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Zakeri-Milani P, Najafi-Hajivar S, Sarfraz M, Nokhodchi A, Mohammadi H, Montazersaheb S, Niazi M, Hemmatzadeh M, Soleymani-Goloujeh M, Baradaran B, Shahbazi Mojarrad J, Farshbaf M, Gholikhani T, Valizadeh H. Cytotoxicity and Immunogenicity Evaluation of Synthetic Cell-penetrating Peptides for Methotrexate Delivery. IRANIAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH : IJPR 2021; 20:506-515. [PMID: 34904004 PMCID: PMC8653662 DOI: 10.22037/ijpr.2021.114429.14842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Methotrexate (MTX) is one of the most effective therapeutics to treat different types of solid tumors; however, it suffers low permeability limiting its bioavailability and cellular uptake. To tackle this, we aim to design and fabricate different types of cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) to improve the intracellular uptake of MTX without causing any immunogenic response. CPPs were synthesized by the solid-phase peptide synthesis method. Peptide-MTX conjugates were prepared via covalent binding of peptide and drug molecule. CPPs and peptide-E8 nanoparticles were characterized using zeta-sizer and scanning electron microscopy. Cytotoxicity of CPPs and peptide-MTX conjugates was evaluated by MTT assay. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was employed to assess the IL-6 and TNF-α cytokine release profile. Amongst all sequences, W4R4-MTX possessed the highest loading efficiency (97%) and drug to peptide percentage (24.02%). The lowest loading efficiency (36%) and drug to peptide percentage (8.76%) were seen for NGRWK-MTX conjugates. The NGRWR peptide and NGRWR-E8 nanoparticles had acceptable size (~100 nm) with spherical and rod-like structures, respectively. The selected CPPs and peptide-MTX conjugates did not show any cytotoxicity or immunogenicity. The fabricated peptides are represented as promising carriers to improve the intracellular delivery of MTX to cancer cells with low immunogenic and cytotoxic effects on normal cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Parvin Zakeri-Milani
- Liver and Gastrointestinal Diseases Research Center and Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
| | - Saeedeh Najafi-Hajivar
- Student Research Committee, and Department of Medical Nanotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
| | | | - Ali Nokhodchi
- Pharmaceutics Research Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QJ, United Kingdom.
| | - Hamed Mohammadi
- Immunology Research Center, and Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
| | - Soheila Montazersaheb
- Stem Cell Research Center, and Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
| | - Mehri Niazi
- Student Research Committee, and Department of Medical Nanotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
| | - Maryam Hemmatzadeh
- Immunology Research Center, and Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
| | - Mehdi Soleymani-Goloujeh
- Student Research Committee, and Department of Medical Nanotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
| | - Behzad Baradaran
- Immunology Research Center, and Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
| | - Javid Shahbazi Mojarrad
- Biotechnology Research Center, and Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
| | - Masoud Farshbaf
- Student Research Committee, and Department of Medical Nanotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
| | - Tooba Gholikhani
- Drug Applied Research Center and Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
| | - Hadi Valizadeh
- Drug Applied Research Center and Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.,Corresponding author: E-mail:
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Zakeri-Milani P, Mussa Farkhani S, Shirani A, Mohammadi S, Shahbazi Mojarrad J, Akbari J, Valizadeh H. Cellular uptake and anti-tumor activity of gemcitabine conjugated with new amphiphilic cell penetrating peptides. EXCLI JOURNAL 2017; 16:650-662. [PMID: 28694765 PMCID: PMC5491906 DOI: 10.17179/excli2017-249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2017] [Accepted: 04/28/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Gemcitabine (Gem) is used as a single agent or in combination with other anticancer agents to treat many types of solid tumors. However, it has many limitations such as a short plasma half-life, dose-limiting toxicities and drug resistance. Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are short peptides which may deliver a large variety of cargo molecules into the cancerous cells. The current study was designed to evaluate the antiproliferative activity of gemcitabine chemically conjugated to CPPs. The peptides were synthesized using solid phase synthesis procedure. The uptake efficiency of CPPs into cells was examined by flow cytometry and fluorescent microscopy. The synthesized peptides were chemically conjugated to Gem and the in vitro cytotoxicity of conjugates was tested by MTT assay on A594 cell line. According to the obtained results, cellular uptake was increased with increasing the concentration of CPPs. On the other hand the coupling of Gem with peptides containing block sequence of arginine (R5W3R4) and some alternating sequences (i.e. [RW]6 and [RW]3) exhibited improved antitumor activity of the drug. The findings in this study support the advantages of using cell-penetrating peptides for improving intracellular delivery of Gem into tumor as well as its activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Parvin Zakeri-Milani
- Liver and Gastrointestinal Diseases Research Center and Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Samad Mussa Farkhani
- Research Center for Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology and Department of Medical Nanotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.,Student Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Ali Shirani
- Research Center for Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology and Department of Medical Nanotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.,Student Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Samaneh Mohammadi
- Research Center for Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology and Department of Medical Nanotechnology, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.,Student Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Javid Shahbazi Mojarrad
- Drug Applied Research Center and Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Jafar Akbari
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
| | - Hadi Valizadeh
- Drug Applied Research Center and Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
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Kim S, Lee JH, Kang I, Hyun S, Yu J, Shin C. An Amphiphilic Peptide Induces Apoptosis Through the miR29b-p53 Pathway in Cancer Cells. MOLECULAR THERAPY. NUCLEIC ACIDS 2016; 5:e330. [PMID: 27377134 PMCID: PMC5014530 DOI: 10.1038/mtna.2016.45] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2016] [Accepted: 05/17/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Peptides have been in the limelight, as therapeutic agents for cancer treatment through various applications due to their high target selectivity and exceptional ability to penetrate the cell membrane. Recent studies have revealed that synthesized peptides bind to hairpin structures of RNA that affect their activities such as changing the efficacy of microRNA maturation. MicroRNA-mediated p53 activation by the microRNA-29 (miR29) family is one of the most important regulatory pathways in cancer therapeutics. By targeting the suppressors of p53, a tumor suppressor protein, miR29 induces apoptosis of cancer cells through p53 stabilization. Here, we identify a novel synthesized amphiphilic peptide, LK-L1C/K6W/L8C, which enhances expression of miR29b and promotes p53 activity. In the presence of LK-L1C/K6W/L8C, pre-miR29b preferentially forms a complex with the Dicer protein through interaction of LK-L1C/K6W/L8C with the terminal loop region of pre-miR29b, leading to an increase in Dicer processing. Furthermore, LK-L1C/K6W/L8C stimulates apoptosis by improving p53 stability in miR29-inducible HeLa and MCF7 cells. Collectively, our study shows that a peptide can directly influence the miR29b-mediated p53 activation pathway in cancer cells. Therefore, our findings provide the basis for a new, potentially promising peptide-based drug for cancer therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soyoung Kim
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jung Hyun Lee
- Cutaneous Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Igojo Kang
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Soonsil Hyun
- Department of Chemistry and Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jaehoon Yu
- Department of Chemistry and Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Chanseok Shin
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Plant Genomics and Breeding Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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