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Kim WJ, Kim GR, Cho HJ, Choi JM. The Cysteine-Containing Cell-Penetrating Peptide AP Enables Efficient Macromolecule Delivery to T Cells and Controls Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis. Pharmaceutics 2021; 13:pharmaceutics13081134. [PMID: 34452095 PMCID: PMC8401785 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics13081134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Revised: 07/17/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
T cells are key immune cells involved in the pathogenesis of several diseases, rendering them important therapeutic targets. Although drug delivery to T cells is the subject of continuous research, it remains challenging to deliver drugs to primary T cells. Here, we used a peptide-based drug delivery system, AP, which was previously developed as a transdermal delivery peptide, to modulate T cell function. We first identified that AP-conjugated enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) was efficiently delivered to non-phagocytic human T cells. We also confirmed that a nine-amino acid sequence with one cysteine residue was the optimal sequence for protein delivery to T cells. Next, we identified the biodistribution of AP-dTomato protein in vivo after systemic administration, and transduced it to various tissues, such as the spleen, liver, intestines, and even to the brain across the blood–brain barrier. Next, to confirm AP-based T cell regulation, we synthesized the AP-conjugated cytoplasmic domain of CTLA-4, AP-ctCTLA-4 peptide. AP-ctCTLA-4 reduced IL-17A expression under Th17 differentiation conditions in vitro and ameliorated experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, with decreased numbers of pathogenic IL-17A+GM-CSF+ CD4 T cells. These results collectively suggest the AP peptide can be used for the successful intracellular regulation of T cell function, especially in the CNS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Won-Ju Kim
- Department of Life Science, College of Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea; (W.-J.K.); (G.-R.K.); (H.-J.C.)
- Research Institute for Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea
| | - Gil-Ran Kim
- Department of Life Science, College of Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea; (W.-J.K.); (G.-R.K.); (H.-J.C.)
- Research Institute for Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea
| | - Hyun-Jung Cho
- Department of Life Science, College of Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea; (W.-J.K.); (G.-R.K.); (H.-J.C.)
- Research Institute for Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea
| | - Je-Min Choi
- Department of Life Science, College of Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea; (W.-J.K.); (G.-R.K.); (H.-J.C.)
- Research Institute for Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea
- Research Institute for Convergence of Basic Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +82-2-2220-4765
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Koo JH, Kim DH, Cha D, Kang MJ, Choi JM. LRR domain of NLRX1 protein delivery by dNP2 inhibits T cell functions and alleviates autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Theranostics 2020; 10:3138-3150. [PMID: 32194859 PMCID: PMC7053182 DOI: 10.7150/thno.43441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2019] [Accepted: 01/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS), which is a chronic progressive disease and is caused by uncontrolled activation of myelin antigen specific T cells. It has high unmet medical needs due to the difficulty of efficient drug delivery into the CNS to control tissue inflammation. In this study, we demonstrate that a fusion protein of NOD-like receptor family member X1 (NLRX1) and blood brain barrier (BBB)-permeable peptide, dNP2 ameliorates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Methods: We purified recombinant LRR or NBD regions of NLRX1 protein conjugated with dNP2. To examine intracellular delivery efficiency of the recombinant protein, we incubated the proteins with Jurkat T cells or murine splenic T cells and their delivery efficiency was analyzed by flow cytometry. To investigate the therapeutic efficacy in an EAE model, we injected the recombinant protein into mice with 3 different treatment schemes e.g., prevention, semi-therapeutic, and therapeutic. To analyze their functional roles in T cells, we treated MACS-sorted naïve CD4 T cells with the proteins during their activation and differentiation into Th1, Th17, and Treg cells. Results: dNP2-LRR protein treatment showed significantly higher delivery efficiency than TAT-LRR or LRR alone in Jurkat T cells and mouse splenic T cells. In all three treatment schemes of EAE experiments, dNP2-LRR administration showed ameliorated tissue inflammation and disease severity with reduced number of infiltrating T cells producing inflammatory cytokines such as IFNγ. In addition, dNP2-LRR inhibited T cell activation, cytokine production, and Th1 differentiation. Conclusion: These results suggest that dNP2-LRR is a novel agent, which regulates effector T cell functions and could be a promising molecule for the treatment of CNS autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis.
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The Enigmatic Function of PARP1: From PARylation Activity to PAR Readers. Cells 2019; 8:cells8121625. [PMID: 31842403 PMCID: PMC6953017 DOI: 10.3390/cells8121625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2019] [Revised: 12/09/2019] [Accepted: 12/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation (PARylation) is catalysed by poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases (PARPs, also known as ARTDs) and then rapidly removed by degrading enzymes. Poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) is produced from PARylation and provides a delicate and spatiotemporal interaction scaffold for numerous target proteins. The PARylation system, consisting of PAR synthesizers and erasers and PAR itself and readers, plays diverse roles in the DNA damage response (DDR), DNA repair, transcription, replication, chromatin remodeling, metabolism, and cell death. Despite great efforts by scientists in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, genetics, and pharmacology over the last five decades, the biology of PARPs and PARylation remains enigmatic. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the biological function of PARP1 (ARTD1), the founding member of the PARP family, focusing on the inter-dependent or -independent nature of different functional domains of the PARP1 protein. We also discuss the readers of PAR, whose function may transduce signals and coordinate the cellular processes, which has recently emerged as a new research avenue for PARP biology. We aim to provide some perspective on how future research might disentangle the biology of PARylation by dissecting the structural and functional relationship of PARP1, a major effector of the PARPs family.
