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Di Stasi R, De Rosa L, D'Andrea LD. Structure-Based Design of Peptides Targeting VEGF/VEGFRs. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2023; 16:851. [PMID: 37375798 DOI: 10.3390/ph16060851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Revised: 05/03/2023] [Accepted: 06/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors (VEGFRs) play a main role in the regulation of angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis. Furthermore, they are implicated in the onset of several diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, degenerative eye conditions, tumor growth, ulcers and ischemia. Therefore, molecules able to target the VEGF and its receptors are of great pharmaceutical interest. Several types of molecules have been reported so far. In this review, we focus on the structure-based design of peptides mimicking VEGF/VEGFR binding epitopes. The binding interface of the complex has been dissected and the different regions challenged for peptide design. All these trials furnished a better understanding of the molecular recognition process and provide us with a wealth of molecules that could be optimized to be exploited for pharmaceutical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lucia De Rosa
- Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini, CNR, 80131 Napoli, Italy
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De Rosa L, Capasso D, Diana D, Stefania R, Di Stasi R, Fattorusso R, D'Andrea LD. Metabolic and conformational stabilization of a VEGF-mimetic beta-hairpin peptide by click-chemistry. Eur J Med Chem 2021; 222:113575. [PMID: 34130005 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2021.113575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2020] [Revised: 04/30/2021] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
HPLW is a Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF)-mimicking beta-hairpin peptide endowed of proangiogenic effect and showing valuable biomedical application in the proangiogenic therapy. However, the translational potential of HPLW is limited by its low metabolic stability, which would shorten the in vivo efficacy of the molecule. Here, we developed a peptide analog of HPLW, named HPLW2, that retains the structural and biological properties of the original peptide but features an impressive resistance to degradation by human serum proteases. HPLW2 was obtained by covalently modifying the chemical structure of the peptide with molecular tools known to impart protease resistance. Notably, the peptide was cyclized by installing an interstrand triazole bridge through Cu(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction. HPLW2 appears as a novel and promising drug candidate with potential biomedical application in the proangiogenic therapy as a low molecular weight drug, alternative to the use of VEGF. Our work points out the utility of the interstrand triazole bridge as effective chemical platform for the conformational and metabolic stabilization of beta-hairpin bioactive peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia De Rosa
- Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini, CNR, Via Mezzocannone 16, 80134, Napoli, Italy
| | - Domenica Capasso
- CESTEV, Università di Napoli "Federico II", Via De Amicis 95, 80134, Napoli, Italy; CIRPeB Università di Napoli "Federico II" Via Mezzocannone 16, 80134, Napoli, Italy
| | - Donatella Diana
- Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini, CNR, Via Mezzocannone 16, 80134, Napoli, Italy
| | - Rachele Stefania
- Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Molecolari e Scienze per La Salute, Università di Torino, Via Nizza 52, 10126, Torino, Italy
| | - Rossella Di Stasi
- Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini, CNR, Via Mezzocannone 16, 80134, Napoli, Italy
| | - Roberto Fattorusso
- CIRPeB Università di Napoli "Federico II" Via Mezzocannone 16, 80134, Napoli, Italy; Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Ambientali, Biologiche e Farmaceutiche, Università Della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Via Vivaldi 43, 81100, Caserta, Italy
| | - Luca Domenico D'Andrea
- Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche "Giulio Natta", CNR, Via M. Bianco 9, 20131, Milano, Italy.
