Bottom-up engineering of peptide cell translocators based on environmentally modulated quadrupole switches.
Designing water-soluble peptides that camouflage their polarity to cross an anhydrous phase may significantly impact drug delivery. We engineered neutrally charged peptides endowed with a conformational switch that enables them to solubilize in both water and lipid. These peptides are capable of translocating without resorting to active internalization mechanisms. Lipid solubility is induced by a quadrupolar arrangement. Our passive translocation motif possesses the highest efficiency and is derived from cellular prions.
Fernández
Ariel
A
Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA. arifer@rice.edu
Crespo
Alejandro
A
Maddipati
Sridhar
S
Scott
Ridgway
R
D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001692:Biological Transport; D002460:Cell Line; D019295:Computational Biology; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015195:Drug Design; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D014867:Water / Q000378:metabolism
D004337:Drug Carriers; D010455:Peptides; D014867:Water; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate