细胞穿膜肽的研究进展

细胞穿膜肽是一类能携带大分子物质进入细胞的短肽,其穿膜能力不依赖经典的胞吞作用。经过对天然存在的细胞穿膜肽的生物化学性质研究,已经逐渐掌握了细胞穿膜肽的一些共有特性,这类物质均为带有正电荷的长短不等的多肽片段,其中富含精氨酸、赖氨酸等碱性氨基酸残基,二级结构皆具有α-螺旋的空间构象。利用这些特性,目前已人工合成了穿透力更强、效率更高的穿膜肽PEP-1、MPG,并且成功地携带大分子物质进入细胞发挥生物学活性。     

细胞穿膜肽介导蛋白/多肽类药物输送的研究进展

在当前药物研发中,蛋白/多肽类药物占据着重要地位。然而,此类药物大多需进入细胞内才能发挥作用,故细胞摄取率低的问 题成为制约其发展的关键因素。细胞穿膜肽是一类富含精氨酸的短肽,自身具有较强的生物膜穿透能力,可携带多种大分子甚至是纳米 粒入胞。因此,穿膜肽被广泛应用于药物输送,且基于穿膜肽介导药物胞内输送,成为解决蛋白/多肽类药物入胞问题的优选策略。主 要综述穿膜肽介导蛋白/多肽类药物输送用于不同疾病治疗的研究进展。     

穿膜肽的研究现状及应用

以细胞内物质为靶标的药物(大分子、蛋白质、多肽及核酸)只有穿透细胞膜才能进一步发挥其药效。细胞穿透多肽(穿膜肽)是由少于30个氨基酸残基组成的小肽,它们能够通过与细胞膜相互作用而穿透细胞膜这一天然屏障。穿膜肽大致分为宿主防御肽、基于信号序列的穿膜肽和富含精氨酸的穿膜肽;穿膜肽进入细胞的机制尚未完全阐明,存在倒置微团模型、地毯式模型及打孔模型等假说。穿膜肽能够携带各种物质进入细胞的特性受到人们的关注。我们就穿膜肽的种类、穿膜机制,及其在生物影像学和生物递送系统中的应用做一综述。     

穿膜肽TAT和R9的生物学效应的体内体外研究

本文比较了两种常用穿膜肽TAT和R9的体外穿膜效率、对细胞影响以及小鼠活体内不同器官的穿膜效率。非特异性穿膜肽TAT和R9分别为11个氨基酸和9个氨基酸的短肽,能够有效地穿过细胞膜进入细胞。本研究纯化制备出融合蛋白TAT-EGFP及R9-EGFP多肽,用相同浓度的活性TAT-EGFP和R9-EGFP处理肺癌细胞,观察比较二者的穿膜活性及效率;设置不同浓度梯度检测两种穿膜肽是否对细胞产生影响;通过小鼠腹腔注射TAT-EGFP和R9-EGFP活性肽段,研究二者在活体能够穿膜到达的靶位置,并比较分析二者穿膜的效果器官分布。结果显示制备获得的两种融合蛋白TAT-EGFP和R9-EGFP均能有效穿过实现穿膜功能,两种穿膜肽对乳腺癌细胞影响较小。活体试验证明两种穿膜肽在心、肝、脾、肺、肾器官均有分布,R9主要富集在小鼠的肾和肝脏中,TAT在6种被研究的器官都有富集,两种细胞穿膜肽都能透过血脑屏障到达脑部。相对来说,TAT在小鼠活体中的穿膜效果更好,荧光富集多,R9整体穿膜效果较弱。本研究分析比较了两种穿膜肽的细胞安全性浓度和活体的穿膜能力,为TAT和R9两种穿膜肽在后续试验中的合理有效的选择和使用,提供了基础数据和指导性依据。     

细胞穿膜肽入胞检测方法概述

迄今为止,已有多达上百种的细胞穿膜肽(cell-penetrating peptides,CPPs)被发现报道,但这类多肽分子的入胞能力参差不齐,限制了其作为药物载体的应用。虽然已有多种实验方法可用于细胞穿膜肽入胞的检测,但由于缺乏通用的技术来确切证实CPPs的入胞能力,所以应当结合使用多种方法以降低误差。对不同的技术在检测CPPs入胞时的优缺点进行比较,并针对性地提出比较理想的解决方案,可为制订CPPs入胞标准化检测步骤提供一些参考。     

细胞渗透肽的研究近况

细胞渗透肽是一类能携带大分子物质进入细胞的短肽,其跨膜能力不依赖经典的胞吞作用,被认为是一种理想的运载工具,在将蛋白质和其他分子导入活细胞的研究中有着广泛的应用前景.该文着重介绍细胞渗透肽的跨膜转运机制及其应用等.     