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Kardani K, Milani A, H Shabani S, Bolhassani A. Cell penetrating peptides: the potent multi-cargo intracellular carriers. Expert Opin Drug Deliv 2019; 16:1227-1258. [PMID: 31583914 DOI: 10.1080/17425247.2019.1676720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 113] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Introduction: Cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) known as protein translocation domains (PTD), membrane translocating sequences (MTS), or Trojan peptides (TP) are able to cross biological membranes without clear toxicity using different mechanisms, and facilitate the intracellular delivery of a variety of bioactive cargos. CPPs could overcome some limitations of drug delivery and combat resistant strains against a broad range of diseases. Despite delivery of different therapeutic molecules by CPPs, they lack cell specificity and have a short duration of action. These limitations led to design of combined cargo delivery systems and subsequently improvement of their clinical applications. Areas covered: This review covers all our studies and other researchers in different aspects of CPPs such as classification, uptake mechanisms, and biomedical applications. Expert opinion: Due to low cytotoxicity of CPPs as compared to other carriers and final degradation to amino acids, they are suitable for preclinical and clinical studies. Generally, the efficiency of CPPs was suitable to penetrate the cell membrane and deliver different cargos to specific intracellular sites. However, no CPP-based therapeutic approach has approved by FDA, yet; because there are some disadvantages for CPPs including short half-life in blood, and nonspecific CPP-mediated delivery to normal tissue. Thus, some methods were used to develop the functions of CPPs in vitro and in vivo including the augmentation of cell specificity by activatable CPPs, specific transport into cell organelles by insertion of corresponding localization sequences, incorporation of CPPs into multifunctional dendrimeric or liposomal nanocarriers to improve selectivity and efficiency especially in tumor cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimia Kardani
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran , Tehran , Iran
| | - Alireza Milani
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran , Tehran , Iran
| | - Samaneh H Shabani
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran , Tehran , Iran
| | - Azam Bolhassani
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran , Tehran , Iran
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Ding Y, Zhao X, Geng J, Guo X, Ma J, Wang H, Liu C. Intracellular delivery of nucleic acid by cell-permeable hPP10 peptide. J Cell Physiol 2018; 234:11670-11678. [PMID: 30515802 DOI: 10.1002/jcp.27826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2018] [Accepted: 11/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Although gene therapy offers hope against incurable diseases, nonreplicating transduction vectors remain lacking. We have previously characterized a cell-penetrating peptide hPP10 for the delivery of various cargoes; however, whether hPP10 can mediate nucleic acid delivery is still unknown. Here, examining via different ways, we demonstrate that hPP10 stably complexes with plasmid DNA (pDNA) and safely mediates nucleic acid transfection. hPP10 can mediate GFP-, dsRed-, and luciferase-expressing plasmids into cells with nearly the same efficiency as commercial transfection reagents Turbofectin or Lipofect. Furthermore, hPP10 can mediate Cre fusion protein delivery and pDNA transfection simultaneously in the Cre/loxp system in vitro. In addition, hPP10 fused with an RNA-binding domain can mediate delivery of small interfering RNA into cells to silence the reporter gene expression. Collectively, our results suggest that hPP10 is an option for nucleic acid delivery with efficiencies similar to that of commercial reagents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Ding
- Hubei Key Lab of Tumor Microenvironment and Immunotherapy, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China.,Department of Pathology and Immunology, Medical School, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China
| | - Xueli Zhao
- Hubei Key Lab of Tumor Microenvironment and Immunotherapy, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China.,Department of Pathology and Immunology, Medical School, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China
| | - Jingping Geng
- Hubei Key Lab of Tumor Microenvironment and Immunotherapy, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China.,Department of Pathology and Immunology, Medical School, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China
| | - Xiangli Guo
- Hubei Key Lab of Tumor Microenvironment and Immunotherapy, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China.,Department of Pathology and Immunology, Medical School, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China
| | - Jielan Ma
- Hubei Key Lab of Tumor Microenvironment and Immunotherapy, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China.,Department of Pathology and Immunology, Medical School, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China
| | - Hu Wang
- Hubei Key Lab of Tumor Microenvironment and Immunotherapy, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China.,Department of Pathology and Immunology, Medical School, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China.,Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Changbai Liu
- Hubei Key Lab of Tumor Microenvironment and Immunotherapy, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China.,Department of Pathology and Immunology, Medical School, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China
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Gallo M, Defaus S, Andreu D. 1988-2018: Thirty years of drug smuggling at the nano scale. Challenges and opportunities of cell-penetrating peptides in biomedical research. Arch Biochem Biophys 2018; 661:74-86. [PMID: 30447207 DOI: 10.1016/j.abb.2018.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2018] [Revised: 11/08/2018] [Accepted: 11/12/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
In 1988, two unrelated papers reported the discovery of peptide vectors with innate cell translocation properties, setting the ground for a new area of research that over the years has grown into considerable therapeutic potential. The vectors, named cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), constitute a now large and diversified family, sharing the extraordinary ability to diffuse unaltered across cell membranes while ferrying diverse associated cargos. Such properties have made CPPs ideal tools for delivery of nucleic acids, proteins and other therapeutic/diagnostic molecules to cells and tissues via covalent conjugation or complexation. This year 2018 marks the 30th anniversary of a peptide research landmark opening new perspectives in drug delivery. Given its vastness, exhaustive coverage of the main features and accomplishments in the CPP field is virtually impossible. Hence this manuscript, after saluting the above 30th jubilee, focuses by necessity on the most recent contributions, providing a comprehensive list of recognized CPPs and their latest-reported applications over the last two years. In addition, it thoroughly reviews three areas of peptide vector research of particular interest to us, namely (i) efficient transport of low-bioavailability drugs into the brain; (ii) CPP-delivered disruptors of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCRs) heteromers related to several disorders, and (iii) CPP-mediated delivery of useful but poorly internalized drugs into parasites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Gallo
- Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sira Defaus
- Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
| | - David Andreu
- Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
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