title: Branched oligopeptides form nanocapsules with lipid vesicle characteristics.
abstract: In a recent article (Gudlur et al. PLOS ONE, 2012, 7 (9) e45374), we described the special properties of a mixed branched peptide assembly in which equimolar bis(FLIVI)-K-KKKK and bis(FLIVIGSII)-K-KKKK self-associate to form bilayer delimited capsules capable of trapping solutes. These polycationic vesicle-like capsules are readily taken up by epithelial cells in culture, escape or evade the endocytic pathway, and accumulate in the perinuclear region where they persist without any apparent degradation. In this report, we examine the lipidlike properties of this system including initial assembly; solute encapsulation and washing; fusion and resizing by membrane extrusion through polycarbonate filters with defined pore sizes. The resized peptide capsules have uniform diameters in nm size ranges. Once resized, the capsules can be maintained at the new size by storing them at 4 °C. Having the ability to prepare stable uniform nanoscale capsules of desired sizes makes them potentially attractive as biocompatible delivery vehicles for various solutes/drugs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Kansas State University , Manhattan, Kansas 66506, United States.
authors.forename: Pinakin
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sukthankar
authors.forename: Sushanth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gudlur
authors.forename: L Adriana
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Avila
authors.forename: Susan K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Whitaker
authors.forename: Benjamin B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.forename: Yasuaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hiromasa
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Prem
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Thapa
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Takeo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iwamoto
authors.forename: Jianhan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Tomich
mesh_terms: D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry*; D053769:Nanocapsules / Q000737:chemistry*; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D010316:Particle Size; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D053769:Nanocapsules; D009842:Oligopeptides