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Differential membrane binding of α/β-peptide foldamers: implications for cellular delivery and mitochondrial targeting

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posted on 2023-11-30, 04:50 authored by TH Lee, JW Checco, T Malcolm, CH Eller, RT Raines, SH Gellman, Erinna LeeErinna Lee, Walter FairlieWalter Fairlie, MI Aguilar
The intrinsic pathway of apoptosis is regulated by the Bcl-2 family of proteins. Inhibition of the anti-apoptotic members represents a strategy to induce apoptotic cell death in cancer cells. We have measured the membrane binding properties of a series of peptides, including modified α/β-peptides, designed to exhibit enhanced membrane permeability to allow cell entry and improved access for engagement of Bcl-2 family members. The peptide cargo is based on the pro-apoptotic protein Bim, which interacts with all anti-apoptotic proteins to initiate apoptosis. The α/β-peptides contained cyclic β-amino acid residues designed to increase their stability and membrane permeability. Dual polarisation interferometry was used to study the binding of each peptide to two different model membrane systems designed to mimic either the plasma membrane or the outer mitochondrial membrane. The impact of each peptide on the model membrane structure was also investigated, and the results demonstrated that the modified peptides had increased affinity for the mitochondrial membrane and significantly altered the structure of the bilayer. The results also showed that the presence of an RRR motif significantly enhanced the ability of the peptides to bind to and insert into the mitochondrial membrane mimic, and provide insights into the role of selective membrane targeting of peptides.

Funding

This research was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, grant nos APP1084648 and APP1142750. Research at UW-Madison was supported in part by NIH grants R01 GM056414 (S. H. G.) and R01 GM044783 (R. T. R.). J. W. C. was supported in part by a Biotechnology Training Grant from NIH (T32 GM008349).

History

Publication Date

2023-06-14

Journal

Australian Journal of Chemistry

Volume

76

Issue

8

Pagination

11p. (p. 482-492)

Publisher

CSIRO Publishing

ISSN

0004-9425

Rights Statement

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).

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