抗菌肽对细菌杀伤作用的分子机制

抗菌肽是一类新型的抗菌物质,从最低等的生物病毒、细菌到高等的动植物都有广泛分布. 以往的研究主要集中于抗菌肽对细菌细胞膜的作用机制,已经构建了三种作用模式. 但近几年的研究表明,很多抗菌肽都能有效地穿过细菌的细胞膜,直接与胞内分子相互作用,并不引起膜的破裂. 抗菌肽根据其结构特点有着多种杀菌穿膜的机制,其后分别与胞内的靶分子如核酸,蛋白质,信号转导通路等互相作用,最终实现对细菌的杀伤作用.     

肽转运载体的分子特征及其分布

动物体内的肽转运载体目前发现的至少有五种,其中研究最为广泛的是：PepT1和PepT2。PepT1和PepT2都是依质子的寡肽转运载体(POT)家族的成员。PepT1是低亲和力／高容量的肽载体,PepT2高亲和力／低容量的肽载体。PepT1主要在消化道中表达,在肾脏中也有微弱的表达;PepT2主要在肾脏中表达。这些肽载体的分子结构特征主要有：(1)有12个假想的穿膜区,在9区和10区之间有一大的胞外环,且所有穿膜区内的序列都高度保守,胞外环上的序列保守的很少;(2)被编码的蛋白上有多个N-糖基化和蛋白激酶的识别位点,它们可能参与肽转运的调控;(3)PepT1上的His-57和PepT2上的His-87是最关键的组氨酸残基,它们可能是转运蛋白发挥吸收功能时最关键的结合位点;(4)不同动物肽转运蛋白的氨基酸范围在707到729之间,且不同动物相同器官肽转运载体的同源性高(大约80％),同种动物不同器官肽转运载体的同源性低(大约50％)。了解肽载体的分子特征和组织分布,可以更好地理解肽吸收的分子机制并有利于肽类药物的研发。     

细胞穿膜肽pep-1与vMIP-Ⅱ的融合表达与纯化

细胞穿膜肽是一类能携带大分子物质进入细胞的短肽,其穿膜能力不依赖经典的胞吞作用。本研究构建了含有细胞穿膜肽pep-1和病毒巨噬细胞炎症蛋白-Ⅱ(viral macrophage inflammatory protein-Ⅱ,vMIP-Ⅱ)的融合表达质粒pET15b-pep-1-vMIP-Ⅱ,并将其转化大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)plysS中经IPTG诱导表达,经SDS-PAGE和Western-blot鉴定出可溶性的融合蛋白pep-1-vMIP-Ⅱ。通过对IPTG浓度、温度等诱导表达条件进行优化,确定在IPTG浓度为0.2mmol/L、28℃下诱导7h可溶性蛋白的表达量相对较高,经Ni-NTA亲和层析,超滤除盐纯化获得高纯度的融合蛋白pep-1-vMIP-Ⅱ,将该蛋白作用于Hela细胞,激光共聚焦显微镜观察结果显示该融合蛋白能够携带目的基因穿透细胞膜。本文结果将为进一步研究vMIP-Ⅱ的功能和细胞穿膜肽技术的应用奠定基础。     

新型细胞穿膜肽的鉴定方法与其在抗肿瘤治疗中的应用

如何将生物活性分子高效投递到靶标的细胞和组织仍然是生物治疗领域研究人员面临的难题之一。直到细胞穿膜肽(cell penetrating peptides, CPPs)的出现,其可介导多种外源性功能分子(核酸、多肽、蛋白质和化学药物)进入细胞,而且不影响外源活性分子的功能发挥。另外,CPPs在传递外源活性成分进入肿瘤组织和细胞方面表现出更具应用前景的优势。因此,通过对CPPs的分类、鉴定方法、穿膜机制、其在抗肿瘤治疗中的最新应用以及尚需要解决的问题进行综述,以期为新型CPPs的鉴定和其抗肿瘤治疗策略提供参考。     

A gene delivery system for insect cells mediated by arginine-rich cell-penetrating peptides

Most bioactive macromolecules, such as protein, DNA and RNA, basically cannot permeate into cells freely from outside the plasma membrane. Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are a group of short peptides that possess the ability to traverse the cell membrane and have been considered as candidates for mediating gene and drug delivery into living cells. In this study, we demonstrate that three arginine-rich CPPs (SR9, HR9 and PR9) are able to form stable complexes with plasmid DNA and deliver DNA into insect Sf9 cells in a noncovalent manner. The transferred plasmid DNA containing enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and red fluorescent protein (RFP) coding regions could be expressed in cells functionally assayed at both the protein and RNA levels. Furthermore, treatment of cells with CPPs and CPP/DNA complexes resulted in a viability of 84-93% indicating these CPPs are not cytotoxic. These results suggest that arginine-rich CPPs appear to be a promising tool for insect transgenesis.     

