide derived from amoeba, capable of delivering GFP into a diverse range of species

Cell permeating peptides (CPPs) are attracting great interest for use as molecular delivery vehicles for the transport of biologically active cargo across the cell membrane. The sequence of a novel CPP sequence, termed ‘Cupid’, was identified from the genome of Dictyostelium discoideum. A Cupid-Green Fluorescent Protein (Cupid-GFP) fusion protein was tested on mammalian, whole plant cells, plant leaf protoplast and fungal cell cultures and observed using confocal microscopy. GFP fluorescence builds up within the cell cytosol in 60 min, demonstrating Cupid-GFP has permeated them and folded correctly into its fluorescent form. Our combined data suggest Cupid can act as a molecular vehicle capable of delivering proteins, such as GFP, into the cytosol of a variety of cells.

Cholesterol re-organisation and lipid de-packing by arginine-rich cell penetrating peptides: Role in membrane translocation

Cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) are able to transport hydrophilic molecules inside cells. To reach the cytosol, the peptide associated with a cargo must cross the plasma or the endosomal membrane. Different molecular mechanisms for peptide internalisation into cells have been proposed and it is becoming clear that the cellular internalisation mechanisms are different depending on the peptide sequence and structure and the target membrane. Herein, the penetration of three peptides into large unilamellar vesicles were studied: the homeodomain derived 16-residues penetratin, nona-arginine (R9), and a small peptide containing 6 arginine and 3 tryptophan residues (RW9). The membrane models were composed of phospholipids from natural sources containing different molecular species. We observed that among the three peptides, only the amphipathic peptide RW9 was able to cross the membrane vesicles in the liquid disordered state. The changes in the distribution of the previously characterized cholesterol-pyrene probe show that cholesterol-pyrene molecules dissociate from clusters upon membrane interaction with the three peptides and that the cholesterol environment becomes more disordered in the presence of RW9. Finally, we studied the effect of the peptides on lipid ordering on giant plasma membrane vesicles. The amphipathic peptides RW9 and its longer homologue RW16 induced lipid de-packing in plasma membrane vesicles. Overall, the data suggest that a disordered membrane favours the translocation of RW9, that the membrane cholesterol is redistributed during peptide interaction, and that the peptide amphipathic character is important to increase membrane fluidity and peptide membrane translocation.

The interfacial electrostatic potential modulates the insertion of cell-penetrating peptides into lipid bilayers

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPP) are short sequences of cationic amino-acids that show a surprising ability to traverse lipid bilayers. CPP are considered to be some of the most effective vectors to introduce membrane-impermeable cargos into cells, but the molecular basis of the membrane translocation mechanisms and its dependence on relevant membrane physicochemical properties have yet to be fully determined. In this paper we resort to Molecular Dynamics simulations and experiments to investigate how the electrostatic potential across the lipid/water interface affects the insertion of hydrophilic and amphipathic CPP into two-dimensional lipid structures. Simulations are used to quantify the effect of the transmembrane potential on the free-energy profile associated with the transfer of the CPP across a neutral lipid bilayer. It is found that the electrostatic bias has a relatively small effect on the binding of the peptides to the membrane surface, but that it significantly lowers the permeation barrier. A charge compensation mechanism, arising from the segregation of counter-ions while the peptide traverses the membrane, determines the shape and symmetry of the free-energy curves and underlines relevant mechanistic considerations. Langmuir monolayer experiments performed with a variety of amphiphiles model the incorporation of the CPP into the external membrane leaflet. It is shown that the dipole potential of the monolayer controls the extent of penetration of the CPP into the lipid aggregate, to a greater degree than its surface charge.

