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Huang X, Xu L, Qian H, Wang X, Tao Z. Polymalic acid for translational nanomedicine. J Nanobiotechnology 2022; 20:295. [PMID: 35729582 PMCID: PMC9210645 DOI: 10.1186/s12951-022-01497-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
With rich carboxyl groups in the side chain, biodegradable polymalic acid (PMLA) is an ideal delivery platform for multifunctional purposes, including imaging diagnosis and targeting therapy. This polymeric material can be obtained via chemical synthesis, or biological production where L-malic acids are polymerized in the presence of PMLA synthetase inside a variety of microorganisms. Fermentative methods have been employed to produce PMLAs from biological sources, and analytical assessments have been established to characterize this natural biopolymer. Further functionalized, PMLA serves as a versatile carrier of pharmaceutically active molecules at nano scale. In this review, we first delineate biosynthesis of PMLA in different microorganisms and compare with its chemical synthesis. We then introduce the biodegradation mechanism PMLA, its upscaled bioproduction together with characterization. After discussing advantages and disadvantages of PMLA as a suitable delivery carrier, and strategies used to functionalize PMLA for disease diagnosis and therapy, we finally summarize the current challenges in the biomedical applications of PMLA and envisage the future role of PMLA in clinical nanomedicine. The biosynthesis of polymalic acid (PMLA) and its biotechnical high-grade production from microorganisms compared with the chemical synthesis of PMLA The physicochemical and biological characteristics of PMLA and its derivatives How PMLA’s general chemical characteristics can be used to generate various macromolecular compounds for pharmaceutical delivery The concepts of biological and clinical targeting exemplified by PMLA-based drugs and imaging agents and their biodistribution and biodegradability An evaluation of the mechanisms that generate preclinical antitumor efficacy and the translational potential for clinical imaging
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Affiliation(s)
- Xing Huang
- Center for Evidence-Based and Translational Medicine, Department of Urology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, Hubei, China
| | - Liusheng Xu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Medical Science and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, Jiangsu, China
| | - Hui Qian
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Medical Science and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, Jiangsu, China.,Zhenjiang Key Laboratory of High Technology Research On Exosomes Foundation and Transformation Application, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, Jiangsu, China
| | - Xinghuan Wang
- Center for Evidence-Based and Translational Medicine, Department of Urology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, Hubei, China.
| | - Zhimin Tao
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Medical Science and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, Jiangsu, China. .,Zhenjiang Key Laboratory of High Technology Research On Exosomes Foundation and Transformation Application, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, Jiangsu, China.
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Biosynthetic Polymalic Acid as a Delivery Nanoplatform for Translational Cancer Medicine. Trends Biochem Sci 2020; 46:213-224. [PMID: 33268216 PMCID: PMC7580597 DOI: 10.1016/j.tibs.2020.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2020] [Revised: 09/08/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Poly(β-L-malic acid) (PMLA) is a natural polyester produced by numerous microorganisms. Regarding its biosynthetic machinery, a nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) is proposed to direct polymerization of L-malic acid in vivo. Chemically versatile and biologically compatible, PMLA can be used as an ideal carrier for several molecules, including nucleotides, proteins, chemotherapeutic drugs, and imaging agents, and can deliver multimodal theranostics through biological barriers such as the blood–brain barrier. We focus on PMLA biosynthesis in microorganisms, summarize the physicochemical and physiochemical characteristics of PMLA as a naturally derived polymeric delivery platform at nanoscale, and highlight the attachment of functional groups to enhance cancer detection and treatment.
