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Parrasia S, Szabò I, Zoratti M, Biasutto L. Peptides as Pharmacological Carriers to the Brain: Promises, Shortcomings and Challenges. Mol Pharm 2022; 19:3700-3729. [PMID: 36174227 DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.2c00523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Central nervous system (CNS) diseases are among the most difficult to treat, mainly because the vast majority of the drugs fail to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) or to reach the brain at concentrations adequate to exert a pharmacological activity. The obstacle posed by the BBB has led to the in-depth study of strategies allowing the brain delivery of CNS-active drugs. Among the most promising strategies is the use of peptides addressed to the BBB. Peptides are versatile molecules that can be used to decorate nanoparticles or can be conjugated to drugs, with either a stable link or as pro-drugs. They have been used to deliver to the brain both small molecules and proteins, with applications in diverse therapeutic areas such as brain cancers, neurodegenerative diseases and imaging. Peptides can be generally classified as receptor-targeted, recognizing membrane proteins expressed by the BBB microvessels (e.g., Angiopep2, CDX, and iRGD), "cell-penetrating peptides" (CPPs; e.g. TAT47-57, SynB1/3, and Penetratin), undergoing transcytosis through unspecific mechanisms, or those exploiting a mixed approach. The advantages of peptides have been extensively pointed out, but so far few studies have focused on the potential negative aspects. Indeed, despite having a generally good safety profile, some peptide conjugates may display toxicological characteristics distinct from those of the peptide itself, causing for instance antigenicity, cardiovascular alterations or hemolysis. Other shortcomings are the often brief lifetime in vivo, caused by the presence of peptidases, the vulnerability to endosomal/lysosomal degradation, and the frequently still insufficient attainable increase of brain drug levels, which remain below the therapeutically useful concentrations. The aim of this review is to analyze not only the successful and promising aspects of the use of peptides in brain targeting but also the problems posed by this strategy for drug delivery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sofia Parrasia
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, Viale G. Colombo 3, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Ildikò Szabò
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, Viale G. Colombo 3, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Mario Zoratti
- CNR Neuroscience Institute, Viale G. Colombo 3, 35131 Padova, Italy.,Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Viale G. Colombo 3, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Lucia Biasutto
- CNR Neuroscience Institute, Viale G. Colombo 3, 35131 Padova, Italy.,Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Viale G. Colombo 3, 35131 Padova, Italy
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Karal MAS, Mokta NA, Levadny V, Belaya M, Ahmed M, Ahamed MK, Ahammed S. Effects of cholesterol on the size distribution and bending modulus of lipid vesicles. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0263119. [PMID: 35089965 PMCID: PMC8797199 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2021] [Accepted: 01/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The influence of cholesterol fraction in the membranes of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) on their size distributions and bending moduli has been investigated. The membranes of GUVs were synthesized by a mixture of two elements: electrically neutral lipid 1, 2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) and cholesterol and also a mixture of three elements: electrically charged lipid 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-(1′-rac-glycerol) (DOPG), DOPC and cholesterol. The size distributions of GUVs have been presented by a set of histograms. The classical lognormal distribution is well fitted to the histograms, from where the average size of vesicle is obtained. The increase of cholesterol content in the membranes of GUVs increases the average size of vesicles in the population. Using the framework of Helmholtz free energy of the system, the theory developed by us is extended to explain the experimental results. The theory determines the influence of cholesterol on the bending modulus of membranes from the fitting of the proper histograms. The increase of cholesterol in GUVs increases both the average size of vesicles in population and the bending modulus of membranes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Abu Sayem Karal
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh
- * E-mail:
| | - Nadia Akter Mokta
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Victor Levadny
- Theoretical Problem Center of Physico-Chemical Pharmacology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Marina Belaya
- Department of Mathematics of Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, Russia
| | - Marzuk Ahmed
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Md. Kabir Ahamed
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Shareef Ahammed
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh
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Cell-Penetrating Peptides and Transportan. Pharmaceutics 2021; 13:pharmaceutics13070987. [PMID: 34210007 PMCID: PMC8308968 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics13070987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Revised: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 06/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In the most recent 25–30 years, multiple novel mechanisms and applications of cell-penetrating peptides (CPP) have been demonstrated, leading to novel drug delivery systems. In this review, I present a brief introduction to the CPP area with selected recent achievements. This is followed by a nostalgic journey into the research in my own laboratories, which lead to multiple CPPs, starting from transportan and paving a way to CPP-based therapeutic developments in the delivery of bio-functional materials, such as peptides, proteins, vaccines, oligonucleotides and small molecules, etc.
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Ahmed M, Karal MAS, Ahamed MK, Ullah MS. Analysis of purification of charged giant vesicles in a buffer using their size distribution. THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL. E, SOFT MATTER 2021; 44:62. [PMID: 33909146 DOI: 10.1140/epje/s10189-021-00071-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2021] [Accepted: 04/13/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
We have analyzed the purification of charged giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) prepared in a buffer containing various concentrations of salt using their size distribution. The membranes of GUVs were synthesized by a mixture of dioleoylphosphocholine (DOPC) and dioleoylphosphatidylglycerol (DOPG) lipids. The DOPG mole fractions (X) in the membranes of GUVs were 0.10, 0.25, 0.40, 0.55, 0.70, 0.90 in a physiological buffer containing 162 mM salt. In addition, for a fixed value of X the concentrations of salt (C) in the buffer were 12, 62, 112, 162, 212, 312, 362 mM. The size distribution histograms of experimentally investigated unpurified and purified GUVs were fitted with the lognormal distribution and obtained the multiplication factor [Formula: see text] for mean ([Formula: see text]) and [Formula: see text] for standard deviation ([Formula: see text]) of the lognormal distribution. The key parameters [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] were responsible for changing the average size and size distribution of unpurified GUVs to purified ones. The theoretically fitting equation of experimentally obtained X- and C-dependent values of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] provided the calibration equation for estimating the average size of purified GUVs theoretically for any values of X and C. The estimated size of purified GUVs increased with the increase in electrostatic effect (i.e., increase in vesicle surface charge density or decrease in salt concentration in buffer). The estimated size of purified GUVs varied with X and C, which supported the previous report qualitatively. These investigations might be helpful in the field of cell/chemical biology for understanding the process of purification of vesicles/cells investigated by any other techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marzuk Ahmed
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh
| | - Mohammad Abu Sayem Karal
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh.
| | - Md Kabir Ahamed
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh
| | - Muhammad Samir Ullah
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh
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An investigation into the critical tension of electroporation in anionic lipid vesicles. EUROPEAN BIOPHYSICS JOURNAL: EBJ 2020; 50:99-106. [PMID: 33245397 DOI: 10.1007/s00249-020-01477-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2020] [Revised: 08/15/2020] [Accepted: 11/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a technique for the disruption of localized cells or vesicles by a series of short and high-frequency electric pulses which has been used for tissue ablation and treatment in certain diseases. It is well reported that IRE induces lateral tension in the membranes of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). The GUVs are prepared by a mixture of anionic lipid dioleoylphosphatidylglycerol (DOPG) and neutral lipid dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) using the natural swelling method. Here the influence of DOPG mole fraction, XDOPG, on the critical tension of electroporation in GUVs has been investigated in sodium chloride-containing PIPES buffer. The critical tension decreases from 9.0 ± 0.3 to 6.0 ± 0.2 mN/m with the increase of XDOPG from 0.0 to 0.60 in the membranes of GUVs. Hence an increase in XDOPG greatly decreases the mechanical stability of membranes. We develop a theoretical equation that fits the XDOPG dependent normalized critical tension, and obtain a binding constant for the lipid-ion interaction of 0.75 M-1. The decrease in the energy barrier for formation of the nano-size nascent or prepore state, due to the increase in XDOPG, is the main factor explaining the decrease in critical tension of electroporation in vesicles.
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Karal MAS, Orchi US, Towhiduzzaman M, Ahamed MK, Ahmed M, Ahammed S, Mokta NA, Sharmin S, Sarkar MK. Electrostatic effects on the electrical tension-induced irreversible pore formation in giant unilamellar vesicles. Chem Phys Lipids 2020; 231:104935. [PMID: 32569600 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemphyslip.2020.104935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2020] [Revised: 06/11/2020] [Accepted: 06/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a new technique in which a series of short pulses with high frequency electrical energy is applied on the targeted regions of cells or vesicles for their destruction or rupture formation. IRE induces lateral tension in the membranes of vesicles. We have investigated the electrostatic interaction effects on the constant electrical tension-induced rate constant of irreversible pore formation in the membranes of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). The electrostatic interaction has been varied by changing the salt concentration in buffer and the surface charge density of membranes. The membranes of GUVs are synthesized by a mixture of negatively charged lipid dioleoylphosphatidylglycerol (DOPG) and neutral lipid dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) using the natural swelling method. The rate constant of pore formation increases with the decrease of salt concentration in buffer along with the increase of surface charge density of membranes. The tension dependent probability of pore formation and the rate constant of pore formation are fitted to the theoretical equation, and obtained the line tension of membranes. The decrease in energy barrier of a prepore due to electrostatic interaction is the key factor causing an increase of rate constant of pore formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Abu Sayem Karal
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
| | - Urbi Shyamolima Orchi
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
| | - Md Towhiduzzaman
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
| | - Md Kabir Ahamed
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
| | - Marzuk Ahmed
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
| | - Shareef Ahammed
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
| | - Nadia Akter Mokta
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
| | - Sabrina Sharmin
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh; Department of Arts and Science, Ahsanullah University of Science & Technology, Dhaka 1208, Bangladesh
| | - Malay Kumar Sarkar
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh; Department of Arts and Science, Ahsanullah University of Science & Technology, Dhaka 1208, Bangladesh
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Karal MAS, Ahamed MK, Mokta NA, Ahmed M, Ahammed S. Influence of cholesterol on electroporation in lipid membranes of giant vesicles. EUROPEAN BIOPHYSICS JOURNAL: EBJ 2020; 49:361-370. [PMID: 32535676 DOI: 10.1007/s00249-020-01443-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2020] [Revised: 05/19/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is primarily a nonthermal ablative technology that uses a series of high-voltage and ultra-short pulses with high-frequency electrical energy to induce cell death. This paper presents the influence of cholesterol on the IRE-induced probability of pore formation and the rate constant of pore formation in giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). The GUVs are prepared by a mixture of dioleoylphosphatidylglycerol (DOPG), dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) and cholesterol using the natural swelling method. An IRE signal of frequency 1.1 kHz is applied to the membranes of GUVs. The probability of pore formation and the rate constant of pore formation events are obtained using statistical analysis from several single GUVs. The time-dependent fraction of intact GUVs among all those examined is fitted to a single exponential decay function from where the rate constant of pore formation is calculated. The probability of pore formation and the rate constant of pore formation decreases with an increase in cholesterol content in the membranes of GUVs. Theoretical equations are fitted to the tension-dependent rate constant of pore formation and to the probability of pore formation, which allows us to obtain the line tension of membranes. The obtained line tension increases with an increase in cholesterol in the membranes. The increase in the energy barrier of the prepore state, due to the increase of cholesterol in membranes, is the main factor explaining the decrease in the rate constant of pore formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Abu Sayem Karal
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh.
| | - Md Kabir Ahamed
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh
| | - Nadia Akter Mokta
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh
| | - Marzuk Ahmed
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh
| | - Shareef Ahammed
- Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh
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