Sidechain Engineering in Cell‐Penetrating Poly(disulfide)s

Cell‐penetrating poly(disulfide)s (CPD s) have been introduced recently to explore new ways to enter into cells. In this report, we disclose a general method to covalently modify the sidechains of CPD s. Compatibility of copper‐catalyzed alkyne‐azide cycloaddition (CuAAC ) with the addition of either strained cyclic disulfides of varied ring tension or increasing numbers of guanidinium and phosphonium cations is demonstrated. Reloading CPD s with disulfide ring tension results in an at least 20‐fold increase in activity with preserved sensitivity toward inhibition with the Ellman 's reagent. The cumulation of permanent positive charges by sidechain engineering affords Ellman‐insensitive CPD s with similarly increased activity. Co‐localization experiments indicate that the CPD s reach endosomes, cytosol and nucleus, depending on their nature and their concentration. Supported by pertinent controls, these trends confirm that CPD s operate with combination of counterion‐ and thiol‐mediated uptake, and that the balance between the two can be rationally controlled. For the most active CPD s, uptake can be observed at substrate (fluorophore) concentrations as low as 5 nm .     

Evaluation of Cell‐Penetrating Peptides Using Microfluidic In Vitro 3D Brain Endothelial Barrier

In drug delivery to the human brain, blood vessels are a significant hurdle because they restrict the entry of most solutes to protect brain. To overcome this hurdle, an in vitro 3D model for brain endothelial barrier is developed using a microfluidic device with hydrogel providing a 3D extracellular matrix scaffold. Using the model, peptides known to utilize receptor‐mediated transcytosis are verified, which has been one of the most promising mechanisms for brain‐specific penetration. The cytotoxicity and cellular damage to the peptide are investigated and the receptor‐mediated transcytosis and brain endothelial specific penetrating abilities of the peptides in a quantitative manner are demonstrated. As a preclinical test, applying the quantification assays conducted in this study are suggested, including the penetrating ability, cytotoxicity, endothelial damage, and receptor specificity. Using this microfluidic device as an in vitro platform for evaluating various brain targeting drugs and drug carrier candidates is also proposed.     

Glycosylated Cell‐Penetrating Poly(disulfide)s: Multifunctional Cellular Uptake at High Solubility

The glycosylation of cell‐penetrating poly(disulfide)s (CPDs) is introduced to increase the solubility of classical CPDs and to achieve multifunctional cellular uptake. With the recently developed sidechain engineering, CPDs decorated with α‐d ‐glucose (Glu), β‐d ‐galactose (Gal), d ‐trehalose (Tre), and triethyleneglycol (TEG) were readily accessible. Confocal laser scanning microscopy images of HeLa Kyoto cells incubated with the new CPDs at 2.5 μm revealed efficient uptake into cytosol and nucleoli of all glycosylated CPDs, whereas the original CPDs and TEGylated CPDs showed much precipitation into fluorescent aggregates at these high concentrations. Flow cytometry analysis identified Glu‐CPDs as most active, closely followed by Gal‐CPDs and Tre‐CPDs, and all clearly more active than non‐glycosylated CPDs. In the MTT assay, all glyco‐CPDs were non‐toxic at concentrations as high as 2.5 μm . Consistent with thiol‐mediated uptake, glycosylated CPDs remained dependent on thiols on the cell surface for dynamic covalent exchange, their removal with Ellman's reagent DTNB efficiently inhibited uptake. Multifunctionality was demonstrated by inhibition of Glu‐CPDs with d ‐glucose (IC₅₀ ca. 20 mm ). Insensitivity toward l ‐glucose and d ‐galactose and insensitivity of conventional CPDs toward d ‐glucose supported that glucose‐mediated uptake of the multifunctional Glu‐CPDs involves selective recognition by glucose receptors at the cell surface. Weaker but significant sensitivity of Gal‐CPDs toward d ‐galactose but not d ‐glucose was noted (IC₅₀ ca. 110 mm ). Biotinylation of Glu‐CPDs resulted in the efficient delivery of streptavidin together with a fluorescent model substrate. Protein delivery with Glu‐CPDs was more efficient than with conventional CPDs and remained sensitive to DTNB and d ‐glucose, i.e., multifunctional.     

A Cell‐Penetrating Foldamer with a Bioreducible Linkage for Intracellular Delivery of DNA

Despite significant advances in foldamer chemistry, tailored delivery systems based on foldamer architectures, which provide a high level of control over secondary structure, are curiously rare among non‐viral technologies for transporting nucleic acids into cells. A potent pH‐responsive, bioreducible cell‐penetrating foldamer (CPF) was developed through covalent dimerization of a short (8‐mer) amphipathic oligourea sequence bearing histidine‐type units. This CPF exhibits a high capacity to assemble with pDNA and mediates efficient delivery of nucleic acids into the cell. Furthermore, it does not adversely affect cellular viability and was shown to compare favorably with a cognate peptide transfection agent based on His‐rich sequences.     