Multistep Interactions between Ibuprofen and Lipid Membranes

Ibuprofen (IBU) interacts with phosphatidylcholine membranes in three distinct steps as a function of concentration. In a first step (<10 μM), IBU electrostatically adsorbs to the lipid headgroups and gradually decreases the interfacial potential. This first step helps to facilitate the second step (10-300 μM), in which hydrophobic insertion of the drug occurs. The second step disrupts the packing of the lipid acyl chains and expands the area per lipid. In a final step, above 300 μM IBU, the lipid membrane begins to solubilize, resulting in a detergent-like effect. The results described herein were obtained by a combination of fluorescence binding assays, vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy, and Langmuir monolayer compression experiments. By introducing trimethylammonium-propane, phosphatidylglycerol, and phosphatidylethanolamine lipids as well as cholesterol, we demonstrated that both the chemistry of the lipid headgroups and the packing of lipid acyl chains can substantially influence the interactions between IBU and the membranes. Moreover, different membrane chemistries can alter particular steps in the binding interaction.

Membrane affinity and fluorescent labelling: comparative study of monolayer interaction, cellular uptake and cytotoxicity profile of carboxyfluorescein-conjugated cationic peptides

Fluorescent labelling is a common approach to reveal the molecular details of cellular uptake, internalisation, transport, distribution processes in biological systems. The conjugation with a fluorescent moiety might affect relevant physico-chemical and in vitro transport properties of the bioactive component. A representative set of seven cationic peptides-including cell-penetrating peptides as well as antimicrobial peptides and synthetic derivatives-was selected for our comparative study. Membrane affinity of the peptides and their 5(6)-carboxyfluorescein (Cf) derivatives was determined quantitatively and compared applying Langmuir monolayer of zwitterionic (DPPC) and negatively charged (DPPC + DPPG) lipids as cell membrane models. The interaction with neutral lipid layer is mainly governed by the overall hydrophobicity of the molecule which is remarkably increased by Cf-conjugation for the most hydrophobic Magainin, Melittin and Transportan. A significantly enhanced membrane affinity was detected in negatively charged lipid model monolayer for all of the peptides since the combination of electrostatic and hydrophobic interaction is active in that case. The Cf-conjugation improved the penetration ability of Penetratin and Dhvar4 suggesting that both the highly charged character (Z/n) and the increased hydrophobicity by Cf-conjugation present important contribution to membrane interaction. This effect might also responsible for the observed high in vitro internalisation rate of Penetratin and Dhvar4, while according to in vitro studies they did not cause damage of cell membrane. From the experiments with the given seven cationic peptides, it can be concluded that the Cf-conjugation alters the degree of membrane interaction of such peptides which are moderately hydrophobic and highly charged.

Negative Dipole Potentials and Carboxylic Polar Head Groups Foster the Insertion of Cell-Penetrating Peptides into Lipid Monolayers

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are polycationic sequences of amino acids recognized as some of the most effective vehicles for delivering membrane-impermeable cargos into cells. CPPs can traverse cell membranes by direct translocation, and assessing the role of lipids on the membrane permeation process is important to convene a complete model of the CPP translocation. In this work, we focus on the biophysical basis of peptide-fatty acid interactions, analyzing how the acid-base and electrostatic properties of the lipids determine the CPP adsorption and incorporation into a Langmuir monolayer, focusing thus on the first two stages of the direct translocation mechanism. We sense the binding and insertion of the peptide into the lipid structure by measuring the changes in the surface pressure, the surface potential, and the reflectivity of the interface. We show that, beyond the presence of anionic moieties, negative dipole potentials and carboxylic polar head groups significantly promote the insertion of the peptide into the monolayer. On the basis of our results, we propose the appearance of stable CPP-lipid complexes whose kinetics of formation depends on the length of the lipids' hydrocarbon chains.

Duolayers at the Air/Water Interface: Improved Lifetime through Ionic Interactions

Ionic interactions to stabilize Langmuir films at the air/water interface have been used to develop improved duolayer films. Two-component mixtures of octadecanoic (stearic) acid and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (polyDADMAC) with different ratios were prepared and applied to the water surface. Surface pressure isotherm cycles demonstrated a significant improvement in film stability with the inclusion of the polymer. Viscoelastic properties were measured using canal viscometry and oscillating barriers, with both methods showing that the optimum ratio for improved properties was four octadecanoic acid molecules to one DADMAC unit (1:0.25). At this ratio it is expected multiple strong ionic interactions are formed along each polymer chain. Brewster angle microscopy showed decreased domain size with increased ratios of polyDADMAC, indicating that the polymer is interspersed across the surface. This new method to stabilize and increase the viscoelastic properties of charged monolayer films, using a premixed composition, will have application in areas such as water evaporation mitigation, optical devices, and foaming.

