Revisiting the structural basis and energetic landscape of susceptibility difference between HLA isotypes to allergic rhinitis

The human leukocyte antigen class II (HLA II) molecules are implicated in the immunopathogenesis of allergic rhinitis (AR). The HLA II contains three allelic isotypes HLA-DR, -DQ, and -QP that exhibit considerably different susceptibility to AR. Here, we investigated the structural basis and energetic landscape of the susceptibility difference between the three HLA II isotypes to AR by combining computational analysis and experimental assay. Multiple sequence alignment revealed a low conservation among the three subtypes with sequence identity of ∼10% between them, suggesting that the peptide repertoires presented by HLA-DR, -DP and -DQ are not overlapped to each other, and they may be involved in different immune functions and dysfunctions. Structural analysis imparted that the antigenic peptides are rooted on the peptide-binding groove of HLA molecules and hold in a PPII-like helical conformation. Subsequently, the interaction behavior of 17 AR allergen-derived peptides with HLA-DR, −DP and −DQ was investigated using a statistics-based quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) predictor. It was found a significant difference between the binding capabilities of these antigenic peptides to HLA-DR and to HLA-DP/-DQ; the former showed a generally higher affinity than the latter with p-value of 0.02 obtained from 2-tailed Student’s t-test. The computational findings were then confirmed by HLA II–peptide stability assay, which demonstrated that the AR allergen-derived peptides have a high in vitro selectivity for HLA-DR over HLA-DP/-DQ. Thus, the HLA-DR isotype, rather than HLA-DP and −DQ, is expected to associate with the pathological process of AR.     

pH对毛细管电泳分离多肽的影响

设计了一个针对高年级本科生的毛细管电泳分离实验，用以研究pH对生物小分子多肽分离的影响。5种多肽包括Bradykinin、[Hyp3]-bradykinin、Angiotensin I、Leucine Enkephalin和[Met5]-Enkaphalin，被用于毛细管电泳的分离实验。研究了毛细管电泳生物分析实验中最重要的2个因素即电渗流和样品吸附随pH的变化以及对于分离的影响。在pH=10的条件下，酸性多肽几乎没有吸附，少量的碱性多肽有吸附。在pH=6的条件下，碱性多肽具有非常强的吸附从而导致非常差的分离效果，在pH=2.3的条件下，5种多肽都能被很好地分离，由于多肽此时都带有正电荷因此几乎没有吸附。而在此pH，电渗流消失。对具有一定分析化学基础理论知识的学生而言，这是一个非常好的生物分析实验，有助于学生充分理解相关环境因素对仪器分析的重要影响。     

Octapeptide-Specific and Sensitive Assay for Angiotensin II in Plasma

Abstract

Angiotensin-(1–8)octapeptide (angiotensin II) is the active principle of the reninangiotensin system. Crossreaction of angiotensin II-antisera with inactive precursors and metabolic fragments prevented the specific quantitation of this hormone in biological fluids. Peptide-extraction on bonded-phase silica followed by peptide-separation using isocratic reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography and subsequent radioimmunoassay rendered possible the octapeptide-specific measurement of angiotensin II in 2 ml plasma with a detection limit of 0.4fmol/ml. The coefficient of variation for intra-assay precision was 0.06 and for inter-assay precision 0.13. ¹²⁵Iangiotensin II was recovered from plasma by solid-phase extraction to 99±2% (mean ± S.D.). The overall recovery of 5, 10 and 20 fmol unlabeled angiotensin II added to plasma was 80±10%. Plasma concentrations in supine normal humans averaged 4.1 ± 1.6 fmol/ml and were suppressed below the detection limit by angiotensin I converting enzyme inhibition.     

