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Chen Y, Li R, Duan Q, Wu L, Li X, Luo A, Zhang Y, Zhao N, Cui K, Wu W, Liu T, Wan JB, Deng L, Li G, Hou L, Tan W, Xiao Z. A DNA-Modularized STING Agonist with Macrophage-Selectivity and Programmability for Enhanced Anti-Tumor Immunotherapy. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2024:e2400149. [PMID: 38898748 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202400149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2024] [Revised: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
The activation of cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) synthase (cGAS) and its adaptor, stimulator of interferon genes (STING), is known to reprogram the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment for promoting antitumor immunity. To enhance the efficiency of cGAS-STING pathway activation, macrophage-selective uptake, and programmable cytosolic release are crucial for the delivery of STING agonists. However, existing polymer- or lipid-based delivery systems encounter difficulty in integrating multiple functions meanwhile maintaining precise control and simple procedures. Herein, inspired by cGAS being a natural DNA sensor, a modularized DNA nanodevice agonist (DNDA) is designed that enable macrophage-selective uptake and programmable activation of the cGAS-STING pathway through precise self-assembly. The resulting DNA nanodevice acts as both a nanocarrier and agonist. Upon local administration, it demonstrates the ability of macrophage-selective uptake, endosomal escape, and cytosolic release of the cGAS-recognizing DNA segment, leading to robust activation of the cGAS-STING pathway and enhanced antitumor efficacy. Moreover, DNDA elicits a synergistic therapeutic effect when combined with immune checkpoint blockade. The study broadens the application of DNA nanotechnology as an immune stimulator for cGAS-STING activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingzhi Chen
- Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
- Institute of Molecular Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Nucleic Acid Chemistry and Nanomedicine, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200127, China
| | - Ruike Li
- Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Qiao Duan
- Institute of Molecular Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Nucleic Acid Chemistry and Nanomedicine, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200127, China
| | - Lingling Wu
- Shanghai Institute of Immunology, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Xinyi Li
- Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Aoxiang Luo
- Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Yongming Zhang
- Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Na Zhao
- Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Kai Cui
- Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Wenwei Wu
- Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Tize Liu
- Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Jian-Bo Wan
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Taipa, Macau, 999078, China
| | - Liufu Deng
- Shanghai Institute of Immunology, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Guiying Li
- Department of Nephrology, the Affiliated Hospital of Hebei Engineering University, Hebei, 056038, China
| | - Lijun Hou
- Department of Neurosurgery, Changzheng Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, 200003, China
| | - Weihong Tan
- Institute of Molecular Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Nucleic Acid Chemistry and Nanomedicine, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200127, China
| | - Zeyu Xiao
- Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
- Institute of Molecular Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Nucleic Acid Chemistry and Nanomedicine, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200127, China
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2
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Hu D, Yang R, Wang G, Li H, Fan X, Liang G. Emerging Strategies to Overcome Current CAR-T Therapy Dilemmas - Exosomes Derived from CAR-T Cells. Int J Nanomedicine 2024; 19:2773-2791. [PMID: 38525009 PMCID: PMC10959326 DOI: 10.2147/ijn.s445101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Adoptive T cells immunotherapy, specifically chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T), has shown promising therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of hematologic malignancies. As extensive research on CAR-T therapies has been conducted, various challenges have emerged that significantly hampered their clinical application, including