title: Design and utility of CCN2 anchor peptide aptamers.
abstract: CCN family protein 2/connective tissue growth factor (CCN2/CTGF) consists of 4 conserved modules that are highly interactive with a number of biomolecules. With such interaction, CCN2 exerts multiple functions by forming an extracellular information network. In the present study, we screened for dodecapeptide sequences that bound to each module of human CCN2 by using a bacteriophage display library. Thereafter, consensus amino acid sequences for the binding to individual modules were extracted in silico and utilized to design anchor peptide aptamers that would facilitate the interaction between CCN2 and other molecules. Direct binding of a few peptides to CCN2 was confirmed by surface plasmon resonance analysis. Subsequent biological assay indicated that one such peptide was capable of promoting the proliferation of CCN2-producing chondrocytic cells. This cell biological activity was found to be sequence specific and CCN2 dependent. Since CCN2/CTGF was shown to be effective in articular cartilage/bone regeneration in vivo, utility of such peptide aptamers in CCN2-associated regenerative therapeutics is suggested herein.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Dentistry, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan.
authors.forename: Harumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawaki
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.forename: Eriko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aoyama
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hanagata
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miyauchi
authors.forename: Kenta
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakai
authors.forename: Masaharu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takigawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D052158:Aptamers, Peptide; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D055513:Connective Tissue Growth Factor / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance
chemical_list: D052158:Aptamers, Peptide; C526317:CCN2 protein, human; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D055513:Connective Tissue Growth Factor