Chemical-functional diversity in cell-penetrating peptides.
Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are a promising tool to overcome cell membrane barriers. They have already been successfully applied as carriers for several problematic cargoes, like e.g. plasmid DNA and (si)RNA, opening doors for new therapeutics. Although several hundreds of CPPs are already described in the literature, only a few commercial applications of CPPs are currently available. Cellular uptake studies of these peptides suffer from inconsistencies in used techniques and other experimental conditions, leading to uncertainties about their uptake mechanisms and structural properties. To clarify the structural characteristics influencing the cell-penetrating properties of peptides, the chemical-functional space of peptides, already investigated for cellular uptake, was explored. For 186 peptides, a new cell-penetrating (CP)-response was proposed, based upon the scattered quantitative results for cellular influx available in the literature. Principal component analysis (PCA) and a quantitative structure-property relationship study (QSPR), using chemo-molecular descriptors and our newly defined CP-response, learned that besides typical well-known properties of CPPs, i.e. positive charge and amphipathicity, the shape, structure complexity and the 3D-pattern of constituting atoms influence the cellular uptake capacity of peptides.
Drug Quality and Registration (DruQuaR) Group, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Sofie
S
Stalmans
Evelien
E
Wynendaele
Nathalie
N
Bracke
Bert
B
Gevaert
Matthias
M
D'Hondt
Kathelijne
K
Peremans
Christian
C
Burvenich
Bart
B
De Spiegeleer
D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D002460:Cell Line; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability; D057846:Cell-Penetrating Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D007700:Kinetics; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011487:Protein Conformation; D021281:Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D055672:Static Electricity
D057846:Cell-Penetrating Peptides