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Michigami M, Ramanayake Mudiyanselage TMR, Suzuki M, Ishizako H, Notsu K, Sugiura K, Fujii I. New Class of Drug Modalities: Directed Evolution of a De Novo Designed Helix-Loop-Helix Peptide to Bind VEGF for Tumor Growth Inhibition. ACS Chem Biol 2022; 17:647-653. [PMID: 35176860 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.1c00940] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
As a small affinity molecule to serve as an alternative to antibodies, we have developed a conformationally constrained peptide with a de novo designed helix-loop-helix (HLH) scaffold. To evaluate its potential for biomedical applications, we performed directed evolution of HLH peptides to obtain an inhibitor for vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF). A phage-displayed library of HLH peptides was constructed and screened against VEGF, giving the peptide VS42 that inhibits the VEGF/VEGF receptor-2 interaction (IC50 = 210 nM), which was further improved by in vitro affinity maturation using a yeast-displayed library. An identified HLH peptide, VS42-LR3, exhibited improved inhibitory activity (IC50 = 37 nM), high thermal stability, and excellent resistance against chemical denaturation. In biological activity tests, the HLH peptide was found to block VEGF-induced proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells and suppress tumor growth in a murine xenograft model of human colorectal cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masataka Michigami
- Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Osaka Prefecture University, 1-1 Gakuen-cho, Naka-ku, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531, Japan
| | - Tharanga M. R. Ramanayake Mudiyanselage
- Department of Veterinary Science, Graduate School of Life and Environmental Science, Osaka Prefecture University, 1-58 Rinku-oraikita, Izumisano, Osaka 598-8531, Japan
| | - Miho Suzuki
- Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Osaka Prefecture University, 1-1 Gakuen-cho, Naka-ku, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531, Japan
| | - Hirotsugu Ishizako
- Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Osaka Prefecture University, 1-1 Gakuen-cho, Naka-ku, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531, Japan
| | - Kunpei Notsu
- Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Osaka Prefecture University, 1-1 Gakuen-cho, Naka-ku, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531, Japan
| | - Kikuya Sugiura
- Department of Veterinary Science, Graduate School of Life and Environmental Science, Osaka Prefecture University, 1-58 Rinku-oraikita, Izumisano, Osaka 598-8531, Japan
| | - Ikuo Fujii
- Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Osaka Prefecture University, 1-1 Gakuen-cho, Naka-ku, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531, Japan
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