Tumor-selective peptide-carrier delivery of Paclitaxel increases in vivo activity of the drug.

Taxanes are highly effective chemotherapeutic drugs against proliferating cancer and an established option in the standard treatment of ovarian and breast cancer. However, treatment with paclitaxel is associated with severe side effects, including sensory axonal neuropathy, and its poor solubility in water complicates its formulation. In this paper we report the in vitro and in vivo activity of a new form of paclitaxel, modified for conjugation with a tumor-selective tetrabranched peptide carrier (NT4). NT4 selectively targets tumor cells by binding to membrane sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAG) and to endocytic receptors, like LRP1 and LRP6, which are established tumor markers. Biological activity of NT4-paclitaxel was tested in vitro on MDA-MB 231 and SKOV-3 cell lines, representing breast and ovarian cancer, respectively, and in vivo in an orthotopic mouse model of human breast cancer. Using in vivo bioluminescence imaging, we found that conjugation of paclitaxel with the NT4 peptide led to increased therapeutic activity of the drug in vivo. NT4-paclitaxel induced tumor regression, whereas treatment with unconjugated paclitaxel only produced a reduction in tumor growth. Moreover, unlike paclitaxel, NT4-paclitaxel is very hydrophilic, which may improve its pharmacokinetic profile and allow the use of less toxic dilution buffers, further decreasing its general chemotherapic toxicity.

Perylene Derivatives As Useful SERRS Reporters, Including Multiplexing Analysis.

Five perylene bisimide (PBI) derivatives were designed and synthesized, on the basis of quantum-chemical calculations. The influence of halogen substituents on the shape and energy of the frontier orbitals and the Raman spectra were calculated, in the prospect use in surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) studies. The corresponding experiments confirmed a very strong SERRS response in the presence of pristine (i.e., uncoated) gold nanoparticles. These spectra can be used for multiplexing measurements, namely measurements in which, by using a single laser excitation, one can recognize the simultaneous presence of several analytes.

Neurotensin branched peptide as a tumor-targeting agent for human bladder cancer.

Despite recent advances in multimodal therapy, bladder cancer still ranks ninth in worldwide cancer incidence. New molecules which might improve early diagnosis and therapeutic efficiency for tumors of such high epidemiological impact therefore have very high priority. In the present study, the tetrabranched neurotensin peptide NT4 was conjugated with functional units for cancer-cell imaging or therapy and was tested on bladder cancer cell lines and specimens from bladder cancer surgical resections, in order to evaluate its potential for targeted personalized therapy of bladder cancer. Fluorophore-conjugated NT4 distinguished healthy and cancer tissues with good statistical significance (P < 0.05). NT4 conjugated to methotrexate or gemcitabine was cytotoxic for human bladder cancer cell lines at micromolar concentrations. Their selectivity for bladder cancer tissue and capacity to carry tracers or drugs make NT4 peptides candidate tumor targeting agents for tracing cancer cells and for personalized therapy of human bladder cancer.

Chemical-physical analysis of a tartrate model compound for TACE inhibition.

We have synthesized and done an extensive chemical-physical analysis of the behavior of a new compound, named MBET306, a synthetic precursor of the recently discovered tartrate-based inhibitors of the protein Tumor Necrosis factor-α Converting Enzyme (TACE). Experimental and theoretical data have shown that in water solution MBET306 is overwhelmingly found as a monoanion at physiological pH, in a conformation that differs substantially from that detected in the known co-crystal structures of MBET306 derivatives bound to TACE. The body of collected experimental and theoretical data indicates that the monoanionic species binds Zn(ii) inducing a strong stabilization of the crystal-like arrangement of the central tartrate zinc-binding group, lending support for a two step TACE docking mechanism via a zinc-bound intermediate. The thorough chemical-physical characterization of the conformational behavior of free and zinc-bound MBET306 in water bulk solution opens new avenues for the rational drug design of tartrate-based highly specific TACE inhibitors.

Water-mediated interactions influence the binding of thapsigargin to sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium adenosinetriphosphatase.

A crystal structure suggests four water molecules are present in the binding cavity of thapsigargin in sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA). Computational chemistry indicates that three of these water molecules mediate an extensive hydrogen-bonding network between thapsigargin and the backbone of SERCA. The orientation of the thapsigargin molecule in SERCA is crucially dependent on these interactions. The hypothesis has been verified by measuring the affinity of newly synthesized model compounds, which are prevented from participating in such water-mediated interactions as hydrogen-bond donors.

The precise chemical-physical nature of the pharmacore in FK506 binding protein inhibition: ElteX, a New class of nanomolar FKBP12 ligands.

Due to its central role in immunosuppression and cell proliferation and due to its specific peptidyl-prolyl-isomerase (PPI) function, the FKBP protein family is at the crossroad of several important metabolic pathways. Members of this family, and notably FK506 binding protein (FKBP12), are thought to be involved in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, as well as in proliferation disorders and cancer. Using an interdisciplinary approach based on computational, synthetic, and experimental techniques, we show that the best potential binders for FKBP proteins optimally expose the two contiguous carbonyl oxygen in the proline-mimetic chain for FKBP docking and are characterized by the abundance of rigid quasi-cyclic structures stabilized in aqueous solution by intraligand hydrophobic interactions mimicking the macrolide structure of the natural FKBP binders FK506 and Rapamycin. These peculiar structural and chemical-physical features define at the same time an ElteX compound and the minimal pharmacore in the FKBP family, shedding new light on the isomerization mechanism of the PPI domain. On the basis of the above hypothesis, we have successfully designed and synthesized several nanomolar ElteX FKBP12 ligands. Among these, ElteN378 is a new low atomic weight ligand with affinity comparable to that of the macrolide Rapamycin.