Binding of Short Cationic Peptides (KX)4K to Negatively Charged DPPG Monolayers: Competition between Electrostatic and Hydrophobic Interactions

The influence of the peptide sequence on the binding of short cationic peptides composed of five lysines alternating with uncharged amino acids within the series (KX)4K to negatively charged monolayers of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol (DPPG) was investigated by adsorption experiments in combination with epifluorescence microscopy. To evaluate the impact of electrostatic and hydrophobic contributions, different uncharged amino acids X with increasing hydrophobicity, where X = G (glycine), A (alanine), Abu (α-aminobutyric acid), V (valine), or L (leucine) were introduced into the peptide sequence to tune the peptide hydrophobicity. The adsorption kinetics of these peptides to a DPPG monolayer always showed two superimposed processes, one leading to an increase and another to a decrease of the surface pressure Π. Thus, the plots of the change in Π after peptide binding vs initial surface pressure of the monolayer showed an unusual behavior with maxima and negative changes in Π at high initial Π values. Epifluorescence microscopy confirmed that electrostatic binding of the peptides with a concomitant decrease in Π leads to a condensation of the lipid monolayer and the formation of liquid-condensed (LC) domains even at Π values where the monolayer is supposedly in the liquid-expanded (LE) state. An increase in hydrophobicity of the amino acid X was found to counteract the condensation and an increase in Π upon peptide binding is observed at low Π values, also concomitant with the formation of LC-domains. Compression of monolayers after peptide adsorption at low surface pressure for 4 h leads to a change of the isotherms compared to pure DPPG isotherms. The phase transition of DPPG from LE to LC state is smeared out or is shifted to higher surface pressure. Considerable changes in the shapes of LC-domains were observed after peptide binding. Growth of the LC-domains was hindered in most cases and regular domain patterns were formed. Binding of (KL)4K leads to a decrease in line tension and the formation of extended filaments protruding from initially circular domains.

Effect of lipid headgroup charge and pH on the stability and membrane insertion potential of calcium condensed gene complexes

Noncovalently condensed complexes of genetic material, cell penetrating peptides (CPPs), and calcium chloride present a nonviral route to improve transfection efficiency of nucleic acids (e.g., pDNA and siRNA). However, the exact mechanisms of membrane insertion and delivery of macromolecule complexes to intracellular locations as well as their stability in the intracellular environment are not understood. We show that calcium condensed gene complexes containing different hydrophilic (i.e., dTAT, K9, R9, and RH9) and amphiphilic (i.e., RA9, RL9, and RW9) CPPs formed stable cationic complexes of hydrodynamic radii 100 nm at neutral pH. However, increasing the acidity caused the complexes to become neutral or anionic and increase in size. Using zwitterionic and anionic phospholipid monolayers as models that mimic the membrane composition of the outer leaflet of cell membranes and intracellular vesicles and pHs that mimic the intracellular environment, we study the membrane insertion potential of these seven gene complexes (CPP/pDNA/Ca(2+) complexes) into model membranes. At neutral pH, all gene complexes demonstrated the highest insertion potential into anionic phospholipid membranes, with complexes containing amphiphilic peptides showing the maximum insertion. However, at acidic pH, the gene complexes demonstrated maximum monolayer insertion into zwitterionic lipids, irrespective of the chemical composition of the CPP in the complexes. Our results suggest that in the neutral environment the complexes are unable to penetrate the zwitterionic lipid membranes but can penetrate through the anionic lipid membranes. However, the acidic pH mimicking the local environment in the late endosomes leads to a significant increase in adsorption of the complexes to zwitterionic lipid headgroups and decreases for anionic headgroups. These membrane-gene complex interactions may be responsible for the ability of the complexes to efficiently enter the intracellular environment through endocytosis and escape from the endosomes to effectively deliver their genetic payload.

Towards understanding cell penetration by stapled peptides

A systematic study on cell penetration by stapled peptides.