Tumor microenvironment-responsive cell-penetrating peptides: Design principle and precision delivery

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are promising vehicles for intracellular delivery of different cargoes. Although various CPPs are designed for targeted delivery of nanomedicines and anticancer drugs, their clinical approval is hampered by a lack of selectivity. In recent years, new approaches have been explored to address this drawback, and distinct strategies for tumor microenvironment (TME)-responsive activation have been developed. In this review, we first introduce the cellular uptake mechanisms of CPPs. We next extensively discuss the design principles and precision delivery of TME-responsive CPPs. Nine kinds of single stimulus-responsive CPPs, five kinds of multiple stimuli-responsive CPPs, three kinds of TME-responsive targeting CPPs, and two kinds of reversibly activatable CPPs (RACPPs) are systemically summarized. Then, TME-responsive CPPs for nanomedical applications are further discussed. Finally, we describe the translational applications of TME-responsive CPPs for anticancer drug delivery. These commentaries provide an insight into the design of next-generation activatable CPPs (ACPPs) for selective delivery of nanomedicines and anticancer drugs.

Cell-Penetrating Peptide-Based Delivery of Macromolecular Drugs: Development, Strategies, and Progress

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), developed for more than 30 years, are still being extensively studied due to their excellent delivery performance. Compared with other delivery vehicles, CPPs hold promise for delivering different types of drugs. Here, we review the development process of CPPs and summarize the composition and classification of the CPP-based delivery systems, cellular uptake mechanisms, influencing factors, and biological barriers. We also summarize the optimization routes of CPP-based macromolecular drug delivery from stability and targeting perspectives. Strategies for enhanced endosomal escape, which prolong its half-life in blood, improved targeting efficiency and stimuli-responsive design are comprehensively summarized for CPP-based macromolecule delivery. Finally, after concluding the clinical trials of CPP-based drug delivery systems, we extracted the necessary conditions for a successful CPP-based delivery system. This review provides the latest framework for the CPP-based delivery of macromolecular drugs and summarizes the optimized strategies to improve delivery efficiency.

Reversible Regulation of Succinate Dehydrogenase by Tools of Photopharmacology

Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) is extremely important in metabolic function and biological processes. Modulation of SDH has been reported to be a promising therapeutic target to SDH mutations. Current measures for the regulation of SDH are scarce, and precise and reversible modulation of SDH still remains challenging. Herein, a powerful tool for reversible optical control of SDH was proposed and evaluated utilizing the technology of photopharmacology. We reported photochromic ligands (PCLs), azobenzene-pyrazole amides (APAs), that exert light-dependent inhibition effects on SDH. Physicochemical property tests and biological assays were conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of modulating SDH. In this paper, common agricultural pathogens were used to develop a procedure by which our PCLs could reversibly and precisely control SDH utilizing green light. This research would help us to understand the target-ligand interactions and provide new insights into modulation of SDH.

Molecular photoswitches in aqueous environments

Molecular photoswitches enable dynamic control of processes with high spatiotemporal precision, using light as external stimulus, and hence are ideal tools for different research areas spanning from chemical biology to smart materials. Photoswitches are typically organic molecules that feature extended aromatic systems to make them responsive to (visible) light. However, this renders them inherently lipophilic, while water-solubility is of crucial importance to apply photoswitchable organic molecules in biological systems, like in the rapidly emerging field of photopharmacology. Several strategies for solubilizing organic molecules in water are known, but there are not yet clear rules for applying them to photoswitchable molecules. Importantly, rendering photoswitches water-soluble has a serious impact on both their photophysical and biological properties, which must be taken into consideration when designing new systems. Altogether, these aspects pose considerable challenges for successfully applying molecular photoswitches in aqueous systems, and in particular in biologically relevant media. In this review, we focus on fully water-soluble photoswitches, such as those used in biological environments, in both in vitro and in vivo studies. We discuss the design principles and prospects for water-soluble photoswitches to inspire and enable their future applications.

