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Song N, Sun Z, Wang B, Liu X, Hu B, Chen N, Zhang S, Yu Z. Suicide gene delivery by morphology-adaptable enantiomeric peptide assemblies for combined ovarian cancer therapy. Acta Biomater 2024; 175:250-261. [PMID: 38122884 DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2023.12.020] [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: 09/04/2023] [Revised: 11/16/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
Suicide gene therapy is a promising therapeutic model for ovarian cancer (OC), while suffering from poor gene delivery and limited therapeutic efficacy. To address this concern, here we reported the GSH-responsive morphology-transformable enantiomeric peptide assemblies as delivering vehicles for suicide genes and co-delivery of paclitaxel (PTX). Connecting a lipid-like amphiphile and a hydrophilic arginine segment through disulfide bonds led to the enantiomeric peptides. The enantiomeric peptide assemblies are able to simultaneously uptake plasmid DNA (pDNA) and PTX based on electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions. The resulting co-assemblies underwent GSH-responsive disulfide cleavage and thereby promoting their assembly from nanoparticles to nanofibers, leading to the co-release of pDNA and PTX. Cellular and animal studies confirmed the co-delivery of pDNA and PTX into OC cells and the cell apoptosis by the enantiomeric peptides. In addition, in vitro and in vivo experiments supported the advanced uptake and cytotoxicity for L-type peptide vehicles by OC cells, and their great potential for OC-imaging, growth-inhibition and apoptosis-induction compared to D-counterpart. Our results demonstrate that the GSH-responsive morphology-transformable chiral peptide assemblies accurately and simultaneously release suicide genes and chemodrugs at tumor sites, thus providing a new strategy for the development of delivering vehicles for suicide gene and establishment of new therapeutic models for ovarian cancer. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Appropriate delivery carriers are essential for the clinical translation of cancer gene therapy, including the emerging suicide gene therapy. By combining the advantages of morphological transformable vehicles with the chirality peptides towards their bioactivity, we developed the GSH-responsive morphology-transformable enantiomeric peptide assemblies as delivering vehicles for suicide genes and co-delivery of paclitaxel. The GSH-responsive assembly of the enantiomeric peptides allows for precise release of plasmid DNA and paclitaxel in cancer cells, and promotes the formation of nanofibrils that facilitate gene entering nuclei for transfection. The enantiomeric peptide-based vehicles show the chirality-dependent capability for inducing cell apoptosis and inhibiting tumor growth. Our findings demonstrate a new strategy for developing therapeutic models for ovarian cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Na Song
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Institute of Polymer Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, 94 Weijin Road, Tianjin 300071, China; Shandong Provincial Engineering Laboratory of Novel Pharmaceutical Excipients and Controlled Release Preparations, College of Medicine and Nursing, Dezhou University, China
| | - Zhe Sun
- School of Life Sciences, Tianjin University, Weijin Road 92, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Bo Wang
- Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Nankai University, 94 Weijin Road, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Xin Liu
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Institute of Polymer Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, 94 Weijin Road, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Binbin Hu
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Institute of Polymer Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, 94 Weijin Road, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Ninglin Chen
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Institute of Polymer Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, 94 Weijin Road, Tianjin 300071, China; The National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Animal Peptide Drug Development, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, 36 Lushan Road, Changsha, Hunan 410000, China
| | - Sihe Zhang
- Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Nankai University, 94 Weijin Road, Tianjin 300071, China.
| | - Zhilin Yu
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Institute of Polymer Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, 94 Weijin Road, Tianjin 300071, China.
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Stampone E, Bencivenga D, Capellupo MC, Roberti D, Tartaglione I, Perrotta S, Della Ragione F, Borriello A. Genome editing and cancer therapy: handling the hypoxia-responsive pathway as a promising strategy. Cell Mol Life Sci 2023; 80:220. [PMID: 37477829 PMCID: PMC10361942 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-023-04852-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 06/29/2023] [Indexed: 07/22/2023]
Abstract
The precise characterization of oxygen-sensing pathways and the identification of pO2-regulated gene expression are both issues of critical importance. The O2-sensing system plays crucial roles in almost all the pivotal human processes, including the stem cell specification, the growth and development of tissues (such as embryogenesis), the modulation of intermediate metabolism (including the shift of the glucose metabolism from oxidative to anaerobic ATP production and vice versa), and the control of blood pressure. The solid cancer microenvironment is characterized by low oxygen levels and by the consequent activation of the hypoxia response that, in turn, allows a complex adaptive response characterized mainly by neoangiogenesis and metabolic reprogramming. Recently, incredible advances in molecular genetic methodologies allowed the genome editing with high efficiency and, above all, the precise identification of target cells/tissues. These new possibilities and the knowledge of the mechanisms of adaptation to hypoxia suggest the effective development of new therapeutic approaches based on the manipulation, targeting, and exploitation of the oxygen-sensor system molecular mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emanuela Stampone
- Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania "L. Vanvitelli", Via Luigi De Crecchio, 7, 80138, Naples, Italy
| | - Debora Bencivenga
- Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania "L. Vanvitelli", Via Luigi De Crecchio, 7, 80138, Naples, Italy
| | - Maria Chiara Capellupo
- Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania "L. Vanvitelli", Via Luigi De Crecchio, 7, 80138, Naples, Italy
| | - Domenico Roberti
- Department of the Woman, the Child and of the General and Specialty Surgery, University of Campania "L. Vanvitelli", Via Luigi De Crecchio, 2, 80138, Naples, Italy
| | - Immacolata Tartaglione
- Department of the Woman, the Child and of the General and Specialty Surgery, University of Campania "L. Vanvitelli", Via Luigi De Crecchio, 2, 80138, Naples, Italy
| | - Silverio Perrotta
- Department of the Woman, the Child and of the General and Specialty Surgery, University of Campania "L. Vanvitelli", Via Luigi De Crecchio, 2, 80138, Naples, Italy
| | - Fulvio Della Ragione
- Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania "L. Vanvitelli", Via Luigi De Crecchio, 7, 80138, Naples, Italy.
| | - Adriana Borriello
- Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania "L. Vanvitelli", Via Luigi De Crecchio, 7, 80138, Naples, Italy.
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