Curcumin-Loaded Nanoparticles Based on Amphiphilic Hyaluronan-Conjugate Explored as Targeting Delivery System for Neurodegenerative Disorders.

Identification of molecules able to promote neuroprotective mechanisms can represent a promising therapeutic approach to neurodegenerative disorders including Huntington's disease. Curcumin is an antioxidant and neuroprotective agent, even though its efficacy is limited by its poor absorption, rapid metabolism, systemic elimination, and limited blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability. Herein, we report on novel biodegradable curcumin-containing nanoparticles to favor the compound delivery and potentially enhance its brain bioavailability. The prepared hyaluronan-based materials able to self-assemble in stable spherical nanoparticles, consist of natural fatty acids chemically conjugated to the natural polysaccharide. The aim of this study is to provide a possible effective delivery system for curcumin with the expectation that, after having released the drug at the specific site, the biopolymer can degrade to nontoxic fragments before renal excretion, since all the starting materials are provided by natural resource. Our findings demonstrate that curcumin-encapsulated nanoparticles enter the cells and reduce their susceptibility to apoptosis in an in vitro model of Huntington's disease.

Design and analysis of EphA2-SAM peptide ligands: A multi-disciplinary screening approach.

EphA2 receptor plays a critical and debatable function in cancer and is considered a target in drug discovery. Lately, there has been a growing interest in its cytosolic C-terminal SAM domain (EphA2-SAM) as it engages protein modulators of receptor endocytosis and stability. Interestingly, EphA2-SAM binds the SAM domain from the lipid phosphatase Ship2 (Ship2-SAM) mainly producing pro-oncogenic outcomes. In an attempt to discover novel inhibitors of the EphA2-SAM/Ship2-SAM complex with possible anticancer properties, we focused on the central region of Ship2-SAM (known as Mid-Loop interface) responsible for its binding to EphA2-SAM. Starting from the amino acid sequence of the Mid-Loop interface virtual peptide libraries were built through ad hoc inserted mutations with either l- or d- amino acids and screened against EphA2-SAM by docking techniques. A few virtual hits were synthesized and experimentally tested by a variety of direct and competition-type interaction assays relying on NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance), SPR (Surface Plasmon Resonance), MST (Microscale Thermophoresis) techniques. These studies guided the discovery of an original EphA2-SAM ligand antagonist of its interaction with Ship2-SAM.

Chemoselective Glycosylation of Peptides through S-Alkylation Reaction.

An efficient and rapid procedure for synthesizing S-linked glycopeptides is reported. The approach uses activated molecular sieves as a base to promote the selective S-alkylation of readily prepared cysteine-containing peptides, upon reaction of appropriate glycosyl halides. Considering the very mild conditions employed, the chemoselective linkage of the electrophilic sugar with a peptide sulfhydryl group occurred in satisfactory yield, allowing the incorporation of mono and disaccharide moieties. The sugar-peptide conjugates obtained from α-d-glycosyl derivatives adopt a ß-S-configuration, indicating the high stereoselectivity of the substitution reaction.

Evaluation of HER2-specific peptide ligand for its employment as radiolabeled imaging probe.

HER2 transmembrane receptor is an important target in immunotherapy treatment of breast and gastroesophageal cancer. Molecular imaging of HER2 expression may provide essential prognostic and predictive information concerning disseminated cancer and aid in selection of an optimal therapy. Radiolabeled low molecular weight peptide ligands are particularly attractive as probes for molecular imaging, since they reach and bind to the target and clear from non-target organs and blood stream faster than bulky antibodies. In this study, we evaluated a potential HER2-imaging probe, an A9 nonapeptide, derived from the trastuzumab-Fab portion. Its cellular uptake was investigated by mass spectrometry analysis of the cytoplasmic cellular extracts. Moreover, based on in-silico modeling, DTPA chelator was conjugated to N-terminus of A9. 111In-labeled A9 demonstrated nanomolar affinity to HER2-expressing BT474 cells and favorable biodistribution profile in NMRI mice. This study suggests that the peptide A9 represents a good lead candidate for development of molecular probe, to be used for imaging purposes and for the delivery of cytotoxic agents.

The Cysteine S-Alkylation Reaction as a Synthetic Method to Covalently Modify Peptide Sequences.