Perfluoroaryl Bicyclic Cell‐Penetrating Peptides for Delivery of Antisense Oligonucleotides

Exon‐skipping antisense oligonucleotides are effective treatments for genetic diseases, yet exon‐skipping activity requires that these macromolecules reach the nucleus. While cell‐penetrating peptides can improve delivery, proteolytic instability often limits efficacy. It is hypothesized that the bicyclization of arginine‐rich peptides would improve their stability and their ability to deliver oligonucleotides into the nucleus. Two methods were introduced for the synthesis of arginine‐rich bicyclic peptides using cysteine perfluoroarylation chemistry. Then, the bicyclic peptides were covalently linked to a phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligonucleotide (PMO) and assayed for exon skipping activity. The perfluoroaryl cyclic and bicyclic peptides improved PMO activity roughly 14‐fold over the unconjugated PMO. The bicyclic peptides exhibited increased proteolytic stability relative to the monocycle, demonstrating that perfluoroaryl bicyclic peptides are potent and stable delivery agents.     

Emerging Methods and Design Principles for Cell‐Penetrant Peptides

Biomolecules such as antibodies, proteins, and peptides are important tools for chemical biology and leads for drug development. They have been used to inhibit a variety of extracellular proteins, but accessing intracellular proteins has been much more challenging. In this review, we discuss diverse chemical approaches that have yielded cell‐penetrant peptides and identify three distinct strategies: masking backbone amides, guanidinium group patterning, and amphipathic patterning. We summarize a growing number of large data sets, which are starting to reveal more specific design guidelines for each strategy. We also discuss advantages and disadvantages of current methods for quantifying cell penetration. Finally, we provide an overview of best‐odds approaches for applying these new methods and design principles to optimize cytosolic penetration for a given bioactive peptide.     

Ring Tension Applied to Thiol‐Mediated Cellular Uptake

The objective of the study was to explore the potential of ring tension in cyclic disulfides for thiol‐mediated cellular uptake. Fluorescent probes that cannot enter cells were equipped with cyclic disulfides of gradually increasing ring tension. As demonstrated by flow cytometry experiments, uptake into HeLa Kyoto cells increased with increasing tension. Differences in carbon‐sulfur‐sulfur‐carbon (CSSC) dihedral angles as small as 8° caused significant changes in uptake efficiency. Uptake with high ring tension was better than with inactivated or activated linear disulfides or with thiols. Conversion of thiols on the cell surface into sulfides and disulfides decreased the uptake. Reduction of exofacial disulfides into thiols increased the uptake of transporters with disulfides and inactivated controls with thiols. These results confirm the occurrence of dynamic covalent disulfide‐exchange chemistry on cell surfaces. Mechanistic and colocalization studies indicate that endocytosis does not fully account for this cellular uptake with ring tension.     

Synthetic Mimics of Antimicrobial Peptides—A Versatile Ring‐Opening Metathesis Polymerization Based Platform for the Synthesis of Selective Antibacterial and Cell‐Penetrating Polymers

Natural macromolecules exhibit an extensive arsenal of properties, many of which have proven difficult to recapitulate in simpler synthetic systems. Over the last couple of years, foldamers have emerged as one important step toward increased functionality in synthetic systems. While the great majority of work in this area has focused on folded structures, hence the name, more recent progress has centered on polymers that mimic protein function. These efforts have resulted in the design of relatively simple macromolecules; one example are the synthetic mimics of antimicrobial peptides (SMAMPs) that capture the central physicochemical features of their natural archetypes irrespective of the specific folded form. Here we present our recent efforts to create polymers which display biological activity similar to natural proteins, including antimicrobial and cell‐penetrating peptides.     

Cell‐Permeable Peptides Containing Cycloalanine Residues

We present here an efficient alternative to N‐methylation for the purpose of morphing protein‐binding peptides into more serum‐stable and cell‐permeable compounds. This involves the incorporation of a cycloalanine (CyAla) into a peptide in a way that avoids difficult coupling steps. We demonstrate the utility of this chemistry in creating a cell‐permeable derivative of a high‐affinity HIV Rev protein‐binding peptide.     

