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Schauenburg D, Gao B, Rochet LNC, Schüler D, Coelho JAS, Ng DYW, Chudasama V, Kuan SL, Weil T. Macrocyclic Dual-Locked "Turn-On" Drug for Selective and Traceless Release in Cancer Cells. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2024; 63:e202314143. [PMID: 38179812 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202314143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2023] [Revised: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024]
Abstract
Drug safety and efficacy due to premature release into the bloodstream and poor biodistribution remains a problem despite seminal advances in this area. To circumvent these limitations, we report drug cyclization based on dynamic covalent linkages to devise a dual lock for the small-molecule anticancer drug, camptothecin (CPT). Drug activity is "locked" within the cyclic structure by the redox responsive disulfide and pH-responsive boronic acid-salicylhydroxamate and turns on only in the presence of acidic pH, reactive oxygen species and glutathione through traceless release. Notably, the dual-responsive CPT is more active (100-fold) than the non-cleavable (permanently closed) analogue. We further include a bioorthogonal handle in the backbone for functionalization to generate cyclic-locked, cell-targeting peptide- and protein-CPTs, for targeted delivery of the drug and traceless release in triple negative metastatic breast cancer cells to inhibit cell growth at low nanomolar concentrations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dominik Schauenburg
- Synthesis of Macromolecules, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, 55128, Mainz, Germany
| | - Bingjie Gao
- Synthesis of Macromolecules, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, 55128, Mainz, Germany
| | - Léa N C Rochet
- Department of Chemistry, University College London, London, WC1H 0AJ, UK
| | - Darijan Schüler
- Synthesis of Macromolecules, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, 55128, Mainz, Germany
| | - Jaime A S Coelho
- Centro de Química Estrutural, Institute of Molecular Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - David Y W Ng
- Synthesis of Macromolecules, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, 55128, Mainz, Germany
| | - Vijay Chudasama
- Department of Chemistry, University College London, London, WC1H 0AJ, UK
| | - Seah Ling Kuan
- Synthesis of Macromolecules, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, 55128, Mainz, Germany
- Institute of Inorganic Chemistry I, Ulm University, 89081, Ulm, Germany
| | - Tanja Weil
- Synthesis of Macromolecules, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, 55128, Mainz, Germany
- Institute of Inorganic Chemistry I, Ulm University, 89081, Ulm, Germany
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2
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Abstract
Protein therapeutics are of widespread interest due to their successful performance in the current pharmaceutical and medical fields, even though their broad applications have been hindered by the lack of an efficient intracellular delivery approach. Herein, we fabricated an active-targeted dual pH-responsive delivery system with favorable tumor cell entry augmented by extracellular pH-triggered charge reversal and tumor receptor targeting and pH-controlled endosomal release in a traceless fashion. As a traceable model protein, the enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) bearing a nuclear localization signal was covalently coupled with a pH-labile traceless azidomethyl-methylmaleic anhydride (AzMMMan) linker followed by functionalization with different molar equivalents of two dibenzocyclooctyne-octa-arginine-cysteine (DBCO-R8C)-modified moieties: polyethylene glycol (PEG)-GE11 peptide for epidermal growth factor receptor-mediated targeting and melittin for endosomal escape. The cationic melittin domain was masked with tetrahydrophthalic anhydride revertible at mild acidic pH 6.5. At the optimally balanced ratio of functional units, the on-demand charge conversion at tumoral extracellular pH 6.5 in combination with GE11-mediated targeting triggered enhanced electrostatic cellular attraction by the R8C cell-penetrating peptides and melittin, as demonstrated by strongly enhanced cellular uptake. Successful endosomal release followed by nuclear localization of the eGFP cargo was obtained by taking advantage of melittin-mediated endosomal escape and rapid traceless release from the AzMMMan linker. The effectiveness of this multifunctional bioresponsive system suggests a promising strategy for delivery of protein drugs toward intracellular targets. A possible therapeutic relevance was indicated by an example of cytosolic delivery of cytochrome c initiating the apoptosis pathway to kill cancer cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meng Lyu
- Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Department of Pharmacy and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 81377 Munich, Germany
| | - Mina Yazdi
- Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Department of Pharmacy and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 81377 Munich, Germany
| | - Yi Lin
- Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Department of Pharmacy and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 81377 Munich, Germany
| | - Miriam Höhn
- Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Department of Pharmacy and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 81377 Munich, Germany
| | - Ulrich Lächelt
- Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Department of Pharmacy and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 81377 Munich, Germany
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Ernst Wagner
- Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Department of Pharmacy and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 81377 Munich, Germany
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Zhang C, Ren H, Liu G, Li J, Wang X, Zhang Y. Effective Genome Editing Using CRISPR-Cas9 Nanoflowers. Adv Healthc Mater 2022; 11:e2102365. [PMID: 34989166 DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202102365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2021] [Revised: 12/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
CRISPR-Cas9 as a powerful gene-editing tool has tremendous potential for the treatment of genetic diseases. Herein, a new mesoporous nanoflower (NF)-like delivery nanoplatform termed Cas9-NF is reported by crosslinking Cas9 and polymeric micelles that enables efficient intracellular delivery and controlled release of Cas9 in response to reductive microenvironment in tumor cells. The flower morphology is flexibly tunable by the protein concentration and different types of crosslinkers. Cas9 protein, embedded between polymeric micelles and protected by Cas9-NF, remains stable even under extreme pH conditions. Responsive cleavage of crosslinkers in tumor cells, leads to the traceless release of Cas9 for efficient gene knockout in nucleus. This crosslinked nanoparticle exhibits excellent capability of downregulating oncogene expression and inhibiting tumor growth in a murine tumor model. Taken together, these findings pave a new pathway toward the application of the protein-micelle crosslinked nanoflower for protein delivery, which warrants further investigations for gene regulation and cancer treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education) School of Chemical Engineering and Technology Tianjin University Tianjin 300350 P. R. China
| | - He Ren
- Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education) School of Chemical Engineering and Technology Tianjin University Tianjin 300350 P. R. China
| | - Gengqi Liu
- Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education) School of Chemical Engineering and Technology Tianjin University Tianjin 300350 P. R. China
| | - Jiexin Li
- Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education) School of Chemical Engineering and Technology Tianjin University Tianjin 300350 P. R. China
| | - Xiaojie Wang
- Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education) School of Chemical Engineering and Technology Tianjin University Tianjin 300350 P. R. China
| | - Yumiao Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education) School of Chemical Engineering and Technology Tianjin University Tianjin 300350 P. R. China
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Ren H, Li J, Liu G, Sun Y, Yang X, Jiang Z, Zhang J, Lovell JF, Zhang Y. Anticancer Vaccination with Immunogenic Micelles That Capture and Release Pristine CD8 + T-Cell Epitopes and Adjuvants. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2022; 14:2510-2521. [PMID: 34986639 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c18117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The development of nanocarriers capable of codelivering antigens and immune-activating adjuvants is an emerging area of research and is relevant for cancer vaccines that target induction of antigen-specific CD8+ T-cell responses. Here, we report a system for delivery of short peptide antigens to dendritic cells for strong cellular immune responses, based on block copolymers chemically modified with a hydrophobic and self-immolative linker. After modification, micelles effectively and reversibly capture antigens and adjuvants via a covalent bond within several minutes in an aqueous solution. After uptake in antigen presenting cells, the polymer disulfide bond is cleaved by intracellular glutathione, leading to release of pristine antigens, along with the upregulated expression of costimulatory molecules. The induced antigen-specific CD8+ T cells have strong tumor cell killing efficacy in the murine B16OVA and human papilloma virus-E6/E7 subcutaneous and lung metastasis tumor models. In addition, delivery to lymph nodes can be imaged to visualize vaccine trafficking. Taken together, multifunctional self-immolative micelles represent a versatile class of a vaccine delivery system for the generation of a cellular immune response that warrants further exploration as a component of cancer immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- He Ren
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin, P. R. China 300350
| | - Jiexin Li
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin, P. R. China 300350
| | - Gengqi Liu
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin, P. R. China 300350
| | - Yaping Sun
- Imaging Center, Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beichen District, Tianjin, P. R. China 300400
