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Kim YH, Park C, Nguyen HD, V Ngo H, Lee BJ. Self-assembled nanonization of fatty acid-conjugated vaccine antigen for enhanced thermal stability. Int J Pharm 2024; 658:124176. [PMID: 38688427 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2024.124176] [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: 12/20/2023] [Revised: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 04/28/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the enhanced thermal stability and physicochemical properties of fattigated vaccine antigens. High molecular weight influenza hemagglutinin (Heg) was used as a model antigen because of low heat stability requiring cold chamber. Heg was conjugated with long-chain oleic acid (C18) and short-chain 3-decenoic acid (C10) to prepare fattigated Heg. Circular dichroism analysis revealed no significant changes in the three-dimensional structure post-conjugation. In the liquid state, the fattigated Heg was self-assembled into nanoparticles (NPs) due to its amphiphilic nature, with sizes of 136.27 ± 12.78 nm for oleic acid-conjugated Heg (HOC) and 88.73 ± 3.27 nm for 3-decenoic acid-conjugated Heg (HDC). Accelerated thermal stability studies at 60 °C for 7 days demonstrated that fattigated Heg exhibited higher thermal stability than Heg in various liquid or solid states. The longer-chained HOC showed better thermal stability than HDC in the liquid state, attributed to increased hydrophobic interactions during self-assembly. In bio-mimicking liquid states at 37 °C, HOC exhibited higher thermal stability than Heg. Furthermore, solid-state HOC with cryoprotectants (trehalose, mannitol, and Tween® 80) had significantly increased thermal stability due to reduced exposure of protein surface area via nanonization behavior. The current fattigation platform could be a promising strategy for developing thermostable nano vaccines of heat-labile vaccine antigens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yeon-Ho Kim
- Department of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Ajou University, Suwon 16499, Republic of Korea
| | - Chulhun Park
- College of Pharmacy, Jeju National University, Jeju 63243, Republic of Korea
| | - Hy D Nguyen
- Department of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Ajou University, Suwon 16499, Republic of Korea
| | - Hai V Ngo
- Department of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Ajou University, Suwon 16499, Republic of Korea
| | - Beom-Jin Lee
- Department of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Ajou University, Suwon 16499, Republic of Korea; Institute of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Ajou University, Suwon 16499, Republic of Korea.
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2
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Zhang Z, Ji J, Hossain MS, Bailey B, Nangia S, Mozhdehi D. Lipidation alters the phase-separation of resilin-like polypeptides. SOFT MATTER 2024; 20:4007-4014. [PMID: 38690757 PMCID: PMC11095499 DOI: 10.1039/d4sm00358f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2024] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024]
Abstract
Biology exploits biomacromolecular phase separation to form condensates, known as membraneless organelles. Despite significant advancements in deciphering sequence determinants for phase separation, modulating these features in vivo remains challenging. A promising approach inspired by biology is to use post-translational modifications (PTMs)-to modulate the amino acid physicochemistry instead of altering protein sequences-to control the formation and characteristics of condensates. However, despite the identification of more than 300 types of PTMs, the detailed understanding of how they influence the formation and material properties of protein condensates remains incomplete. In this study, we investigated how modification with myristoyl lipid alters the formation and characteristics of the resilin-like polypeptide (RLP) condensates, a prototypical disordered protein with upper critical solution temperature (UCST) phase behaviour. Using turbidimetry, dynamic light scattering, confocal and electron microscopy, we demonstrated that lipidation-in synergy with the sequence of the lipidation site-significantly influences RLPs' thermodynamic propensity for phase separation and their condensate properties. Molecular simulations suggested these effects result from an expanded hydrophobic region created by the interaction between the lipid and lipidation site rather than changes in peptide rigidity. These findings emphasize the role of "sequence context" in modifying the properties of PTMs, suggesting that variations in lipidation sequences could be strategically used to fine-tune the effect of these motifs. Our study advances understanding of lipidation's impact on UCST phase behaviour, relevant to proteins critical in biological processes and diseases, and opens avenues for designing lipidated resilins for biomedical applications like heat-mediated drug elution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhe Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.
| | - Jingjing Ji
- Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.
| | | | - Briah Bailey
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia 30912, USA
| | - Shikha Nangia
- Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.
| | - Davoud Mozhdehi
- Department of Chemistry, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.