Switchable peptide-equipped protein/cucurbit[7]uril supramolecular assembly for targeted drug delivery

ABSTRACT

Herein, we develop a switchable peptide-equipped protein/cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]) supramolecular assembly as novel targeted drug vector. Specifically, bovine serum albumin (BSA) is used to interact with CB[7], serving as the core of drug vector. Then, a peptide shield layer is formed on the surface of BSA/CB[7], yielding peptide-equipped supramolecular assembly (Pep@BSA@CB[7]). The equipped peptide shield layer is composed of switchable peptide probes consisting of a polycationic cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) motif, a polyanionic motif and a linking motif, and therefore provides a variety of desirable properties. First, the CPP motif displays excellent cell penetration ability and can facilitate internalisation of the drug vector. Secondly, the polyanionic motif performs intramolecular electrostatic interaction with CPP motif and thereby can reduce non-targeted delivery towards normal cells. Thirdly, the linking motif can be specifically cleaved by matrix metalloproteinases 2 that is up-regulated in tumour microenvironment, thus enabling precise cancer-targeting. As a consequent, Pep@BSA@CB[7] can serve as a promising drug vector that exhibits superior targeting ability and high uptake efficiency towards cancer cells, which may be of great potential in cancer-targeted treatment.     

Peptide‐poly(ε‐caprolactone) biohybrids by grafting‐from ring‐opening polymerization: Synthesis,aggregation, and crystalline properties

Well‐defined peptide‐poly(ε‐caprolactone) (Pep‐PCL) biohybrids were successfully synthesized by grafting‐from ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) of ε‐caprolactone (CL) using designed amine‐terminated sequence‐defined peptides as macroinitiators. MALDI‐TOF‐MS and ¹H NMR analyses confirmed the successful attachment of peptide to the PCL chain. The gel permeation chromatography (GPC) measurement showed that the Pep‐PCL biohybrids with controllable molecular weights and low polydispersities (PDI <1.5) were obtained by this approach. The aggregation of Pep‐PCL hybrid molecules in THF solution resulted in the formation of micro/nanospheres as confirmed through FESEM, TEM, and DLS analyses. The circular dichroism study revealed that the secondary structure of peptide moiety was changed in the peptide‐PCL biohybrids. The crystallization and melting behavior of Pep‐PCL hybrids were somewhat changed compared with that of neat PCL of comparable molecular weight as revealed by DSC and XRD measurements. In Pep‐PCL biohybrids, extinction rings were observed in the PCL spherulites, in contrast with the normal spherulite morphology of the neat PCL. There was a substantial decrease (4–5 folds) in the spherulitic growth rate after the incorporation of peptide moiety at the end of PCL chain as measured by polarizing optical microscopy. Pseudomonas lipase catalyzed enzymatic degradation was studied for Pep‐PCL hybrids and neat PCL. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Structure‐guided RP‐HPLC chromatography of diastereomeric α‐helical peptide analogs substituted with single amino acid stereoisomers

An α‐helical model peptide (Ac‐EAEKAAKE‐X‐EKAAKEAEK‐amide) was used as a template to examine the efficacy of conventional reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography (RP‐HPLC) in separating peptide analogs with single substitutions (at position X) of diasteromeric amino acids Ile, allo‐Ile, d ‐Ile and d ‐allo‐Ile. We compared differences in peptide retention behavior on a C₈ column and a C₁₈ column at different temperatures. We demonstrated how subtle differences in peptide secondary structure affected by the different substitutions of amino acids with identical overall hydrophobicity enabled effective resolution of these peptide analogs. We also demonstrated the ability of RP‐HPLC to separate Ile‐ and allo‐Ile‐substituted analogs of a 26‐residue α‐helical antimicrobial peptide (AMP), with the substitution site towards the C‐terminus of the α‐helix. These peptides show different values of antibacterial activity and hemolytic activity, and different selectivity against bacteria and human cells. Our results underline the ability of RP‐HPLC to resolve even difficult diasteromeric peptide mixtures as well as its value in monitoring very subtle hydrophobicity changes in de novo‐designed AMP. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.