| | - Xingyue Yang
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin, P. R. China 300350
| | - Zhen Jiang
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin, P. R. China 300350
| | - Jingyu Zhang
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin, P. R. China 300350
| | - Jonathan F Lovell
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260, United States
| | - Yumiao Zhang
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin, P. R. China 300350
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Tang J, Liu Y, Qi D, Yang L, Chen H, Wang C, Feng X. Nucleus-Targeted Delivery of Multi-Protein Self-Assembly for Combined Anticancer Therapy. Small 2021; 17:e2101219. [PMID: 34028978 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202101219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2021] [Revised: 04/19/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Protein therapy has the potential to revolutionize medicine, but the delivery of multiple proteins is challenging because it requires the development of a strategy that enables different proteins to be combined together and transported not only into cells, but also to the desired cell compartments, such as the nucleus. Here, an efficient intranuclear protein delivery nanoplatform based on modified ribonuclease A (RNase A) tuned self-assembly is presented. RNase A bioreversibly modified with adamantane is functionalized with wind chime-like lysine modified cyclodextrin (WLC) to generate RNase A-WLC (R-WLC). R-WLC can not only enhance the cellular uptake of RNase A and accumulate it into the nucleus, but also works as nanovehicles to efficiently transport deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) into the nucleus, resulting in greatly improved antitumor efficacy in vitro and in vivo. This protein co-assembly strategy can be applied to other functional proteins and has great prospects in the treatment of many diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiakun Tang
- Chongqing Key Laboratory of Natural Product Synthesis and Drug Research, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, P. R. China
| | - Ye Liu
- Chongqing Key Laboratory of Natural Product Synthesis and Drug Research, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, P. R. China
| | - Dongmei Qi
- Chongqing Key Laboratory of Natural Product Synthesis and Drug Research, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, P. R. China
| | - Lan Yang
- Chongqing Key Laboratory of Natural Product Synthesis and Drug Research, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, P. R. China
| | - Hui Chen
- Chongqing Key Laboratory of Natural Product Synthesis and Drug Research, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, P. R. China
| | - Chenhui Wang
- Chongqing Key Laboratory of Natural Product Synthesis and Drug Research, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, P. R. China
| | - Xuli Feng
- Chongqing Key Laboratory of Natural Product Synthesis and Drug Research, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, P. R. China
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Li D, Li X, Yang F, Yuan R, Xiang Y. Targeted Delivery of DNA Framework-Encapsulated Native Therapeutic Protein into Cancer Cells. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2020; 12:54489-54496. [PMID: 33253532 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c17887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
A protein-based therapy is significantly challenged by the successful delivery of native proteins into the targeted cancer cells. We address this challenge here using an all-sealed divalent aptamer tetrahedral DNA framework (asdTDF) delivery platform, in which the protein drug is encapsulated inside the cavity of the framework stoichiometrically via a reversible chemical bond. The ligase-assisted seal of the nicks results in highly enhanced TDF stability of the against nuclease digestion to effectively protect the therapeutic protein from degradation. In addition, the divalent aptamer sequences incorporated into the framework favor it with a target-specific and efficient delivery capability. Importantly, upon being readily delivered into the targeted cancer cells, endogenous glutathione can trigger the release of the native therapeutic protein from the TDF in a traceless fashion by cleaving the reversible chemical bond, thereby leading to effective apoptosis of the specific cancer cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daxiu Li
- Key Laboratory of Luminescence Analysis and Molecular Sensing, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, PR China
| | - Xia Li
- Key Laboratory of Luminescence Analysis and Molecular Sensing, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, PR China
| | - Fang Yang
- Key Laboratory of Luminescence Analysis and Molecular Sensing, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, PR China
| | - Ruo Yuan
- Key Laboratory of Luminescence Analysis and Molecular Sensing, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, PR China
| | - Yun Xiang
- Key Laboratory of Luminescence Analysis and Molecular Sensing, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, PR China
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