title: Synthesis and immunomodulatory activity of [60]fullerene-tuftsin conjugates.
abstract: Immunomodulating peptide tuftsin (Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg) was covalently conjugated to fullerene C(60) by two different ways to prepare NH(2)-tuftsin-C(60) and C(60)-tuftsin-COOH. The two new compounds were intensively characterized. The synthetic C(60)-tuftsin conjugates were assayed for their stability against leucine aminopeptidase degradation. And the immunostimulating activities to murine peritoneal macrophages were investigated in vitro. Compared with the natural tuftsin, significant enhancement of phagocytosis, chemotaxis activities and major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC II) molecule expression were observed in macrophages stimulated by both of the conjugates. The two conjugates also exhibit complete resistance to enzymatic hydrolysis, and they are non-toxic to macrophages in the tested concentrations. On all accounts, these results suggest that the C(60)-tuftsin conjugates can be used as potential candidates of immunomodulators and vaccine adjuvants.
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Department of Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, PR China.
authors.forename: Yingying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Jiadan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.forename: Yuankai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ronghua
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Hongfang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Yuanfang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002630:Chemotactic Factors / Q000494:pharmacology; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D056148:Chromatography, Reverse-Phase; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005453:Fluorescence; D037741:Fullerenes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000633:toxicity; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000276:immunology; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000633:toxicity; D007931:Leucyl Aminopeptidase / Q000378:metabolism; D017737:Macrophages, Peritoneal / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000187:drug effects; D055550:Protein Stability / Q000187:drug effects; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D014405:Tuftsin / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D002630:Chemotactic Factors; D037741:Fullerenes; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II; D007155:Immunologic Factors; D007931:Leucyl Aminopeptidase; C069837:fullerene C60; D014405:Tuftsin