Novel extended and branched N-terminal analogs of VIP

Chemical synthesis and characterization of silver-protected vasoactive intestinal peptide nanoparticles

We characterized a method to conjugate functional silver nanoparticles with vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), which could be used as a working model for further tailor-made applications based on VIP surface functionality. Despite sustained interest in the therapeutic applications of VIP, and the fact that its drugability could be largely improved by the attachament to functionalized metal nanoparticles, no methods have been described so far to obtain them.

MATERIALS & METHODS

VIP was conjugated to tiopronin-capped silver nanoparticles of a narrow size distribution, by means of proper linkers, to obtain VIP functionalized silver nanoparticles with two different VIP orientations (Ag-tiopronin-PEG-succinic-[His]VIP and Ag-tiopronin-PEG-VIP[His]). VIP intermediate nanoparticles were characterized by transmission-electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. VIP functionalized silver nanoparticles cytotoxicity was determined by lactate dehydrogenase release from mixed glial cultures prepared from cerebral cortices of 1-3 days-old C57/Bl mice. Cells were used for lipopolysaccharide stimulation at day 18-22 of culture.

RESULTS

Two different types of VIP-functionalized silver nanoparticles were obtained; both expose the C-terminal part of the neuropeptide, but in the first type VIP is attached to silver nanoparticle through its free amine terminus (Ag-tiopronin-PEG-succinic-[His]VIP), while in the second type, VIP N-terminus remains free (Ag-tiopronin-PEG-VIP[His]). VIP-functionalized silver nanoparticles did not compromise cellular viability and inhibited microglia-induced stimulation under inflammatory conditions.

CONCLUSION

The chemical synthesis procedure developed to obtain VIP-functionalized silver nanoparticles rendered functional products, in terms of biological activity. The two alternative orientations designed, reduced the constraints for chemical synthesis that depends on the nanosurface to be functionalized. Our study provides, for the first time, a proof of principle to enhance the therapeutic potential of VIP with the valuable properties of metal nanoparticles for imaging, targeting and drug delivery.

Chemical modification of class II G protein-coupled receptor ligands: frontiers in the development of peptide analogs as neuroendocrine pharmacological therapies

Recent research and clinical data have begun to demonstrate the huge potential therapeutic importance of ligands that modulate the activity of the secretin-like, Class II, G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Ligands that can modulate the activity of these Class II GPCRs may have important clinical roles in the treatment of a wide variety of conditions such as osteoporosis, diabetes, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and autism spectrum disorders. While these receptors present important new therapeutic targets, the large glycoprotein nature of their cognate ligands poses many problems with respect to therapeutic peptidergic drug design. These native peptides often exhibit poor bioavailability, metabolic instability, poor receptor selectivity and resultant low potencies in vivo. Recently, increased attention has been paid to the structural modification of these peptides to enhance their therapeutic efficacy. Successful modification strategies have included d-amino acid substitutions, selective truncation, and fatty acid acylation of the peptide. Through these and other processes, these novel peptide ligand analogs can demonstrate enhanced receptor subtype selectivity, directed signal transduction pathway activation, resistance to proteolytic degradation, and improved systemic bioavailability. In the future, it is likely, through additional modification strategies such as addition of circulation-stabilizing transferrin moieties, that the therapeutic pharmacopeia of drugs targeted towards Class II secretin-like receptors may rival that of the Class I rhodopsin-like receptors that currently provide the majority of clinically used GPCR-based therapeutics. Currently, Class II-based drugs include synthesized analogs of vasoactive intestinal peptide for type 2 diabetes or parathyroid hormone for osteoporosis.

VIP, from gene to behavior and back: summarizing my 25 years of research

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is an interesting example of a 28-amino acid neuropeptide that is abundantly expressed in discrete brain regions/neurons and hence may contribute to brain function. This short review summarizes my own point of view and encompasses 25 years of work and over 100 publications targeting the understanding of VIP production and biological activity. The review starts with our original cloning of the VIP gene, it then continues to discoveries of regulation of VIP synthesis and the establishment of the first VIP transgenic mice. The review ends with the identification of novel VIP analogs that helped decipher VIP's important role during development, in regulation of the biological clock(s) and diurnal rhythms, sexual activity, learning and memory as well as social behavior, and cancer. This review cites only articles that I have coauthored and gives my own perspective of this exciting ever-growing field.

Novel glycosylated VIP analogs: synthesis, biological activity, and metabolic stability

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is a prominent neuropeptide, exhibiting a wide spectrum of biological activities in mammals. However, the clinical applications of VIP are mainly hampered because of its rapid degradation in vivo. Peptide glycosylation, a procedure frequently used to increase peptide resistance to proteolytic degradation and consequently increase peptide metabolic stability, has not been performed yet on VIP. The presence of three N-glycosylation sites on VIP receptor type 1 (VPAC1) was previously demonstrated. Therefore, glycosylation of the VIP ligand could potentially increase its receptor affinity because of glyco-glyco interactions between the ligand and the receptor. In order to enhance VIP's metabolic stability and to increase its ligand-receptor binding/activation, eight glycosylated VIP derivatives were successfully synthesized by the solid-phase procedure. Each VIP analog was monoglycosylated by a monosaccharide addition to one amino-acid residue along the sequence. Glycosylation did not affect the alpha-helical structure shown by the native VIP in organic environment. Few glycosylated VIP analogs displayed highly potent VPAC1 receptor binding and cAMP-induced activation; only 4-6 fold lower in comparison to the native VIP. Furthermore, the peptide analog glycosylated on Thr11 ([11Glyc]VIP) showed a significantly enhanced stability toward trypsin enzymatic degradation in comparison to VIP. Analysis of the degradation products of [11Glyc]VIP showed that differently from VIP, incubation of the peptide [11Glyc]VIP with trypsin resulted in no cleavage at the Arg12-Leu13 peptide bond, suggesting that VIP glycosylation may lead to enhanced metabolic stability.

Novel analogs of VIP with multiple C-terminal domains

The effect of multiplication of the N-terminal domain of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) on the binding activity of the peptide was recently evaluated. A VIP analog with multiple N-terminal domains was found to be slightly more potent as compared to [Nle(17)]VIP towards VIP receptor type 1 (VPAC1)-related cAMP production. Here, the effect of multiplication of the C-terminal domain of VIP was evaluated with the aim of possibly amplifying peptide-receptor (VPAC1) binding and activation. Several VIP analogs were designed and synthesized, each carrying multiplication of the C-terminal domain that was obtained by either a simple linear tandem extension or by a unique branching methodology. Results show that despite significant alterations in the C-terminal domain of VIP that is considered essential to induce potent receptor binding, few peptides demonstrated only slight reduction in receptor binding and activation in comparison to [Nle(17)]VIP. Furthermore, a specific branched VIP analog with multiple C-terminal domains was equipotent to [Nle(17)]VIP in the cAMP production assay. Therefore, it is concluded that the association between the VIP ligand to the VIP receptor could be tolerable to size increases in the C-terminal region of the VIP ligand and multiplication of the C-terminal does not increase activity.