The ability to cross the cell membrane and gain access to the cell interior is a requirement for any therapeutic agent intended for an intracellula target. Proteins, peptides, and small interfering RNA (siRNA) represent some of the emerging/expanding classes of therapeutic agents. However, these biological molecules are generally membrane impermeable on their own and must be delivered to the proper intracellular locations. Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are short peptides (usually <30 amino acids) that have the ability to penetrate the plasma membrane of eukaryotic cells without causing significant membrane damage. Many CPPs have been discovered and some have been used to deliver a wide variety of cargos into cells. A major limitation of previous CPPs is that they have poor overall delivery efficiency due to inefficient endosomal escape. A new family of cyclic CPPs, e.g., cyclo(F?RRRRQ) (where ? is 2-naphthylalanine), was recently discovered in this laboratory and found to escape from the endosome efficiently. The overall objective of this project is to elucidate the mechanisms of CPP uptake and endosomal escape and develop more potent CPPs as general transporters for intracellular delivery of biological active molecules.
Specific Aim 1 is to synthesize and screen a focused cyclic peptide library to identify additional and potentially more active cyclic CPPs.
Specific Aim 2 is to test the limits of what ca be delivered by the cyclic CPPs and determine the mechanism of CPP endosomal release as well as the factors that control the endosomal escape efficiency. Finally, Specific Aim 3 is to utilize the cyclic CPPs to design cell permeable inhibitors against intracellular proteins such as the oncoprotein Ras.

Public Health Relevance

Cyclic peptide transporters will be extremely useful for delivering small-molecule drugs, peptides, proteins, and potentially nucleic acids into mammalian cells. Inhibitors against the Ras oncoprotein will provide potential treatment for a wide variety of human cancers.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01GM110208-02
Application #
8931001
Study Section
Synthetic and Biological Chemistry B Study Section (SBCB)
Program Officer
Fabian, Miles
Project Start
2014-09-22
Project End
2018-08-31
Budget Start
2015-09-01
Budget End
2016-08-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
$290,307
Indirect Cost
$92,807
Name
Ohio State University
Department
Chemistry
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
832127323
City
Columbus
State
OH
Country
United States
Zip Code
43210
Rhodes, Curran A; Dougherty, Patrick G; Cooper, Jahan K et al. (2018) Cell-Permeable Bicyclic Peptidyl Inhibitors against NEMO-I?B Kinase Interaction Directly from a Combinatorial Library. J Am Chem Soc 140:12102-12110
Liao, Hui; Pei, Dehua (2017) Cell-permeable bicyclic peptidyl inhibitors against T-cell protein tyrosine phosphatase from a combinatorial library. Org Biomol Chem 15:9595-9598
Rhodes, Curran A; Pei, Dehua (2017) Bicyclic Peptides as Next-Generation Therapeutics. Chemistry 23:12690-12703
Bedewy, Walaa; Liao, Hui; Abou-Taleb, Nageh A et al. (2017) Generation of a cell-permeable cycloheptapeptidyl inhibitor against the peptidyl-prolyl isomerase Pin1. Org Biomol Chem 15:4540-4543
Qian, Ziqing; Dougherty, Patrick G; Pei, Dehua (2017) Targeting intracellular protein-protein interactions with cell-permeable cyclic peptides. Curr Opin Chem Biol 38:80-86
Dougherty, Patrick G; Qian, Ziqing; Pei, Dehua (2017) Macrocycles as protein-protein interaction inhibitors. Biochem J 474:1109-1125
Qian, Ziqing; Rhodes, Curran A; McCroskey, Lucas C et al. (2017) Enhancing the Cell Permeability and Metabolic Stability of Peptidyl Drugs by Reversible Bicyclization. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 56:1525-1529
Upadhyaya, Punit; Bedewy, Walaa; Pei, Dehua (2016) Direct Inhibitors of Ras-Effector Protein Interactions. Mini Rev Med Chem 16:376-82
Trinh, Thi B; Upadhyaya, Punit; Qian, Ziqing et al. (2016) Discovery of a Direct Ras Inhibitor by Screening a Combinatorial Library of Cell-Permeable Bicyclic Peptides. ACS Comb Sci 18:75-85
Jiang, Bisheng; Pei, Dehua (2015) A Selective, Cell-Permeable Nonphosphorylated Bicyclic Peptidyl Inhibitor against Peptidyl-Prolyl Isomerase Pin1. J Med Chem 58:6306-12

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