Design of Decorin‐Based Peptides That Bind to Collagen I and their Potential as Adhesion Moieties in Biomaterials

Mimicking the binding epitopes of protein–protein interactions by using small peptides is important for generating modular biomimetic systems. A strategy is described for the design of such bioactive peptides without accessible structural data for the targeted interaction, and the effect of incorporating such adhesion peptides in complex biomaterial systems is demonstrated. The highly repetitive structure of decorin was analyzed to identify peptides that are representative of the inner and outer surface, and it was shown that only peptides based on the inner surface of decorin bind to collagen. The peptide with the highest binding affinity for collagen I, LHERHLNNN, served to slow down the diffusion of a conjugated dye in a collagen gel, while its dimer could physically crosslink collagen, thereby enhancing the elastic modulus of the gel by one order of magnitude. These results show the potential of the identified peptides for the design of biomaterials for applications in regenerative medicine.     

Structurally Homogeneous Nanosheets from Self‐Assembly of a Collagen‐Mimetic Peptide

A collagen‐mimetic peptide, NSIII, has been designed with three sequential blocks having positive, neutral, and negative charges, respectively. The non‐canonical imino acid, (2S,4S)‐4‐aminoproline (amp), was used to specify the positive charges at the Xaa positions of (Xaa‐Yaa‐Gly) triads in the N‐terminal domain of NSIII. Peptide NSIII underwent self‐assembly from aqueous solution to form a highly homogeneous population of nanosheets. Two‐dimensional crystalline sheets formed in which the length of the peptide defined the height of the sheets. These results contrasted with prior results on a similar multi‐domain collagen‐mimetic polypeptides in which the sheets had highly polydisperse distribution of sizes in the (x/y)‐ and (z)‐dimensions. The structural differences between the two nanosheet assemblies were interpreted in terms of the relative stereoelectronic effects of the different aminoproline derivatives on the local triple helical conformation of the peptides.     

Surface‐Modifiable Free‐Floating Films Formed by Multiway Connection of Collagen‐Like Triple‐Helical Peptides

Square‐millimeter‐sized free‐floating translucent films are formed in physiological buffer by multiway connections between biotinylated collagen‐like triple‐helical peptides and avidin. Although the compositions of the films are almost constant, regardless of the ratios of the components loaded, their thicknesses can be controlled by the concentrations of the components. The film surfaces can be further modified by taking advantage of exposed biotin (or avidin) functionalities. The self‐assembled films could serve as novel materials in biomedical and biosensing applications.     

Delivery of myo‐Inositol Hexakisphosphate to the Cell Nucleus with a Proline‐Based Cell‐Penetrating Peptide

Inositol hexakisphosphate (InsP₆) is a central member of the inositol phosphate messengers in eukaryotic cells. Tools to manipulate the level of InsP₆, particularly with compartment selectivity, are needed to enable functional cellular studies. We present cationic octa‐(4S)guanidiniumproline ( Z8 ) for the delivery of InsP₆ into the cell nucleus. CD spectroscopy, binding affinity, dynamic light scattering, and computational studies revealed that Z8 binds tightly to InsP₆ and upon binding undergoes a conformational change from a PPII‐helical structure to a structure that forms aggregates. The unique conformational features of the cationic oligoproline enable complex formation and cellular delivery of InsP₆ with considerably greater efficacy than the flexible counterpart octaarginine.     

Covalent Attachment of Cyclic TAT Peptides to GFP Results in Protein Delivery into Live Cells with Immediate Bioavailability

The delivery of free molecules into the cytoplasm and nucleus by using arginine‐rich cell‐penetrating peptides (CPPs) has been limited to small cargoes, while large cargoes such as proteins are taken up and trapped in endocytic vesicles. Based on recent work, in which we showed that the transduction efficiency of arginine‐rich CPPs can be greatly enhanced by cyclization, the aim was to use cyclic CPPs to transport full‐length proteins, in this study green fluorescent protein (GFP), into the cytosol of living cells. Cyclic and linear CPP–GFP conjugates were obtained by using azido‐functionalized CPPs and an alkyne‐functionalized GFP. Our findings reveal that the cyclic‐CPP–GFP conjugates are internalized into live cells with immediate bioavailability in the cytosol and the nucleus, whereas linear CPP analogues do not confer GFP transduction. This technology expands the application of cyclic CPPs to the efficient transport of functional full‐length proteins into live cells.     

Inhibition of Ras Signaling by Blocking Ras–Effector Interactions with Cyclic Peptides

Ras genes are frequently activated in human cancers, but the mutant Ras proteins remain largely “undruggable” through the conventional small‐molecule approach owing to the absence of any obvious binding pockets on their surfaces. By screening a combinatorial peptide library, followed by structure–activity relationship (SAR) analysis, we discovered a family of cyclic peptides possessing both Ras‐binding and cell‐penetrating properties. These cell‐permeable cyclic peptides inhibit Ras signaling by binding to Ras‐GTP and blocking its interaction with downstream proteins and they induce apoptosis of cancer cells. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of developing cyclic peptides for the inhibition of intracellular protein–protein interactions and of direct Ras inhibitors as a novel class of anticancer agents.