Pyridinium Alkynylanthracenes as Sensitizers for Photodynamic Therapy

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a mild but effective method to treat certain types of cancer upon irradiation with visible light. Here, three isomeric methylpyridinium alkynylanthracenes 1o─p were evaluated as sensitizers for PDT. Upon irradiation with blue or green light, all three compounds show the ability to initiate strand breaks of plasmid DNA. The mayor species responsible for cleavage is singlet oxygen (¹ O₂ ) as confirmed by scavenging reagents. Only isomers 1m and 1p can be incorporated into HeLa cells, whereas isomer 1o cannot permeate through the membrane. While isomer 1m targets the cell nucleus, isomer 1p assembles in the cellular cytoplasm and impacts the cellular integrity. This is in accordance with a moderate toxicity of 1p in the dark, whereas 1m exhibits no dark toxicity. Both isomers are suitable as PDT reagents, with a CC₅₀ of 3 μm and 75 nm, for 1p and 1m, respectively. Thus, derivative 1m, which can be easily synthesized, becomes an interesting candidate for cancer therapy.

Challenge to overcome current limitations of cell-penetrating peptides

The penetration of biological membranes is a prime obstacle for the delivery of pharmaceutical drugs. Cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) is an efficient vehicle that can deliver various cargos across the biological membranes. Since the discovery, CPPs have been rigorously studied to unveil the underlying penetrating mechanism as well as to exploit CPPs for various biomedical applications. This review will focus on the various strategies to overcome current limitations regarding stability, selectivity, and efficacy of CPPs.

A polymeric nanocarrier with a tumor acidity-activatable arginine-rich (R9) peptide for enhanced drug delivery

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) have been considered as a powerful tool to improve the intracellular and nuclear delivery efficiency of nanocarriers. However, their clinical application is limited because of their nonspecific targeting function, short half-life, and severe system toxicity. Herein, we have developed a polymeric nanocarrier with a tumor acidity-activatable arginine-rich (R9) peptide for targeted drug delivery. The nanocarrier is fabricated with a R9-conjugated amphiphilic diblock polymer of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and poly(hexyl ethylene phosphate) (PHEP), and then further coated with tumor acidity-activatable polyanionic polyphosphoester through electrostatic interaction in order to block the nonspecific targeting function of the R9 peptide. In the slightly acidic tumor extracellular environment (∼pH 6.5), tumor acidity-activatable polyanionic polyphosphoester would be deshielded from the nanoparticles, resulting in the re-exposure of the R9 peptide to enhance tumor cellular uptake. As a result, intracellular concentration of payload in 4T1 tumor cells significantly increased at pH 6.5. And, we further demonstrate that such a delivery system remarkably promoted the anti-tumor efficiency of chemotherapeutic drugs in tumor-bearing mice, offering great potential for drug delivery and cancer therapy.

Activatable cell-penetrating peptides: 15 years of research

An important hurdle for the intracellular delivery of large cargo is the cellular membrane, which protects the cell from exogenous substances. Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) can cross this barrier but their use as drug delivery vehicles is hampered by their lack of cell type specificity. Over the past years, several approaches have been explored to control the activity of CPPs that can be primed for cellular uptake. Since the first report on such activatable CPPs (ACPPs) in 2004, various methods of activation have been developed. Here, we provide an overview of the different ACPPs strategies known to date and summarize the benefits, drawbacks, and future directions.

Photoswitchable peptides for spatiotemporal control of biological functions

Light is unsurpassed in its ability to modulate biological interactions. Since their discovery, chemists have been fascinated by photosensitive molecules capable of switching between isomeric forms, known as photoswitches. Photoswitchable peptides have been recognized for many years; however, their functional implementation in biological systems has only recently been achieved. Peptides are now acknowledged as excellent protein-protein interaction modulators and have been important in the emergence of photopharmacology. In this review, we briefly explain the different classes of photoswitches and summarize structural studies when they are incorporated into peptides. Importantly, we provide a detailed overview of the rapidly increasing number of examples, where biological modulation is driven by the structural changes. Furthermore, we discuss some of the remaining challenges faced in this field. These exciting proof-of-principle studies highlight the tremendous potential of photocontrollable peptides as optochemical tools for chemical biology and biomedicine.

