Thin peptide hydrogel membranes suitable as scaffolds for engineering layered biostructures.

A short tetramer peptide, Ac-IVKC, spontaneously formed a hydrogel in water. Disulfide bonds were introduced via hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-assisted oxidation, resulting in (Ac-IVKC)2 dimers. The extent of disulfide bond formation and gel stiffness increased with the amount of H2O2 used and 100% dimerization was achieved with 0.2% H2O2. The resultant gel achieved an elastic modulus of ∼0.9 MPa, which to our knowledge, has not been reported for peptide-based hydrogels. The enhanced mechanical property enabled the fabrication of thin and transparent membranes. The hydrogel could also be handled with forceps at mm thickness, greatly increasing its ease of physical manipulation. Excess H2O2 was removed and the membrane was then infused with cell culture media. Various cells, including primary human corneal stromal and epithelial cells, were seeded onto the hydrogel membrane and demonstrated to remain viable. Depending on the intended application, specific cell combination or membrane stacking order could be used to engineer layered biostructures. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: A short tetramer peptide - Ac-IVKC - spontaneously formed a hydrogel in water and disulfide bonds were introduced via hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-assisted oxidation. The extent of disulfide-bond formation and gel stiffness were modulated by the amount of H2O2. At maximum disulfide-bond formation, the hydrogel achieved an elastic modulus of ∼0.9 MPa, which to our knowledge, has not been reported for peptide-based hydrogels. The enhanced mechanical property enabled the fabrication of thin transparent membranes that can be physically manipulated at mm thickness. The gels also supported 3D cell growth, including primary human corneal stromal and epithelial cells. Depending on the intended application, specific combination of cells or individual membrane stacking order could be used to engineer layered biostructures.

Ultrathin, Strong, and Cell-Adhesive Agarose-Based Membranes Engineered as Substrates for Corneal Endothelial Cells.

We aimed to bioengineer a scaffold that can facilitate the transplantation of corneal endothelial cells (CEC), given the global shortage of cadaveric donor tissues. Although agarose (A) has outstanding biocompatibility and mechanical properties, it natively does not permit cell adhesion. In this study, agarose was modified with different attachment signals: GRGD (giving AR as product), lysine (AK), poly lysine (AP), and fish-derived gelatin (AG). Samples with varying conjugation ratios were prepared. All products formed bulk hydrogels, which were then collapsed into ultrathin membranes in a controlled environment. Membranes were evaluated for their ability to support attachment of various cell types. Cells, however, preferred the AG series of membrane. Notably, primary rabbit CEC remained attached and viable for ⩾4 weeks. The cells also stained positive for CD166, ZO-1 and Na+/K+ ATPase, indicative of function. The hydrated AG membranes allowed >96% transmittance of visible light. The membranes were typically ∼15 µm thick and did not swell significantly after immersion in PBS. Tensile strength was 49-60 MPa, while young's modulus was 525-596 MPa. This membrane thus offers great promise as a scaffold for CEC during endothelial keratoplasty.

Transparent crosslinked ultrashort peptide hydrogel dressing with high shape-fidelity accelerates healing of full-thickness excision wounds.

Wound healing is a major burden of healthcare systems worldwide and hydrogel dressings offer a moist environment conducive to healing. We describe cysteine-containing ultrashort peptides that self-assemble spontaneously into hydrogels. After disulfide crosslinking, the optically-transparent hydrogels became significantly stiffer and exhibited high shape fidelity. The peptide sequence (LIVAGKC or LK6C) was then chosen for evaluation on mice with full-thickness excision wounds. Crosslinked LK6C hydrogels are handled easily with forceps during surgical procedures and offer an improvement over our earlier study of a non-crosslinked peptide hydrogel for burn wounds. LK6C showed low allergenic potential and failed to provoke any sensitivity when administered to guinea pigs in the Magnusson-Kligman maximization test. When applied topically as a dressing, the medium-infused LK6C hydrogel accelerated re-epithelialization compared to controls. The peptide hydrogel is thus safe for topical application and promotes a superior rate and quality of wound healing.

Oxidation as a facile strategy to reduce the surface charge and toxicity of polyethyleneimine gene carriers.