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ACE inhibitory peptide KYIPIQ derived from yak milk casein induces nitric oxide production in HUVECs and diffuses via a transcellular mechanism in Caco-2 monolayers. Process Biochem 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.procbio.2020.08.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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Effect of the hairpin structure of peptide inhibitors on the blockade of PD-1/PD-L1 axis. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2020; 527:453-457. [PMID: 32336542 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2020.04.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2020] [Accepted: 04/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Blockade of the PD-1/PD-L1 axis using antibody drugs has been a clinically efficacious immunotherapy in cancer treatment. However, studies on peptide inhibitors blocking the interaction between PD-1/PD-L1 in cancer treatment in clinical practice have not yet been reported. In this study, a series of peptide inhibitors were synthesized based on a continuous sequence of 14 amino acids from PD-L1 and suitable modifications to form a hairpin structure. The effect of inhibitors on the blockage of PD-1/PD-L1 by increasing the stability of the hairpin structure was determined using BLI and co-culture models. The results showed that increasing the stability of the hairpin improved the affinity of inhibitors to PD-1 and increased IL-2 secretion. Therefore, modifying the hairpin structure of peptide inhibitors may be a useful approach to block the interaction between PD-1 and PD-L1.
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Pelin JNBD, Edwards-Gayle CJC, Aguilar AM, Kaur A, Hamley IW, Alves WA. Polymorphism of asymmetric catalysts based on amphiphilic lipopeptides in solution. SOFT MATTER 2020; 16:4615-4624. [PMID: 32368775 DOI: 10.1039/d0sm00245c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The self-assembly of model [P]RWG lipopeptides (P: l-proline, R: l-arginine, W: l-tryptophan, G: l-glycine), containing one or two aliphatic octadecyl (C18) chains in water and cyclohexanone/water solutions was examined. The self-assembly of mixtures of these RWG and PRWG lipopeptides was also investigated. These materials presented a similar critical aggregation concentration of ∼4.0 × 10-4 wt% and were characterized by unordered secondary structures with some β-sheet content. TEM and cryo-TEM revealed the presence of mainly nanotape structures with micelles observed for systems rich in PRWG(C18H37). Analysis of detailed SAXS form factor measurements revealed the presence of bilayers 3-4 nm thick while the PRWG(C18H37) micelles have a core radius of approximately 3 nm, and a shell thickness of 2 nm. For the cyclohexanone/water systems polymorphs containing cluster aggregates (with radius of 0.25 nm to 0.50 nm) and some elongated structures (with radius of 5.7 nm to 26.1 nm) were seen. Longer structures were formed with the increase of the proline-containing lipopeptide content. The catalytic activity of these peptides was assessed using a model nitro-aldol reaction. The concentration of water in the reaction system influenced the conversion, higher content promoted better efficiency for the water systems, but the opposite was observed for the cyclohexanone/water samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliane N B D Pelin
- Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas, Universidade Federal do ABC, 09210-580, Santo André, Brazil.
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Abstract
This Review is devoted to the chemistry of macrocyclic peptides having heterocyclic fragments in their structure. These motifs are present in many natural products and synthetic macrocycles designed against a particular biochemical target. Thiazole and oxazole are particularly common constituents of naturally occurring macrocyclic peptide molecules. This frequency of occurrence is because the thiazole and oxazole rings originate from cysteine, serine, and threonine residues. Whereas other heteroaryl groups are found less frequently, they offer many insightful lessons that range from conformational control to receptor/ligand interactions. Many options to develop new and improved technologies to prepare natural products have appeared in recent years, and the synthetic community has been pursuing synthetic macrocycles that have no precedent in nature. This Review attempts to summarize progress in this area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan V Smolyar
- Department of Chemistry , Moscow State University , Leninskije Gory , 199991 Moscow , Russia
| | - Andrei K Yudin
- Davenport Research Laboratories, Department of Chemistry , University of Toronto , 80 St. George Street , Toronto , Ontario M5S 3H6 , Canada
| | - Valentine G Nenajdenko
- Department of Chemistry , Moscow State University , Leninskije Gory , 199991 Moscow , Russia
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Design and structural characterisation of monomeric water-soluble α-helix and β-hairpin peptides: State-of-the-art. Arch Biochem Biophys 2019; 661:149-167. [DOI: 10.1016/j.abb.2018.11.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2018] [Revised: 11/06/2018] [Accepted: 11/14/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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