Synthetic methodologies to chemically modify peptide molecules have long been investigated for their impact in the field of chemical biology. They allow the introduction of biochemical probes useful for studying protein functions, for manipulating peptides with therapeutic potential, and for structure-activity relationship investigations. The commonly used approach was the derivatization of an amino acid side chain. In this regard, the cysteine, for its unique reactivity, has been widely employed as the substrate for such modifications. Herein, we report on methodologies developed to modify the cysteine thiol group through the S-alkylation reaction. Some procedures perform the alkylation of cysteine derivatives, in order to prepare building blocks to be used during the peptide synthesis, whilst some others selectively modify peptide sequences containing a cysteine residue with a free thiol group, both in solution and in the solid phase.

Microwave heating in peptide side chain modification via cysteine alkylation.

Microwave irradiation has been successfully applied to a selective synthetic procedure for introducing molecular substituents on peptides, providing a noticeable reduction of the reaction time and also an increased crude peptide purity for some compounds.

Structural identification of an HER2 receptor model binding pocket to optimize lead compounds: a combined experimental and computational approach.

The structural investigation of the ligand/target interactions represents a challenging task in the field of drug discovery or lead compound optimization. In the present study, a computational approach allowed the identification of the binding site of A9 peptide, within a synthetic model of HER2 receptor (HER2-DIVMP). To this aim, molecular docking calculations and molecular dynamics simulations were employed, taking into account experimental data obtained by fluorescence studies. The computational model was further validated by performing fluorescence binding studies between the ligand A9 and HER2-DIVMP mutants, prepared by replacing key amino acid residues. A new binding pocket of HER2-DIVMP was identified, which could be fruitfully exploited for future lead-optimization studies.

Eco-friendly microwave-assisted protocol to prepare hyaluronan-fatty acid conjugates and to induce their self-assembly process.

An environmentally sustainable and energy-efficient synthetic process has been developed to prepare hyaluronan-based nano-sized material. It consists in a microwave-promoted acylation of the hydroxyl function of the polysaccharide with natural fatty acids, performed under solvent-free conditions. The efficient interaction of the solid reagents with the MW radiation accounts for the obtained high yielded products. The self-assembly process of the obtained compounds very fast occurred in an aqueous medium under MW-radiation, thus allowing the development of a green protocol for the nano-particles preparation.

Solid-Phase S-Alkylation Promoted by Molecular Sieves.

A solid-phase S-alkylation procedure to introduce chemical modification on the cysteine sulfhydryl group of a peptidyl resin is reported. The reaction is promoted by activated molecular sieves and consists of a solid-solid process, since both the catalyst and the substrate are in a solid state. The procedure was revealed to be efficient and versatile, particularly when used in combination with the solution S-alkylation approach, allowing for the introduction of different molecular diversities on the same peptide molecule.

HER2-mediated anticancer drug delivery: strategies to prepare targeting ligands highly specific for the receptor.

HER2 receptor, for its involvement in tumorigenesis, has been largely studied as topic in cancer research. In particular, the employment of trastuzumab (Herceptin), a humanized anti-HER2 antibody, showed several clinical benefits in the therapy against the breast cancer. Moreover, for its accessible extracellular domain, this receptor is considered an ideal target to deliver anticancer drugs for the receptormediated anticancer therapy. By now, monoclonal antibody and its fragments, affibody, and some peptides have been employed as targeting agents in order to deliver various drugs to HER2 positive tumor cells. In particular, the ability to perform a fast and reliable screening of a large number of peptide molecules would make possible the selection of highly specific compounds to the receptor target. In this regard, the availability of preparing a simplified synthetic model which is a good mimetic of the receptor target and can be used in a reliable screening method of ligands would be of a strategic importance for the development of selective HER2-targeting peptide molecules. Herein, we illustrate the importance of HER2-targeted anticancer therapies. We also report on a synthetic and effective mimetic of the receptor, which revealed to be a useful tool for the selection of specific HER2 ligands.

Air oxidation method employed for the disulfide bond formation of natural and synthetic peptides.

Among the available protocols, chemically driven approaches to oxidize cysteine may not be required for molecules that, under the native-like conditions, naturally fold in conformations ensuring an effective pairing of the right disulfide bridge pattern. In this contest, we successfully prepared the distinctin, a natural heterodimeric peptide, and some synthetic cyclic peptides that are inhibitors of the CXCR4 receptor. In the first case, the air oxidation reaction allowed to connect two peptide chains via disulfide bridge, while in the second case allowed the cyclization of rationally designed peptides by an intramolecular disulfide bridge. Computational approaches helped to either drive de-novo design or suggest structural modifications and optimal oxidization protocols for disulfide-containing molecules. They are able to both predict and to rationalize the propensity of molecules to spontaneously fold in suitable conformations to achieve the right disulfide bridges.

