Watkins, Catherine Louise, Sayers, Edward John ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Abstract
Delivering apoptosis inducing peptides to cells is an emerging area in cancer and molecular therapeutics. Here, we have identified an alternative mechanism of action for the proapoptotic chimeric peptide D-NuBCP-9-r8. Integral to D-NuBCP-9-r8 is the Nur-77-derived D-isoform sequence fsrslhsll that targets Bcl-2, and the cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) octaarginine (r8) that is required for intracellular delivery. We find that the N-terminal phenylalanine of fsrslhsll acts in synergy with the cell-penetrating moiety to enhance peptide uptake at low nontoxic levels and cause rapid membrane blebbing and cell necrosis at higher (IC50) concentrations. These effects were not observed when a single phenylalanine–alanine mutation was introduced at the N-terminus of D-NuBCP-9-r8. Using primary samples from chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients and cancer cell lines, we show that NuBCP-9-r8 induced toxicity, via membrane disruption, is independent of Bcl-2 expression. Overall, this study demonstrates a new mechanism of action for this peptide and cautions its use as a highly specific entity for targeting Bcl-2. For delivery of therapeutic peptides the work emphasizes that key amino acids in cargo, located several residues away from the cell-penetrating sequence, can significantly influence their cellular uptake and mode of action.
Item Type: | Article |
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Date Type: | Publication |
Status: | Published |
Schools: | Pharmacy Medicine Engineering |
Subjects: | R Medicine > R Medicine (General) R Medicine > RM Therapeutics. Pharmacology |
Publisher: | Nature Publishing Group: Open Access Hybrid Model Option B |
ISSN: | 1525-0016 |
Last Modified: | 06 Jan 2024 04:33 |
URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/15593 |
Citation Data
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