tumor recurrence, CAR-T cell exhaustion, and cytokine release syndrome (CRS). To overcome the hurdles of CAR-T therapy in clinical treatment, cell-free emerging therapies based on exosomes derived from CAR-T cells have been developed as an effective and promising alternative approach. In this review, we present CAR-T cell-based therapies for the treatment of tumors, including the features and benefits of CAR-T therapies, the limitations that exist in this field, and the measures taken to overcome them. Furthermore, we discuss the notable benefits of utilizing exosomes released from CAR-T cells in tumor treatment and anticipate potential issues in clinical trials. Lastly, drawing from previous research on exosomes from CAR-T cells and the characteristics of exosomes, we propose strategies to overcome these restrictions. Additionally, the review discusses the plight in large-scale preparation of exosome and provides potential solutions for future clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dong Hu
- School of Basic Medicine and Forensic Medicine, Henan University of Science & Technology, Luoyang, 471023, People’s Republic of China
| | - Ruyue Yang
- School of Basic Medicine and Forensic Medicine, Henan University of Science & Technology, Luoyang, 471023, People’s Republic of China
| | - Guidan Wang
- School of Medical Technology and Engineering, Henan University of Science & Technology, Luoyang, 471023, People’s Republic of China
| | - Hao Li
- School of Basic Medicine and Forensic Medicine, Henan University of Science & Technology, Luoyang, 471023, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xulong Fan
- School of Basic Medicine and Forensic Medicine, Henan University of Science & Technology, Luoyang, 471023, People’s Republic of China
| | - Gaofeng Liang
- School of Basic Medicine and Forensic Medicine, Henan University of Science & Technology, Luoyang, 471023, People’s Republic of China
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Ding GB, Cao H, Zhu C, Chen F, Ye J, Li BC, Yang P, Stauber RH, Qiao M, Li Z. Biosynthesized tumor acidity and MMP dual-responsive plant toxin gelonin for robust cancer therapy. Biomater Sci 2024; 12:346-360. [PMID: 38099814 DOI: 10.1039/d3bm01779f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2024]
Abstract
Among all kinds of anticancer agents, small molecule drugs produce an unsatisfactory therapeutic effect due to the lack of selectivity, notorious drug resistance and side effects. Therefore, researchers have begun to pay extensive attention to macromolecular drugs with high efficacy and specificity. As a plant toxin, gelonin exerts potent antitumor activity via inhibiting intracellular protein synthesis. However, gelonin lacks a translocation domain, and thus its poor cellular uptake leads to low outcomes of antitumor response. Here, tumor acidity and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) dual-responsive functional gelonin (Trx-PVGLIG-pHLIP-gelonin, TPpG), composed of a thioredoxin (Trx) tag, a pH low insertion peptide (pHLIP), an MMP-responsive motif PVGLIG hexapeptide and gelonin, was innovatively proposed and biologically synthesized by a gene recombination technique. TPpG exhibited good thermal and serum stability, showed MMP responsiveness and could enter tumor cells under weakly acidic conditions, especially for MMP2-overexpressing HT1080 cells. Compared to low MMP2-expressing MCF-7 cells, TPpG displayed enhanced in vitro antitumor efficacy to HT1080 cells at pH 6.5 as determined by different methods. Likewise, TPpG was much more effective in triggering cell apoptosis and inhibiting protein synthesis in HT1080 cells than in MCF-7 cells. Intriguingly, with enhanced stability and pH/MMP dual responsiveness, TPpG notably inhibited subcutaneous HT1080 xenograft growth in mice and no noticeable off-target side effect was observed. This ingeniously designed strategy aims at providing new perspectives for the development of a smart platform that can intelligently respond to a tumor microenvironment for efficient protein delivery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guo-Bin Ding
- Institutes of Biomedical Sciences/School of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010070, China.
- Institute of Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
| | - Huiyan Cao
- Institute of Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
| | - Chenchen Zhu
- Institute of Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
| | - Fangyuan Chen
- Institute of Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
| | - Jiaqi Ye
- Institutes of Biomedical Sciences/School of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010070, China.
