TMTP1, a Novel Tumor-homing Peptide, Specifically Targets Hematological Malignancies and Their Metastases

TMTP1, a 5-amino acid peptide NVVRQ, obtained by using the flagella peptide library screening in our previous studies, can be used for the labeling of malignant in situ and metastatic lesions, and even micro-metastases. In this study, TMTP1 was assessed for its ability to specifically target the malignant hematopoietic cells and metastatic lesions of hematological malignancies. FITC-TMTP1 was chemically synthesized. Immunofluorescence assay and competitive test were carried out to determine the specific binding capacity of TMTPl to hematological malignant cell lines, including HL60, k562, SHI-1, Jurkat, Raji, El-4 and umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells. Mononuclear cells were isolated from the bone marrow of healthy subjects and patients with chronic myeloid leukemia. Then the cells were co-clutured with TMTP1 or scrambled peptides and the binding and affinity of TMTP1 peptide to the primary cells of hematological malignancies were flow cytometrically analyzed. The binding speci-ficity of TMTP1 to target hematological malignancies was measured in vivo by intravenous injection of FITC-conjugated TMTP1 into El-4 lymphoma-bearing mice. The results showed that TMTP1 specifi-cally bound to the cells of a series of hematological malignancies, including HL60, k562, Jurkat, Raji , El-4 and chronic myeloid leukemia primary cells but not to bone marrow mononuclear cells from healthy subjects. By contrast, TMTP1 could bind to the metastatic foci of lymphoma originating from the EL-4 cell line while the scrambled peptide failed to do so. Moreover, the occult metastases could be identified, with high specificity, by detecting FITC-TMTP1. We are led to conclude that TMTP1, as a novel tumor-homing peptide, can serve as a marker for primary malignant and metastatic lesions for the early diagnosis of hematological malignances and a carrier of anticancer drugs for cancer treatment.

STUDY ON THE ANTI-TUMOR EFFICACY INDUCED BY HEAT SHOCK PROTEIN 70-PEPTIDE COMPLEXES DERIVED FROM TUMOR CELLS

OBJECTIVE: To study the efficacy and explore the mechanism of the anti-tumor immunity elicited by heat shock protein 70-peptide complexes (HSP70-PC) derived from tumor cells. METHODS: Cells culture, flow cytometric analysis, affinity chromatography for protein purification, SDS-PAGE, Western-blotting and animal experiment were used. RESULTS: HSP70-PC immunization rendered protective effect to both naive tumorl-bearing mice. All of the naive mice obtained complete resistance to Hcaf cell attack; 40% of the tumor-bearing mice survived for over 90 days, whereas the mice of control group died within 2 weeks (P

Selection of the specific coalescent peptide of human CD59 by phage display techniques

To screen and identify the short peptides with specific binding activity to human CD59 and to design the short-peptide clamp against tumor escape, the phage display peptide library containing 12 peptides was used to select the highly expressed specific coalescent peptide of human CD59 in CHO cells. Positive phage clones obtained after 5 rounds of biopanning and detected with ELISA were obtained, in which 8 of them with high binding activity to human CD59 were sequenced. The 3 sequences thus obtained showed high homology with each and certain homology with sequence with human CD2 （PubMed 339HGAAENSLSPSS）, and all contained primary structure , of which this sequence may be the mimic confonnational epitope binding to human CD59. These results in the present study may be helpful to design the short-peptide clamp against the active sites of CD59 on tumor escape.

A study of liposomal doxorubicin modified by tumor metastasis targeting peptide for its specificity to highly metastatic breast cancer cells

Tumor metastasis emerges as a crucial target for tumor therapy. In this study, a tumor metastasis targeting peptide（TMT） was conjugated to a lipid material（PEG-DSPE） to obtain the targeting compound（TMT-PEG-DSPE）, which was used to construct the targeted liposomal doxorubicin（TMT-LS-DOX）. We showed that TMT-LS-DOX presented satisfactory pharmaceutical characteristics. This metastasis-specific delivery system was tested in two highly metastatic breast cancer cell lines（MDA-MB-435S and MDA-MB-231） with a non-metastatic breast cancer cell line（MCF-7） as the control. The free TMT peptide itself showed no cytotoxicity even at the concentration of 100 μg/mL. Importantly, the enhanced cellular uptake of TMT-LS-DOX to both MDA-MB-435S and MDA-MB-231 cell lines was demonstrated as compared to MCF-7 cells, via a TMT-mediated mechanism demonstrated by a receptor competition study. In conclusion, the TMT modified nanocarriers might provide a strategy to enhance the specificity of chemotherapeutic agents to highly metastatic breast cancer.

Phage display screening of therapeutic peptide for cancer targeting and therapy

Recently,phage display technology has been announced as the recipient of Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018.Phage display technique allows high affinity target-binding peptides to be selected from a complex mixture pool of billions of displayed peptides on phage in a combinatorial library and could be further enriched through the biopanning process;proving to be a powerful technique in the screening of peptide with high affinity and selectivity.In this review,we will first discuss the modifications in phage display techniques used to isolate various cancer-specific ligands by in situ,in vitro,in vivo,and ex vivo screening methods.We will then discuss prominent examples of solid tumor targeting-peptides;namely peptide targeting tumor vasculature,tumor microenvironment(TME)and overexpressed receptors on cancer cells identified through phage display screening.We will also discuss the current challenges and future outlook for targeting peptidebased therapeutics in the clinics.

Hyaluronidase-triggered anticancer drug and siRNA delivery from cascaded targeting nanoparticles for drug- resistant breast cancer therapy

Drug resistance renders standard chemotherapy ineffective in the treatment of connective tissue growth factor （CTGF）-overexpressing breast cancer. By co-embedding the breast tumor cell-penetrating peptide （PEGA-pVEC） and hyaluronic acid （HA） as a targeting media, novel cascaded targeting nanoparficles （HACT NPs） were created on a rattle mesoporous silica （rmSiO2） scaffold for the pinpoint delivery of siRNAs along with an anticancer drug, aiming at overcoming the drug resistance of CTGF-overexpressing breast cancer in vivo. The targeting nanoparticles selectively accumulated in the vasculature under the guidance of the PEGA-pVEC peptide, cascaded by receptor-mediated endocytosis with the aid of another targeting agent, HA, presenting a greater in vivo tumor targeting ability than single targeting ligand vectors. In addition, an HA shell prevented the leakage of therapeutic drugs during the cargo transport process, until the hyaluronidase （HAase）-triggered degradation upon lysosomes entering, guaranteeing a controllable drug release inside the target cells. When the protective shell disintegrates, the released siRNA took charge to silence the gene associated with drug resistance, CTGF, thus facilitating doxorubicin-induced apoptosis. The cascaded targeting media （PEGA-pVEC and HA） advances precision-guided therapy in vivo, while the encapsulation of siRNAs into a chemotherapy drug delivery system provides an efficient strategy for the treatment of drug resistance cancers.