- BioInspired Syracuse: Institute for Material and Living Systems, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA
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3
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Zhang Z, Lynch CJ, Huo Y, Chakraborty S, Cremer PS, Mozhdehi D. Modulating Phase Behavior in Fatty Acid-Modified Elastin-like Polypeptides (FAMEs): Insights into the Impact of Lipid Length on Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Phase Separation. J Am Chem Soc 2024; 146:5383-5392. [PMID: 38353994 PMCID: PMC10910508 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c12791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2023] [Revised: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024]
Abstract
Although post-translational lipidation is prevalent in eukaryotes, its impact on the liquid-liquid phase separation of disordered proteins is still poorly understood. Here, we examined the thermodynamic phase boundaries and kinetics of aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) formation for a library of elastin-like polypeptides modified with saturated fatty acids of different chain lengths. By systematically altering the physicochemical properties of the attached lipids, we were able to correlate the molecular properties of lipids to changes in the thermodynamic phase boundaries and the kinetic stability of droplets formed by these proteins. We discovered that increasing the chain length lowers the phase separation temperature in a sigmoidal manner due to alterations in the unfavorable interactions between protein and water and changes in the entropy of phase separation. Our kinetic studies unveiled remarkable sensitivity to lipid length, which we propose is due to the temperature-dependent interactions between lipids and the protein. Strikingly, we found that the addition of just a single methylene group is sufficient to allow tuning of these interactions as a function of temperature, with proteins modified with C7-C9 lipids exhibiting non-Arrhenius dependence in their phase separation, a behavior that is absent for both shorter and longer fatty acids. This work advances our theoretical understanding of protein-lipid interactions and opens avenues for the rational design of lipidated proteins in biomedical paradigms, where precise control over the phase separation is pivotal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhe Zhang
- Department
of Chemistry, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
| | - Christopher J. Lynch
- Department
of Chemistry, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
| | - Ying Huo
- Department
of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
| | - Somya Chakraborty
- Fayetteville-Manlius
High School, Manlius, New York 13104, United States
| | - Paul S. Cremer
- Department
of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
| | - Davoud Mozhdehi
- Department
of Chemistry, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
- BioInspired
Syracuse: Institute for Material and Living Systems, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
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4
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Azulay R, Strugach DS, Amiram M. Self-assembly of temperature-responsive di-block polypeptides functionalized with unnatural amino acids. Protein Sci 2024; 33:e4878. [PMID: 38147468 PMCID: PMC10804675 DOI: 10.1002/pro.4878] [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: 07/18/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/28/2023]
Abstract
The incorporation of unnatural amino acids (uAAs) into protein-based polymers has emerged as a powerful methodology to expand their chemical repertoire. Recently, we demonstrated that incorporating uAAs into two temperature-responsive protein-based polymers-namely resilin- and elastin-like polypeptides (RLPs and ELPs, respectively)-can alter their properties. In this study, we incorporated aromatic uAAs into the protein sequence of RLP-ELP diblocks to yield new and diverse assemblies from a single DNA template. Specifically, we show that incorporating aromatic uAAs can modulate the phase-transition behaviors and self-assembly of the diblocks into various morphologies, including spherical and cylindrical micelles and single- and double-layered vesicles, with some constructs also demonstrating a temperature-responsive shape-shifting behavior. Next, we evaluated the ability of the RLP-ELP assemblies to encapsulate a chemotherapeutic drug, doxorubicin, and show how the identity of the incorporated uAAs and the morphology of the nanostructure affect the encapsulation efficiency. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that the multi-site incorporation of uAAs into temperature-responsive, amphiphilic protein-based diblock copolymers is a promising approach for the functionalization and tuning of self-assembled nanostructures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rotem Azulay
- Avram and Stella Goldstein‐Goren Department of Biotechnology EngineeringBen‐Gurion University of the NegevBeer‐ShevaIsrael
| | - Daniela S. Strugach
- Avram and Stella Goldstein‐Goren Department of Biotechnology EngineeringBen‐Gurion University of the NegevBeer‐ShevaIsrael
| | - Miriam Amiram
- Avram and Stella Goldstein‐Goren Department of Biotechnology EngineeringBen‐Gurion University of the NegevBeer‐ShevaIsrael
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Ji J, Hossain MS, Krueger EN, Zhang Z, Nangia S, Carpentier B, Martel M, Nangia S, Mozhdehi D. Lipidation Alters the Structure and Hydration of Myristoylated Intrinsically Disordered Proteins. Biomacromolecules 2023; 24:1244-1257. [PMID: 36757021 PMCID: PMC10017028 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.2c01309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 02/10/2023]
Abstract
Lipidated proteins are an emerging class of hybrid biomaterials that can integrate the functional capabilities of proteins into precisely engineered nano-biomaterials with potential applications in biotechnology, nanoscience, and biomedical engineering. For instance, fatty-acid-modified elastin-like polypeptides (FAMEs) combine the hierarchical assembly of lipids with the thermoresponsive character of elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) to form nanocarriers with emergent temperature-dependent structural (shape or size) characteristics. Here, we report the biophysical underpinnings of thermoresponsive behavior of FAMEs using computational nanoscopy, spectroscopy, scattering, and microscopy. This integrated approach revealed that temperature and molecular syntax alter the structure, contact, and hydration of lipid, lipidation site, and protein, aligning with the changes in the nanomorphology of FAMEs. These findings enable a better understanding of the biophysical consequence of lipidation in biology and the rational design of the biomaterials and therapeutics that rival the exquisite hierarchy and capabilities of biological systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingjing Ji
- Department
of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
| | - Md Shahadat Hossain
- Department
of Chemistry, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
| | - Emily N. Krueger
- Department
of Chemistry, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
| | - Zhe Zhang
- Department
of Chemistry, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
| | - Shivangi Nangia
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Hartford, West Hartford, Connecticut 06117, United States
| | - Britnie Carpentier
- Department
of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
| | - Mae Martel
- Department
of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
| | - Shikha Nangia
- Department
of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
- BioInspired
Syracuse: Institute for Material and Living Systems, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
| | - Davoud Mozhdehi
- Department
of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
- Department
of Chemistry, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
- BioInspired
Syracuse: Institute for Material and Living Systems, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
- Department
of Biology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
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