title: Facile synthesis, optical and conformational characteristics, and efficient intracellular delivery of a peptide-DNA conjugate.
abstract: Covalent conjugation of disparate peptide and oligonucleotide biomacromolecular species produces peptide-oligonucleotide conjugates (POCs), which are interesting molecules with great potential for use in diverse bioapplications. However, peptide-oligonucleotide conjugation methods are not well established, and the intracellular delivery efficacy of POCs is debatable. Here, we describe a simple method for the synthesis and purification of POCs. When peptides are carefully designed to have a near-neutral charge state, a relatively hydrophobic polarity, and receptor-targeting ligands, synthesis and purification become highly efficient and straightforward. UV-vis, fluorescence, and circular dichroism studies show that both types of molecules mutually influence each other, changing their optical and conformational characteristics in the context of POCs. The combined effect of peptide design strategy, targeting ligands, and relatively hydrophobic property, enables the efficient cellular delivery of POCs.
authors.affiliation: Translational Research Center for Protein Function Control and Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Mun-kyung
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Translational Research Center for Protein Function Control and Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: yblim@yonsei.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Yong-beom
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Lim
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry*; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
chemical_list: D009841:Oligonucleotides; D009842:Oligopeptides; D010455:Peptides; C047981:arginyl-glycyl-aspartic acid
keywords: Cellular delivery; Conformational property; Fragment conjugation; Optical property; Peptide–DNA conjugate