Cancer is a major burden to public health. Anticancer chemotherapy continues to be the most important adjuvant therapy to surgery, but multiple underlying cellular mechanisms complicate the treatment. Even when the treatment is initially effective, genomic instability causes the emergence of drug resistance, which is the most significant challenge in chemotherapy. Our previous research has shown that molecular nanofibers, formed by the self-assembly of innocuous monomers (e.g., D-peptides), selectively inhibit the growth of cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. This discovery promises novel anticancer agents that robustly target cancer cells while sparing normal cells. Particularly, enzyme-instructed molecular nanofibers inhibit several drug-resistant cancer cells (e.g., MES-SA/Dx5, SKOV3, and A2780cis) by mechanisms that differ fundamentally from those of conventional anticancer drugs that largely are based on ligand-receptor interactions. Thus, we propose to explore the enzyme-instructed molecular nanofibers of D-peptides as a paradigm-shifting approach that overcomes drug resistance in cancer. The central hypothesis of this research is that molecular nanofibers of D- peptides, spatiotemporally defined by enzymatic reactions, interact with multiple cellular proteins and interrupt multiple cellular processes to inhibit both drug sensitive and resistant cancer cells. The goal of this work is to elucidate how enzyme-instructed formation of molecular nanofibers of D-peptides inhibits cancer cells and ultimately to develop new nanomedicines to target drug-resistant cancer cells without harming normal cells. Specifically, this proposed research will (i) design and synthesize D-peptides for enzyme-instructed self- assembly to form molecular nanofibers (i.e., enzyme-instructed molecular nanofibers); (ii) evaluate the activity of the enzyme-instructed molecular nanofibers of D-peptides against drug-resistant cancer cells in cell culture;; (iii) identify the cellular location and protein targets of the molecular nanofibers of D-peptides and reveal the cellular processes perturbed by the molecular nanofibers of D-peptides; and (iv) evaluate the activity of the enzyme-instructed molecular nanofibers of D-peptides against drug-resistant cancer cells in ovarian cancer mouse models. This research explores the self-assembly of an underexplored molecular entity, D-peptides, thus providing a new platform for nanomedicine, based on enzyme reactions (rather than enzyme inhibition). We anticipate that this new approach will provide new molecules, novel technologies, and an unprecedented paradigm that will ultimately improve the survivorship of cancer patients.

Public Health Relevance

The overall goal of this work is to develop an innovative approach for creating molecular medicine to target cancer cells that are resistant to conventional chemotherapy without harming normal cells. Using enzymes to instruct the formation of nanoscale molecular assemblies (e.g., nanofibers) that kill cancer cells selectively, this approach will ultimately lead to a new paradigm of cancer therapy for the millions of people who will need anticancer treatment in the future, and thus improve health of the Nation.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01CA142746-08
Application #
9325463
Study Section
Nanotechnology Study Section (NANO)
Program Officer
Fu, Yali
Project Start
2010-02-08
Project End
2020-08-31
Budget Start
2017-09-01
Budget End
2018-08-31
Support Year
8
Fiscal Year
2017
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Brandeis University
Department
Chemistry
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
616845814
City
Waltham
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02453
Li, Jie; Du, Xuewen; Powell, Devon J et al. (2018) Down-regulating Proteolysis to Enhance Anticancer Activity of Peptide Nanofibers. Chem Asian J 13:3464-3468
Zhou, Jie; Du, Xuewen; Chen, Xiaoyi et al. (2018) Enzymatic Self-Assembly Confers Exceptionally Strong Synergism with NF-?B Targeting for Selective Necroptosis of Cancer Cells. J Am Chem Soc 140:2301-2308
Wang, Jiaqing; Zhou, Jie; He, Hongjian et al. (2018) Cell-compatible Nanoprobes for Imaging Intracellular Phosphatase Activities. Chembiochem :
Zhou, Jie; Du, Xuewen; Berciu, Cristina et al. (2018) Cellular Uptake of A Taurine-Modified, Ester Bond-Decorated D-Peptide Derivative via Dynamin-Based Endocytosis and Macropinocytosis. Mol Ther 26:648-658
Li, Jie; Bullara, Domenico; Du, Xuewen et al. (2018) Kinetic Analysis of Nanostructures Formed by Enzyme-Instructed Intracellular Assemblies against Cancer Cells. ACS Nano 12:3804-3815
Wang, Huaimin; Feng, Zhaoqianqi; Del Signore, Steven J et al. (2018) Active Probes for Imaging Membrane Dynamics of Live Cells with High Spatial and Temporal Resolution over Extended Time Scales and Areas. J Am Chem Soc 140:3505-3509
Wang, Huaimin; Feng, Zhaoqianqi; Yang, Cuihong et al. (2018) Unraveling the Cellular Mechanism of Assembling Cholesterols for Selective Cancer Cell Death. Mol Cancer Res :
Zhou, Jie; Du, Xuewen; Chen, Xiaoyi et al. (2018) Adaptive Multifunctional Supramolecular Assemblies of Glycopeptides Rapidly Enable Morphogenesis. Biochemistry 57:4867-4879
Wang, Huaimin; Feng, Zhaoqianqi; Qin, Yanan et al. (2018) Nucleopeptide Assemblies Selectively Sequester ATP in Cancer Cells to Increase the Efficacy of Doxorubicin. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 57:4931-4935
He, Hongjian; Wang, Jiaqing; Wang, Huaimin et al. (2018) Enzymatic Cleavage of Branched Peptides for Targeting Mitochondria. J Am Chem Soc 140:1215-1218

Showing the most recent 10 out of 96 publications