Polyethyleneimine (PEI) is widely regarded as one of the most efficient non-viral transfection agents commercially available. However, a key concern is its pronounced cytotoxicity, ascribed mainly to its high amine content and cationic charge density. Significant past efforts to mitigate its toxicity usually involved lengthy synthetic procedures. We now propose a simple strategy using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to oxidize the amine groups. PEI/DNA complexes were first formed before some amine groups were removed with H2O2. This reduced surface charge while the remaining cationic charges still allowed for efficient transfection. The DNA was not damaged and remained bound after oxidation. Furthermore, H2O2 was quantitatively removed with sodium pyruvate prior to cell culture. Oxidized complexes caused no cytotoxicity even at high polymer concentrations. Compared to non-oxidized complexes used at subtoxic doses, oxidized complexes mediated significantly more GFP expression. A key strength of this approach is its simplicity as it involves only simple mixing of solutions. This strategy promises to further realize the potential of using PEI for the delivery of nucleic acids or other cargos.

Tunable mechanical properties of ultrasmall peptide hydrogels by crosslinking and functionalization to achieve the 3D distribution of cells.

A disulfide-crosslinked hydrogel made from ultrasmall peptides is introduced. Crosslinked gels are more elastic and better able to maintain shape integrity. Using facile chemistry, RGD (or other bioactive signals) can be conjugated onto the peptide fibers. Gels formed are biocompatible and support the three-dimensional distribution of cells.

Novel triblock oligopeptides as efficient nonviral vectors: characterisation and further insights.

The delivery of immunomodulatory genes into the cornea prior to transplantation is one promising strategy to improve graft survival rates. We recently reported a class of novel triblock oligopeptides that could mediate efficient gene transfer into corneal endothelial cells. Now these peptides are characterised further and it is show that they lack distinct secondary structures. Peptide complexes are also demonstrated to be weakly haemolytic and transfection efficiency is shown to be sensitive to several experimental conditions. SEM and FRET confocal images are used to study the particle morphology and to show that they condense their DNA cargo well.

Oligopeptide-mediated gene transfer into mouse corneal endothelial cells: expression, design optimization, uptake mechanism and nuclear localization.

Gene transfer to the corneal endothelium has potential in preventing corneal transplant rejection. In this study, we transfected mouse corneal endothelial cells (MCEC) with a class of novel arginine-rich oligopeptides. The peptides featured a tri-block design and mediated reporter gene expression in MCEC more efficiently than the commercial polyethylenimine standard. The functionality of each block was demonstrated to critically influence the performance of the peptide. Results from confocal imaging and flow cytometry then showed that energy-dependent endocytosis was the dominant form of uptake and multiple pathways were involved. Additionally, uptake was strongly dependent on interactions with cell-surface heparan sulphate. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer studies revealed that the peptide/DNA entered cells as an associated complex and some will have dissociated by 8.5 h. Large-scale accumulation of uncondensed DNA within the nucleus can also be observed by 26 h. Finally, as a proof of biological relevance, we transfected MCEC with plasmids encoding for the functional indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) enzyme. We then demonstrated that the expressed IDO could catalyse the degradation of l-tryptophan, which in turn suppressed the growth of CD4+ T-cells in a proliferation assay.

Functional polycarbonates and their self-assemblies as promising non-viral vectors.

Polycarbonates are promising biomaterials due to their biocompatibility, degradability and low toxicity. In this study, a series of COOH-functionalized polycarbonates was synthesized via an organocatalytic ring opening polymerization pathway under mild conditions. The polymers displayed a range of molecular weights (M(w): 3.1, 5.5 and 9.7 kDa) and were very narrowly distributed (polydispersity index: 1.07, 1.07 and 1.15 respectively). Aliphatic amines with different chain lengths (triethylenetetramine, tetraethylenepentamine or pentaethylenehexamine) were then conjugated onto the polycarbonate backbone using DIC/NHS chemistry. These amine-functionalized polycarbonates could form nanoparticles upon simple dissolution in water and had CMC values ranging from 22 to 45 mg/L. It was found that a longer amine chain resulted in greater buffering capacity, more positive zeta potential and smaller hydrodynamic size of the polymeric nanoparticles. Results from gel retardation assays indicated that the polymers were able to condense DNA. In-vitro studies further demonstrated that selected amine-functionalized polycarbonates could mediate efficient luciferase expression in HEK293, HepG2 and 4T1 cell lines at levels that were comparable, or even superior, to the polyethylenimine (PEI) standard. Importantly, minimal cytotoxicty was induced in the cells. These functional polycarbonates therefore have the potential to be a useful non-viral vector for gene therapy.