| | - Bin-Chun Li
- Institute of Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
| | - Peng Yang
- Institute of Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
| | - Roland H Stauber
- Institute of Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
- Nanobiomedicine Department/ENT, University Medical Center Mainz, Mainz 55131, Germany
| | - Mingqiang Qiao
- Institute of Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
| | - Zhuoyu Li
- Institute of Biotechnology, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
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Dhuri K, Duran T, Chaudhuri B, Slack FJ, Vikram A, Glazer PM, Bahal R. Head-to-head comparison of in vitro and in vivo efficacy of pHLIP-conjugated anti-seed gamma peptide nucleic acids. CELL REPORTS. PHYSICAL SCIENCE 2023; 4:101584. [PMID: 38144419 PMCID: PMC10745205 DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2023.101584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2023]
Abstract
Gamma peptide nucleic acids (γPNAs) have recently garnered attention in diverse therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Serine and diethylene-glycol-containing γPNAs have been tested for numerous RNA-targeting purposes. Here, we comprehensively evaluated the in vitro and in vivo efficacy of pH-low insertion peptide (pHLIP)-conjugated serine and diethylene-based γPNAs. pHLIP targets only the acidic tumor microenvironment and not the normal cells. We synthesized and parallelly tested pHLIP-serine γPNAs and pHLIP-diethylene glycol γPNAs that target the seed region of microRNA-155, a microRNA that is upregulated in various cancers. We performed an all-atom molecular dynamics simulation-based computational study to elucidate the interaction of pHLIP-γPNA constructs with the lipid bilayer. We also determined the biodistribution and efficacy of the pHLIP constructs in the U2932-derived xenograft model. Overall, we established that the pHLIP-serine γPNAs show superior results in vivo compared with the pHLIP-diethylene glycol-based γPNA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karishma Dhuri
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
| | - Tibo Duran
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
| | - Bodhisattwa Chaudhuri
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
| | - Frank J. Slack
- HMS Initiative for RNA Medicine, Department of Pathology, BIDMC Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Ajit Vikram
- Department of Internal Medicine, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
| | - Peter M. Glazer
- Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Raman Bahal
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
- Lead contact
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5
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Bloom SMK, O’Hare N, Forbes NS. Bacterial delivery of therapeutic proteins to the nuclei of cancer cells. Biotechnol Bioeng 2023; 120:1437-1448. [PMID: 36710503 PMCID: PMC10101893 DOI: 10.1002/bit.28340] [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: 10/29/2022] [Revised: 01/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Targeting nucleic targets with therapeutic proteins would enhance the treatment of hard-to-treat cancers. However, exogenous proteins are excluded from the nucleus by both the cellular and nuclear membranes. We have recently developed Salmonella that deliver active proteins into the cytoplasm of cancer cells. Here, we hypothesized that bacterially delivered proteins accumulate within nuclei, nuclear localization sequences (NLSs) increase delivery, and bacterially delivered proteins kill cancer cells. To test this hypothesis, we developed intranuclear delivering (IND) Salmonella and quantified the delivery of three model proteins. IND Salmonella delivered both ovalbumin and green fluorescent protein to nuclei of MCF7 cancer cells. The amount of protein in nuclei was linearly dependent on the amount delivered to the cytoplasm. The addition of a NLSs increased both the amount of protein in each nucleus and the number of nuclei that received protein. Delivery of Omomyc, a protein inhibitor of the nuclear transcript factor, Myc, altered cell physiology, and significantly induced cell death. These results show that IND Salmonella deliver functional proteins to the nucleus of cancerous cells. Extending this method to other transcription factors will increase the number of accessible targets for cancer therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nicholas O’Hare
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
| | - Neil S. Forbes
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
- Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
- Institute for Applied Life Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
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6
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A double-switch pHLIP system enables selective enrichment of circulating tumor microenvironment-derived extracellular vesicles. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2214912120. [PMID: 36595702 PMCID: PMC9926244 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2214912120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Circulating tumor microenvironment-derived extracellular vesicles (cTME-EVs) are gaining considerable traction in cancer research and liquid biopsy. However, the study of cTME-EVs is largely limited by the dearth of a general isolation technique to selectively enrich cTME-EVs from biological fluids for downstream analysis. In this work, we broke through this dilemma by presenting a double-switch pH-low insertion peptide (D-S pHLIP) system to exclusively harvest cTME-EVs from the blood serum of tumor mouse models. This D-S pHLIP system consists of a highly sensitive pH-driven conformational switch (pKa ≈ 6.8) that allows specific installation of D-S pHLIP on the EV membranes in TME (pH 6.5 to 6.8) and a unique hook-like switch to "lock" the peptide securely on the cTME-EVs during the systemic circulation. The D-S pHLIP-anchored cTME-EVs were magnetically enriched and then analyzed with high-resolution messenger RNA sequencing, by which more than 18 times the number of TME-related differentially expressed genes and 10 times the number of hub genes were identified, compared with those achieved by the gold-standard ultracentrifugation. This work could revolutionize basic TME research as well as clinical liquid biopsy for cancer.
