The chain length of biologically produced (R)-3-hydroxyalkanoic acid affects biological activity and structure of anti-cancer peptides.

Conjugation of DP18L peptide with (R)-3-hydroxydecanoic acid, derived from the biopolymer polyhydroxyalkanoate, enhances its anti-cancer activity (O'Connor et al., 2013. Biomaterials 34, 2710-2718). However, it is unknown if other (R)-3-hydroxyalkanoic acids (R3HAs) can enhance peptide activity, if chain length affects enhancement, and what effect R3HAs have on peptide structure. Here we show that the degree of enhancement of peptide (DP18L) anti-cancer activity by R3HAs is carbon chain length dependent. In all but one example the R3HA conjugated peptides were more active against cancer cells than the unconjugated peptides. However, R3HAs with 9 and 10 carbons were most effective at improving DP18L activity. DP18L peptide variant DP17L, missing a hydrophobic amino acid (leucine residue 4) exhibited lower efficacy against MiaPaCa cells. Circular dichroism analysis showed DP17L had a lower alpha helix content and the conjugation of any R3HA ((R)-3-hydroxyhexanoic acid to (R)-3-hydroxydodecanoic acid) to DP17L returned the helix content back to levels of DP18L. However (R)-3-hydroxyhexanoic did not enhance the anti-cancer activity of DP17L and at least 7 carbons were needed in the R3HA to enhance activity of D17L. DP17L needs a longer chain R3HA to achieve the same activity as DP18L conjugated to an R3HA. As a first step to assess the synthetic potential of polyhydroxyalkanoate derived R3HAs, (R)-3-hydroxydecanoic acid was synthetically converted to (±)3-chlorodecanoic acid, which when conjugated to DP18L improved its antiproliferative activity against MiaPaCa cells.

The anti-cancer activity of a cationic anti-microbial peptide derived from monomers of polyhydroxyalkanoate.

The biodegradable polymer medium chain length polyhydroxyalkanoate (mclPHA), produced by Pseudomonas putida CA-3, was depolymerised and the predominant monomer (R)-3-hydroxydecanoic acid (R10) purified. R10 was conjugated to a d-peptide DP18 and its derivatives. All peptides conjugated with R10 exhibited greater anti-cancer activity compared to the unconjugated peptides. Unconjugated and conjugated peptides were cytocidal for cancer cells. Conjugation of R10 to peptides was essential for enhanced anti-proliferation activity, as unconjugated mixes did not result in enhancement of anti-cancer activity. The conjugation of R10 resulted in more rapid uptake of peptides into HeLa and MiaPaCa cells compared to unconjugated peptide. Both unconjugated and R10 conjugated peptides localized to the mitochondria of HeLa and MiaPaCa cells and induced apoptosis. Peptide conjugated with a terminally hydroxylated decanoic acid (ω-hydroxydecanoic acid) exhibited 3.3 and 6.3 fold higher IC(50) values compared to R10 conjugated peptide indicating a role for the position of the hydroxyl moiety in enhancement of anti-cancer activity. Conjugation of decanoic acid (C10) to peptides resulted in similar or higher IC(50) values compared to R10 conjugates but C10 conjugates did not exhibit any cancer selectivity. Combination studies showed that R10DP18L exhibited synergy with cisplatin, gemcitabine, and taxotere with IC(50) values in the nanomolar range.