Click to enter: activation of oligo-arginine cell-penetrating peptides by bioorthogonal tetrazine ligations

Cell-penetrating peptides are able to transport a wide variety of cargo across cell membranes. Although promising, they are not often considered for therapeutic purposes as they lack controllable activity and cell selectivity. We have developed an activation strategy based on a split octa-arginine cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) that can be activated by means of bioorthogonal ligation. To this end we prepared two non-penetrating tetra-arginine halves, functionalized either with a tetrazine or with a complementary bicyclo[6.1.0]nonyne (BCN) group. We demonstrate that an active octa-arginine can be reconstituted in situ upon mixing the complementary split peptides. The resulting activated peptide is taken up as efficiently as the well-established cell-penetrating peptide octa-arginine. The activation of the oligo-arginines can also be achieved using trans-cyclooctene (TCO) as a ligation partner, while norbornene appears too kinetically slow for use in situ. We further show that this strategy can be applied successfully to transport a large protein into living cells. Our results validate a promising first step in achieving control over cell penetration and to use CPPs for therapeutic approaches.

Photochromic peptidic NPY Y4 receptor ligands

Photoresponsive NPY Y₄R ligands, containing an azobenzene, azopyrazole, diethienylethene or a fulgimide chromophore were prepared to explore structural requirements of Y₄R agonists on Y₄R binding.

Photoswitching hydrazones based on benzoylpyridine

The photoswitching behaviour of three readily accesible benzoylpyridine hydrazones, whose photochromic properties depend on the benzoyl substituent and intermolecular interactions, was investigated.

Photoactivation of MDM2 Inhibitors: Controlling Protein-Protein Interaction with Light

Selectivity remains a major challenge in anticancer therapy, which potentially can be overcome by local activation of a cytotoxic drug. Such triggered activation can be obtained through modification of a drug with a photoremovable protecting group (PPG), and subsequent irradiation in the chosen place and time. Herein, the design, synthesis and biological evaluation is described of a photoactivatable MDM2 inhibitor, PPG-idasanutlin, which exerts no functional effect on cellular outgrowth, but allows for the selective, noninvasive activation of antitumor properties upon irradiation visible light, demonstrating activation with micrometer, single cell precision. The generality of this method has been demonstrated by growth inhibition of multiple cancer cell lines showing p53 stabilization and subsequent growth inhibition effects upon irradiation. Light activation to regulate protein–protein interactions between MDM2 and p53 offers exciting opportunities to control a multitude of biological processes and has the potential to circumvent common selectivity issues in antitumor drug development.

Gene delivery by peptide-assisted transport

The diverse amino acid chemistries and secondary structures in peptides provide 'minimalist' mimics of motifs in proteins and offer many ideal properties for targeted delivery approaches. Several non-viral vectors (polymers and lipids) have been studied for their potential applications in gene delivery. However, non-specific uptake, lack of targeting, inability to escape endosomes, and inefficient nuclear delivery limit their application. Peptide-assisted trafficking of non-viral vectors can potentially overcome these biological barriers to improve gene delivery through targeted uptake using key cell-surface receptors (e.g., integrins, growth factor receptors, and G-protein coupled receptors); membrane disruption for endosomal escape; and nuclear importation. Furthermore, the capacity of peptides to regulate spatio-temporal control over gene delivery opens multi-faceted avenues for effective gene delivery in a variety of complex applications. Rigorous on-going in vitro and in vivo studies utilizing peptides for targeted and microenvironment-sensitive gene delivery could promote their widespread clinical usage.

Azobenzene photocontrol of peptides and proteins

The last few years have witnessed significant advances in the use of light as a stimulus to control biomolecular interactions. Great efforts have been devoted to the development of genetically encoded optobiological and small photochromic switches. Newly discovered small molecules now allow researchers to build molecular systems that are sensitive to a wider range of wavelengths of light than ever before with improved switching fidelities and increased lifetimes of the photoactivated states. Because these molecules are relatively small and adopt predictable conformations they are well suited as tools to interrogate cellular function in a spatially and temporally contolled fashion and for applications in photopharmacology.

Constrained cell penetrating peptides

In this review we provide an overview of recent developments in the field of cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) on research that aims to achieve better control over their transduction properties - one of the big challenges - by means of restraining them. Three different constraining strategies are presented: triggerable activation, backbone rigidification and macrocyclization. Each of these methods have their opportunities in gaining control over CPP activity and selectivity.

Photo and redox-responsive vesicles assembled from Bola-type superamphiphiles

Photo and redox-responsive vesicles assembled from “Bola-type” superamphiphiles were developed.

Bioactive clusters promoting cell penetration and nucleic acid complexation for drug and gene delivery applications: from designed to self-assembled and responsive systems

Recent developments in the (self-)assembly of cationic clusters promoting nucleic acids complexation and cell penetration open the door to applications in drug and gene delivery.