Prediction of cell penetrating peptides by support vector machines

Cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) are those peptides that can transverse cell membranes to enter cells. Once inside the cell, different CPPs can localize to different cellular components and perform different roles. Some generate pore-forming complexes resulting in the destruction of cells while others localize to various organelles. Use of machine learning methods to predict potential new CPPs will enable more rapid screening for applications such as drug delivery. We have investigated the influence of the composition of training datasets on the ability to classify peptides as cell penetrating using support vector machines (SVMs). We identified 111 known CPPs and 34 known non-penetrating peptides from the literature and commercial vendors and used several approaches to build training data sets for the classifiers. Features were calculated from the datasets using a set of basic biochemical properties combined with features from the literature determined to be relevant in the prediction of CPPs. Our results using different training datasets confirm the importance of a balanced training set with approximately equal number of positive and negative examples. The SVM based classifiers have greater classification accuracy than previously reported methods for the prediction of CPPs, and because they use primary biochemical properties of the peptides as features, these classifiers provide insight into the properties needed for cell-penetration. To confirm our SVM classifications, a subset of peptides classified as either penetrating or non-penetrating was selected for synthesis and experimental validation. Of the synthesized peptides predicted to be CPPs, 100% of these peptides were shown to be penetrating.     

Internalisation of cell-penetrating peptides into tobacco protoplasts

Cells are protected from the surrounding environment by plasma membrane which is impenetrable for most hydrophilic molecules. In the last 10 years cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) have been discovered and developed. CPPs enter mammalian cells and carry cargo molecules over the plasma membrane with a molecular weight several times their own. Known transformation methods for plant cells have relatively low efficiency and require improvement. The possibility to use CPPs as potential delivery vectors for internalisation in plant cells has been studied in the present work. We analyse and compare the uptake of the fluorescein-labeled CPPs, transportan, TP10, penetratin and pVEC in Bowes human melanoma cells and Nicotiana tabacum cultivar (cv.) SR-1 protoplasts (plant cells without cell wall). We study the internalisation efficiency of CPPs with fluorescence microscopy, spectrofluorometry and fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS). All methods indicate, for the first time, that these CPPs can internalise into N. tabacum cv. SR-1 protoplasts. Transportan has the highest uptake efficacy among the studied peptides, both in mammalian cells and plant protoplast. The internalisation of CPPs by plant protoplasts may open up a new effective method for transfection in plants.     

Cell-penetrating peptides and antimicrobial peptides: how different are they?

Some cationic peptides, referred to as CPPs (cell-penetrating peptides), have the ability to translocate across biological membranes in a non-disruptive way and to overcome the impermeable nature of the cell membrane. They have been successfully used for drug delivery into mammalian cells; however, there is no consensus about the mechanism of cellular uptake. Both endocytic and non-endocytic pathways are supported by experimental evidence. The observation that some AMPs (antimicrobial peptides) can enter host cells without damaging their cytoplasmic membrane, as well as kill pathogenic agents, has also attracted attention. The capacity to translocate across the cell membrane has been reported for some of these AMPs. Like CPPs, AMPs are short and cationic sequences with a high affinity for membranes. Similarities between CPPs and AMPs prompted us to question if these two classes of peptides really belong to unrelated families. In this Review, a critical comparison of the mechanisms that underlie cellular uptake is undertaken. A reflection and a new perspective about CPPs and AMPs are presented.     

Quantitatively determined uptake of cell-penetrating peptides in non-mammalian cells with an evaluation of degradation and antimicrobial effects

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are carriers developed to improve mammalian cell uptake of important research tools such as antisense oligonucleotides and short interfering RNAs. However, the data on CPP uptake into non-mammalian cells are limited. We have studied the uptake and antimicrobial effects of the three representative peptides penetratin (derived from a non-mammalian protein), MAP (artificial peptide) and pVEC (derived from a mammalian protein) using fluorescence HPLC in four common model systems: insect cells (Sf9), gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus megaterium), gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli) and yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). We demonstrate that non-mammalian cells internalize CPPs and a comparison of the uptake of the peptides show that the intracellular concentration and degradation of the peptides varies widely among organisms. In addition, these CPPs showed antimicrobial activity.     