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7
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Multiplexed Imaging Reveals the Spatial Relationship of the Extracellular Acidity-Targeting pHLIP with Necrosis, Hypoxia, and the Integrin-Targeting cRGD Peptide. Cells 2022; 11:cells11213499. [DOI: 10.3390/cells11213499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Revised: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 11/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
pH (low) insertion peptides (pHLIPs) have been developed for cancer imaging and therapy targeting the acidic extracellular microenvironment. However, the characteristics of intratumoral distribution (ITD) of pHLIPs are not yet fully understood. This study aimed to reveal the details of the ITD of pHLIPs and their spatial relationship with other tumor features of concern. The fluorescent dye-labeled pHLIPs were intravenously administered to subcutaneous xenograft mouse models of U87MG and IGR-OV1 expressing αVβ3 integrins (using large necrotic tumors). The αVβ3 integrin-targeting Cy5.5-RAFT-c(-RGDfK-)4 was used as a reference. In vivo and ex vivo fluorescence imaging, whole-tumor section imaging, fluorescence microscopy, and multiplexed fluorescence colocalization analysis were performed. The ITD of fluorescent dye-labeled pHLIPs was heterogeneous, having a high degree of colocalization with necrosis. A direct one-to-one comparison of highly magnified images revealed the cellular localization of pHLIP in pyknotic, karyorrhexis, and karyolytic necrotic cells. pHLIP and hypoxia were spatially contiguous but not overlapping cellularly. The hypoxic region was found between the ITDs of pHLIP and the cRGD peptide and the Ki-67 proliferative activity remained detectable in the pHLIP-accumulated regions. The results provide a better understanding of the characteristics of ITD of pHLIPs, leading to new insights into the theranostic applications of pHLIPs.
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8
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Sutrisno L, Chen H, Yoshitomi T, Kawazoe N, Yang Y, Chen G. Preparation of composite scaffolds composed of gelatin and Au nanostar-deposited black phosphorus nanosheets for the photothermal ablation of cancer cells and adipogenic differentiation of stem cells. BIOMATERIALS ADVANCES 2022; 138:212938. [PMID: 35913234 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2022.212938] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2022] [Revised: 05/11/2022] [Accepted: 05/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Photothermal nanoparticles are important in photothermal therapy. Combining different nanoparticles can achieve a high photothermal capacity. In this study, composite nanoparticles composed of black phosphorus nanosheets (BPNSs) and gold nanostars (BP-AuNSs) were synthesized by using BPNSs as the reductant. AuNSs were deposited on the BPNSs. The BP-AuNSs were further hybridized with porous gelatin scaffolds to prepare gelatin-BP-AuNS composite scaffolds. The gelatin-BP-AuNS composite scaffolds promoted cell migration and distribution. The synergistic effects of the BPNSs and AuNSs endowed the gelatin-BP-AuNS composite scaffolds with excellent photothermal properties. The gelatin-BP-AuNS composite scaffolds eliminated cancer cells after near infrared laser exposure and supported the adipogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells. Thus, this gelatin-BP-AuNS composite scaffold holds promise for breast cancer therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linawati Sutrisno
- Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
| | - Huajian Chen
- Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
| | - Toru Yoshitomi
- Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
| | - Naoki Kawazoe
- Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
| | - Yingnan Yang
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Science, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan
| | - Guoping Chen
- Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan.