Lipidated peptides via post-synthetic thioalkylation promoted by molecular sieves.

A thioalkylation procedure, which uses molecular sieves to promote the reaction, was exploited to provide peptides with useful functional groups (lipidic moieties), naturally occurring on proteins as post-translational modifications. The procedure was further implemented to synthesize tailor-made lipidated peptides, interesting tools to investigate biological processes involving their Ras parent proteins. Moreover, the one-pot preparation of multi-alkylated peptides confirms the versatility and flexibility of the employed methodology.

Pectin functionalized with natural fatty acids as antimicrobial agent.

Several pectin derivatives were prepared by chemical modifications of the polysaccharide with natural fatty acids. The obtained biodegradable pectin-based materials, pectin-linoleate, pectin-oleate and pectin-palmitate, were investigated for their antimicrobial activity against several bacterial strains, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Good results were obtained for pectin-oleate and pectin-linoleate, which inhibit the growth of the selected microorganisms by 50-70%. They exert the better antimicrobial activity against S. aureus. Subsequently, the pectin-oleate and the pectin-linoleate samples were coated on polyethylene films and were assessed for their capacity to capture the oxygen molecules, reducing its penetration into the polymeric support. These results confirmed a possible application of the new materials in the field of active food packaging.

Cysteine co-oxidation process driven by native peptide folding: an example on HER2 receptor model system.

Synthetic models of receptors that have relevant biological roles are valuable tools for studying receptors itself and the corresponding ligands. Their properties can be validated at first by their capacity to fold in solution under native-like conditions and to assume conformations structurally and functionally equivalent to those in the native receptor. In this context, a new strategy to prepare the two-fragments synthetic receptor model HER2-DIVMP, an independent structural and functional motif of HER2, has been developed and the folding properties have been investigated. The strategy is based on a one-step cysteine co-oxidation procedure in slightly alkaline aqueous buffers, whereby the two separate peptide chains are allowed to self-assemble in solution. Under these conditions, the two chains spontaneously form the expected heterodimer with the correct pattern of disulfide bridges. To gain insights on the folding mechanism, we investigated the folding of two scrambled variants of the constituent peptide chains.

Chemical modifications of peptide sequences via S-alkylation reaction.

A chemoselective, convenient, and mild synthetic strategy to modify peptides on a cysteine sulfhydryl group is described. It simply requires activated molecular sieves to selectively promote S-alkylation in the presence of peptide nucleophilic functionalities. The procedure is easy to perform, fast, and provides high yields even in the case of poor electrophilic groups. Moreover, the method allows an efficient one-pot poly alkylation, proving that the sulfhydryl reactivity does not rely on its specific position within the peptide sequence.

Fluorescence study for selecting specific ligands toward HER2 receptor: an example of receptor fragment approach.

Fluorescence titrations allowed us to study the interaction process between Herceptin (Fab)-derived peptides and a synthetic peptide mimicking a subdomain IV of the receptor HER2 (HER2-DIVMP). For some of the investigated peptide/HER2-DIVMP complexes a nanomolar dissociation constant was found. The performed interaction studies were completely immune from interferences of other receptor domains not covered by the design, thus decreasing the possibilities of selecting potential ligands able to bind other subtypes of HER2 receptor family. Our results demonstrate that the adopted receptor fragment approach represents an efficient methodology for selecting new molecules as lead structures specific for the receptor target. For these reasons the optimized compounds could be employed as delivery agents for the receptor-mediated anticancer therapy.

Solvent-free synthesis of modified pectin compounds promoted by microwave irradiation.

Microwave-assisted solvent-free modification of pectin was successfully accomplished, consisting in the esterification of several fatty acids by pectin alcoholic functions. The reaction was performed by simply mixing the reagents with a catalytic amount of the inorganic base (potassium carbonate) and irradiating the obtained mixture with microwaves for a short time (3-6 min). The replacement of the traditional heating with a microwave source allowed the development of a new synthetic protocol which provided increased yield of the final products, since it eliminates the small amount of degraded polysaccharide produced during traditional oil bath heating. The desired esters were fully characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis.

Postsynthetic modification of peptides via chemoselective N-alkylation of their side chains.

A chemoselective, mild, and versatile method for performing postsynthetic modifications of peptide sequences is described. It requires only activated molecular sieves in the presence of an alkyl halide in order to N-alkylate lysine side chains. This reaction is fully compatible with most of the peptide functionalities, discriminates the reactivity of differently protected lysines, and proceeds in good yield. The mild conditions employed were further proved by performing the N-alkylation of a peptide containing a disulfide bridge.