Cell-penetrating peptides split into two groups based on modulation of intracellular calcium concentration

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) promote the uptake of different cargo molecules, e.g. therapeutic compounds, making the harnessing of CPPs a promising strategy for drug design and delivery. However, the internalization mechanisms of CPPs are still under discussion, and it is not clear how cells compensate the disturbances induced by peptides in the plasma membrane. In this study, we demonstrate that the uptake of various CPPs enhances the intracellular Ca(2+) levels in Jurkat and HeLa cells. The elevated Ca(2+) concentration in turn triggers plasma membrane blebbing, lysosomal exocytosis, and membrane repair response. Our results indicate that CPPs split into two major classes: (i) amphipathic CPPs that modulate the plasma membrane integrity inducing influx of Ca(2+) and activating downstream responses starting from low concentrations; (ii) non-amphipathic CPPs that do not evoke changes at relevant concentrations. Triggering of the membrane repair response may help cells to replace distorted plasma membrane regions and cells can recover from the influx of Ca(2+) if its level is not drastically elevated.     

siRNA delivery using amphipathic cell-penetrating peptides into human hepatoma cells

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are an attractive tool for delivering membrane-impermeable compounds, including anionic biomacromolecules such as DNA and RNA, into living cells. Amphipathic helical peptides composed of hydrophobic amino acids and cationic amino acids are typical CPPs. In the current study, we designed amphipathic helical 12-mer peptides containing α,α-disubstituted α-amino acids (dAAs), which are known to stabilize peptide secondary structures. The dominant secondary structures of peptides in aqueous solution differed according to the introduced dAAs. Peptides containing hydrophobic dAAs and adopting a helical structure exhibited a good cell-penetrating ability. As an application of amphipathic helical peptides, small interfering RNA (siRNA) delivery into living human hepatoma cells was investigated. One of the peptides containing dAAs dipropylglycine formed stable complexes with siRNA at appropriate zeta-potential and size for intracellular siRNA delivery. This peptide showed effective RNA interference efficiency at short peptide length and low concentrations of peptide and siRNA. These findings will be helpful for the design of amphipathic helical CPPs as intracellular siRNA delivery.     

PEP and CADY-mediated delivery of fluorescent peptides and proteins into living cells

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) constitute a family of peptides with the characteristic ability to cross biological membranes and deliver cargo into the intracellular milieu. Several CPPs have been proposed for delivery of polypeptides and proteins into cells through either of two strategies: covalent or complexed in a non-covalent fashion. Members of the PEP family are primary amphipathic peptides which have been shown to deliver peptides and proteins into a wide variety of cells through formation of non-covalent complexes. CADY is a secondary amphipathic peptide which has been demonstrated to deliver short nucleic acids, in particular siRNA with high efficiency. Here we review the characteristics of the PEP and CADY carriers and describe a novel derivative of CADY termed CADY2, which also presents sequence similarities to Pep1. We have compared Pep1, CADY and CADY2 in their efficiency to interact with and internalize short fluorogenic peptides and proteins into cultured cells, and provide evidence that CADY2 can interact with proteins and peptides and deliver them efficiently into living cells, similar to Pep1, but in contrast to CADY which is unable to deliver any peptide, even short negatively charged peptides. This is the first study to investigate the influence of the cargo on the interactions between PEP and CADY carriers, thereby providing novel insights into the physicochemical parameters underlying interactions and cellular uptake of peptides and proteins by these non-covalent CPPs.     

Internalisation of cell-penetrating peptides into tobacco protoplasts

Cells are protected from the surrounding environment by plasma membrane which is impenetrable for most hydrophilic molecules. In the last 10 years cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) have been discovered and developed. CPPs enter mammalian cells and carry cargo molecules over the plasma membrane with a molecular weight several times their own. Known transformation methods for plant cells have relatively low efficiency and require improvement. The possibility to use CPPs as potential delivery vectors for internalisation in plant cells has been studied in the present work. We analyse and compare the uptake of the fluorescein-labeled CPPs, transportan, TP10, penetratin and pVEC in Bowes human melanoma cells and Nicotiana tabacum cultivar (cv.) SR-1 protoplasts (plant cells without cell wall). We study the internalisation efficiency of CPPs with fluorescence microscopy, spectrofluorometry and fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS). All methods indicate, for the first time, that these CPPs can internalise into N. tabacum cv. SR-1 protoplasts. Transportan has the highest uptake efficacy among the studied peptides, both in mammalian cells and plant protoplast. The internalisation of CPPs by plant protoplasts may open up a new effective method for transfection in plants.