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9
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Zhang Y, Chang L, Bao H, Wu X, Liu H, Gou S, Zhang J, Ni J. Constructing New Acid-Activated Anticancer Peptide by Attaching a Desirable Anionic Binding Partner Peptide. J Drug Target 2022; 30:973-982. [PMID: 35502656 DOI: 10.1080/1061186x.2022.2070627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Improving the cell selectivity of anticancer peptides (ACPs) is a major hurdle in their clinical utilization. In this study, a new acid-activated ACP was designed by conjugating a cationic ACP LK to its anionic binding partner peptide (LEH) via a disulfide linker to trigger antitumor activity at acidic pH while masking its killing activity at normal pH. Three anionic binding peptides containing different numbers of glutamic acid (Glu) and histidine were engineered to obtain an efficient acid-activated ACP. The conjugates LK-LEH2 and LK-LEH3 exhibited 6.1 and 8.0-fold higher killing activity at pH 6.0 relative to at pH 7.4, respectively, suggesting their excellent pH-dependent antitumor activity; and their cytotoxicity was 10-fold lower than that of LK. However, LK-LEH4 had no pH-responsive killing effect. Interestingly, increasing the number of Glu from 2 to 4 increased the pH-response of the physical mixture of LK and LEH; conversely, they weakly decreased the cytotoxicity of LK, suggesting that the conjugate connection was required to achieve excellent pH dependence while maintaining minimum toxicity. LK-LEH2 and LK-LEH3 were more enzymatically stable than LK, indicating their potential for in vivo application. Our work provided a basis for designing promising ACPs with good selectivity and low toxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun Zhang
- School of Pharmacy, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Linlin Chang
- School of Pharmacy, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Hexin Bao
- School of Pharmacy, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Xiaoyan Wu
- School of Pharmacy, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Hui Liu
- School of Pharmacy, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Sanhu Gou
- School of Pharmacy, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Jingying Zhang
- School of Pharmacy, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Jingman Ni
- School of Pharmacy, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.,Key Laboratory of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.,State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao, China
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10
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Wei X, Zhao H, Huang G, Liu J, He W, Huang Q. ES-MION-Based Dual-Modality PET/MRI Probes for Acidic Tumor Microenvironment Imaging. ACS OMEGA 2022; 7:3442-3451. [PMID: 35128253 PMCID: PMC8811892 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c05815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2021] [Accepted: 12/31/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Among all characteristics of the tumor microenvironment (TME), which are caused by abnormal proliferation of solid tumors, extracellular acidity is an important indicator for malignancy grading. pH-low insertion peptides (pHLIPs) are adopted to discern the acidic TME. To date, different imaging agents including fluorescent, positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agents with pHLIPs to target the acidic TME have been used to image various tumor models successfully. In this article, a PET/MRI dual-modality probe, based on extremely small magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (ES-MIONs) with pHLIPs as a targeting unit, was proposed for the first time. In the phantom study, the probe showed relatively high r 1 relaxivity (r 1 = 1.03 mM-1 s-1), indicating that it could be used as a T1-weighted MR contrast agent. The 68Ga-radiolabeled probe was further studied in vitro and in vivo to evaluate pHLIP targeting efficacy and feasibility for PET/MRI. PET with intratumoral injection and T1-weighted MRI with intravenous injection both showed pHLIP-specific delivery of the probe. Therefore, we successfully designed and developed a radiolabeled ES-MION-based dual-modality PET/MRI agent to target the acidic tumor microenvironment. Although the accumulation of the probe in tumors with intravenous injection was not high enough to exhibit signals in the PET imaging study, our study still provides further insights into the ES-MION-based PET/MRI strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiuyan Wei
- Medical
Chemistry and Bioinformatics Center, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Haitao Zhao
- Department
of Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Clinical Nuclear Medicine, Renji
Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao
Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China
| | - Gang Huang
- Shanghai
Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, Shanghai
University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Shanghai 201318, China
| | - Jianhua Liu
- Medical
Chemistry and Bioinformatics Center, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Weina He
- Medical
Chemistry and Bioinformatics Center, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Qingqing Huang
- Shanghai
Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, Shanghai
University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Shanghai 201318, China
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