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Korza G, Abini-Agbomson S, Setlow B, Shen A, Setlow P. Levels of L-malate and other low molecular weight metabolites in spores of Bacillus species and Clostridium difficile. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0182656. [PMID: 28850573 PMCID: PMC5574573 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2017] [Accepted: 07/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Dormant spores of Bacillus species lack ATP and NADH and contain notable levels of only a few other common low mol wt energy reserves, including 3-phosphoglyceric acid (3PGA), and glutamic acid. Recently, Bacillus subtilis spores were reported to contain ~ 30 μmol of L-malate/g dry wt, which also could serve as an energy reserve. In present work, L-malate levels were determined in the core of dormant spores of B. subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus megaterium and Clostridium difficile, using both an enzymatic assay and 13C-NMR on extracts prepared by several different methods. These assays found that levels of L-malate in B. cereus and B. megaterium spores were ≤ 0.5 μmol/g dry wt, and ≤ 1 μmol/g dry wt in B. subtilis spores, and levels of L-lactate and pyruvate in B. megaterium and B. subtilis spores were < 0.5 μmol/g dry wt. Levels of L-malate in C. difficile spores were ≤ 1 μmol/g dry wt, while levels of 3PGA were ~ 7 μmol/g; the latter value was determined by 31P-NMR, and is in between the 3PGA levels in B. megaterium and B. subtilis spores determined previously. 13C-NMR analysis of spore extracts further showed that B. megaterium, B. subtilis and C. difficile contained significant levels of carbonate/bicarbonate in the spore core. Low mol wt carbon-containing small molecules present at > 3 μmol/g dry spores are: i) dipicolinic acid, carbonate/bicarbonate and 3PGA in B. megaterium, B. subtilis and C. difficile; ii) glutamate in B. megaterium and B. subtilis; iii) arginine in B. subtilis; and iv) at least one unidentified compound in all three species.
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Affiliation(s)
- George Korza
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, UConn Health, Farmington, CT, United States of America
| | - Stephen Abini-Agbomson
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, UConn Health, Farmington, CT, United States of America
| | - Barbara Setlow
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, UConn Health, Farmington, CT, United States of America
| | - Aimee Shen
- Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Peter Setlow
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, UConn Health, Farmington, CT, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Itoh K, Izumi A, Mori T, Dohmae N, Yui R, Maeda-Sano K, Shirai Y, Kanaoka MM, Kuroiwa T, Higashiyama T, Sugita M, Murakami-Murofushi K, Kawano S, Sasaki N. DNA packaging proteins Glom and Glom2 coordinately organize the mitochondrial nucleoid of Physarum polycephalum. Mitochondrion 2011; 11:575-86. [PMID: 21406253 DOI: 10.1016/j.mito.2011.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2010] [Revised: 02/03/2011] [Accepted: 03/04/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is generally packaged into the mitochondrial nucleoid (mt-nucleoid) by a high-mobility group (HMG) protein. Glom is an mtDNA-packaging HMG protein in Physarum polycephalum. Here we identified a new mtDNA-packaging protein, Glom2, which had a region homologous with yeast Mgm101. Glom2 could bind to an entire mtDNA and worked synergistically with Glom for condensation of mtDNA in vitro. Down-regulation of Glom2 enhanced the alteration of mt-nucleoid morphology and the loss of mtDNA induced by down-regulation of Glom, and impaired mRNA accumulation of some mtDNA-encoded genes. These data suggest that Glom2 may organize the mt-nucleoid coordinately with Glom.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kie Itoh
- Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan.
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Physarum polymalic acid hydrolase: Recombinant expression and enzyme activation. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2008; 377:735-40. [PMID: 18845127 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2008.09.127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2008] [Accepted: 09/23/2008] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
As a platform for syntheses of nanoconjugates in antitumor drug delivery, polymalic acid together with its tailoring specific exohydrolase is purified from plasmodium cultures of the slime mold Physarum polycephalum, a member of the phylum myxomycota. Polymalic acid hydrolase is expressed in an inactive form that functions as a molecular adapter for polymalic acid trafficking within the plasmodium and is activated only during secretion. Activation follows specific protein tyrosine phosphorylation and dissociation from plasma membranes. Purified inactive Physarum polymalic acid hydrolase, recombinantly expressed in yeast Saccharomyces, is activated on a preparative basis by the addition of plasma membrane fragments from plasmodia of P. polycephalum. Activation of polymalic acid hydrolase and inhibition of polymalic acid synthesis by protein tyrosine phosphorylation are complementary events and could indicate a joint signal response to plasma membrane damage.
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