Efficient delivery of Bcl-2-targeted siRNA using cationic polymer nanoparticles: downregulating mRNA expression level and sensitizing cancer cells to anticancer drug.

In this study, cationic nanoparticles self-assembled from the amphiphilic copolymer poly(N-methyldietheneamine sebacate)-co-[(cholesteryl oxocarbonylamido ethyl) methyl bis(ethylene) ammonium bromide] sebacate) (P(MDS-co-CES) were synthesized and used to deliver Bcl-2 targeted siRNA into HepG2, HeLa and MDA-MB-231 cell lines, and downregulate Bcl-2 mRNA expression levels. Confocal microscopic studies show that the nanoparticles were able to complex with siRNA and deliver it inside the cells efficiently, but siRNA was easily dissociated from the complexes in the cytoplasm for its biological functions. Bcl-2 mRNA expression levels as low as 10% were achieved after treatment with nanoparticle/siRNA complexes. The downregulation efficiency of Bcl-2 mRNA level was similar to that mediated by Lipofectamine but higher than that induced by PEI. PEG was also conjugated to siRNA via a cleavable disulfide bond, and nanoparticle/siRNA-PEG complexes showed no significant protein adsorption as compared with 26 and 17% for blank nanoparticles and nanoparticle/siRNA complexes, respectively. The presence of serum caused slight aggregation of nanoparticle/siRNA or nanoparticle/siRNA-PEG complexes. However, the size of the complexes was still below 250 nm after being incubated in PBS containing 10% serum for 4 h. On the other hand, PEGylated siRNA delivered by the nanoparticles downregulated Bcl-2 mRNA expression level in the cells as efficiently as unmodified siRNA. Bcl-2 protein was also downregulated efficiently by nanoparticle/siRNA complexes in all cell lines tested. The downregulation of Bcl-2 mRNA or Bcl-2 protein did not show significant cell death in the tested siRNA and polymer concentration range. However, the delivery of siRNA sensitized HeLa cells to paclitaxel treatment, yielding significant improvement over the untreated cells (p<0.05). These cationic nanoparticles may be potentially employed to downregulate Bcl-2 expression and sensitize cancer cells to anticancer drugs for more efficient chemotherapy.

Targeted and intracellular delivery of paclitaxel using multi-functional polymeric micelles.

Natural paclitaxel (Taxol) is an effective anti-cancer drug, although a critical disadvantage is its non-targeting nature. To address this issue, cholesterol-grafted poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-N,N-dimethylacrylamide-co-undecenoic acid) was synthesized with different starting monomer ratios via a free radical copolymerization route. Folate was subsequently attached to the hydrophilic segment of the polymer in order to target folate receptors-overexpressing cancer cells. The success of synthesis was confirmed with 1H-NMR carried out in CDCl3/D2O. Using a membrane dialysis method, the polymer was then self-assembled into micelles whose hydrophobic cores could be utilized to encapsulate paclitaxel, an extremely hydrophobic compound. The polymer had a low CMC of approximately 20 mg/L in water. Dynamic light scattering further showed that the sizes of blank micelles formed from the polymer were below 180 nm at different pH values tested and approximately 220 nm upon drug incorporation. More importantly, it was demonstrated that the micelles exhibited a useful pH-induced thermo-sensitivity, such that drug was released more rapidly at pH 5.0 (acidic endosomal/lysosomal environment) than at pH 7.4 (normal extracellular pH). In vitro cytotoxicity assays performed against KB cells then provided concluding evidences that the cellular uptake of micelles surface-functionalised with folate was indeed enhanced due to a receptor-assisted endocytosis process. This novel polymeric design thus has the potential to be a useful paclitaxel vehicle for the treatment of folate-receptor positive cancers.