Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry Commons^™

Amphiphilic Peptides For Efficient Sirna Delivery, Saghar Mozaffari, Emira Bousoik, Farideh Amirrad, Robert Lamboy, Melissa Coyle, Ryley Hall, Abdulaziz Alasmari, Parvin Mahdipoor, Keykavous Parang, Hamidreza Montazeri Aliabadi

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

A number of amphiphilic cyclic peptides—[FR]4, [WR]5, and [WK]5—containing hydrophobic and positively-charged amino acids were synthesized by Fmoc/tBu solid-phase peptide methods and evaluated for their efficiency in intracellular delivery of siRNA to triple-negative breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468, in the presence and absence of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DOPE). Among the peptides, [WR]5, which contains alternate tryptophan (W) and arginine (R) residues, was found to be the most efficient in the delivery of siRNA by improving the delivery by more than 3-fold when compared to other synthesized cyclic peptides that were not efficient. The data also showed that co-formulation of [WR]5 …

Synthesis And Antiproliferative Activities Of Conjugates Of Paclitaxel And Camptothecin With A Cyclic Cell-Penetrating Peptide, Naglaa Salem El-Sayed, Amir Nasrolahi Shirazi, Muhammad Imran Sajid, Shang Eun Park, Keykavous Parang, Rakesh Tiwari

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Cell-penetrating peptide [WR]5 has been previously shown to be an efficient molecular transporter for various hydrophilic and hydrophobic molecules. The peptide was synthesized using Fmoc/tBu solid-phase chemistry, and one arginine was replaced with one lysine to enable the conjugation with the anticancer drugs. Paclitaxel (PTX) was functionalized with an esterification reaction at the C20 hydroxyl group of PTX with glutaric anhydride and conjugated with the cyclic peptide [W(WR)4K(bAla)] in DMF to obtain the peptide-drug conjugate PTX1. Furthermore, camptothecin (CPT) was modified at the C(20)-hydroxyl group through the reaction with triphosgene. Then, it was conjugated with two functionalized cyclic peptides through …

Small Peptide Ligands For Targeting Egfr In Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells, Hanieh Hossein-Nejad-Ariani, Emad Althagafi, Kamaljit Kaur

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

The efficacy of chemotherapy for cancer treatment can be increased by targeted drug delivery to the cancer cells. This is particularly important for triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) for which chemotherapy is a major form of treatment. Here we designed and screened a library of 30 peptides starting with a previously reported epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) targeting peptide GE11 (YHWYGYTPQNVI). A direct peptide array-whole cell binding assay, where the peptides are conjugated to a cellulose membrane, was used to identify four peptides with enhanced binding to TNBC cells. Next, the four peptides were synthesized as FITC-labelled soluble peptides to …

Src Family Kinase Inhibitors Block Translation Of Alphavirus Subgenomic Mrnas, Rebecca Broeckel, Sanjay Sarkar, Nicholas A. May, Jennifer Totonchy, Craig N. Kreklywich, Patricia Smith, Lee Graves, Victor R. Defilippis, Mark T. Heise, Thomas E. Morrison, Nathaniel Moorman, Daniel N. Streblow

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Alphaviruses are arthropod-transmitted RNA viruses that can cause arthralgia, myalgia, and encephalitis in humans. Since the role of cellular kinases in alphavirus replication is unknown, we profiled kinetic changes in host kinase abundance and phosphorylation following chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection of fibroblasts. Based upon the results of this study, we treated CHIKV-infected cells with kinase inhibitors targeting the Src family kinase (SFK)–phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)–AKT–mTORC signaling pathways. Treatment of cells with SFK inhibitors blocked the replication of CHIKV as well as multiple other alphaviruses, including Mayaro virus, O’nyong-nyong virus, Ross River virus, and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus. Dissecting the effect of …

Linear Ubiquitin Chain-Binding Domains, Lilian Fennell, Simin Rahighi, Fumiyo Ikeda

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Ubiquitin modification (ubiquitination) of target proteins can vary with respect to chain lengths, linkage type, and chain forms, such as homologous, mixed, and branched ubiquitin chains. Thus, ubiquitination can generate multiple unique surfaces on a target protein substrate. Ubiquitin‐binding domains (UBDs) recognize ubiquitinated substrates, by specifically binding to these unique surfaces, modulate the formation of cellular signaling complexes and regulate downstream signaling cascades. Among the eight different homotypic chain types, Met1‐linked (also termed linear) chains are the only chains in which linkage occurs on a non‐Lys residue of ubiquitin. Linear ubiquitin chains have been implicated in immune responses, cell death …

Synthesis, Characterization, And In Vitro Cytotoxicity Of Fatty Acyl-Cgkrk-Chitosan Oligosaccharides Conjugates For Sirna Delivery, Naglaa Salem El-Sayed, Meenakshi Sharma, Hamidreza Montazeri Aliabadi, Magda Goda El-Meligy, Ahmed Kamed El-Zaity, Zenat Adeeb Nageib, Rakesh Tiwari

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

In this studies, three fatty acyl derivatives of CGKRK homing peptides were coupled successfully to chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) using sulfosuccinimidyl-4-(N-maleimidomethyl)cyclohexane-1-carboxylate sodium salt (sulfo-SMCC). The COS-SMCC was prepared by direct coupling between COS and sulfo-SMCC in PBS (pH 7.5) at RT for 48 h. The structure of COS-SMCC and the three fatty acyl-CGKRK-SMCC-COS conjugates were characterized by FT-IR, ¹³C NMR, and SEM. The ability of three conjugates to condense siRNA into nanosized polyplexes and their efficacy in protecting siRNA from serum nucleases degradation were investigated. Among the investigated derivatives, S-CGKRK-COS showed higher siRNA binding affinity as compared to …

Design And Evaluation Of Gemini Surfactant-Based Lipoplexes Modified With Cell-Binding Peptide For Targeted Gene Therapy, Waleed Mohammed-Saeid, Rania Soudy, Richa Tikoo, Kamaljit Kaur, Ronald E. Verrall, Ildiko Badea

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose Achieving successful gene therapy requires delivery of a gene vector specifically to the targeted tissue with efficient expression and a good safety profile. The objective of this work was to develop, characterize and determine if a novel gemini surfactant-based lipoplex systems, modified with a cancer-targeting peptide p18-4, could serve this role. Methods The targeting peptide p18-4 was either chemically coupled to a gemini surfactant backbone or physically co-formulated with the lipoplexes. The influence of targeting ligand and formulation strategies on essential physicochemical properties of the lipoplexes was evaluated by dynamic light scattering and small angle X-ray scattering techniques. In …

Cyclic Peptide Conjugate Of Curcumin And Doxorubicin As An Anticancer Agent, Shaban Darwish, Saghar Mozaffari, Keykavous Parang, Rakesh Tiwari

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

The hydrophobicity of curcumin creates hurdle towards its use in the anticancer therapy. Herein, we synthesized a curcumin-doxorubicin conjugated cyclic peptide scaffold to improve the solubility of curcumin and create a conjugate containing two anticancer agents. A solid-phase Fmoc/tBu solid phase methodology was used to synthesize a cell-penetrating nuclear targeting peptide with free thiol and amine groups, which was coupled with the activated doxorubicin (Dox) and curcumin, affording Dox-peptide-curcumin conjugate (DPCC) (10). The antiproliferative activity of the conjugate was evaluated in human leukemia carcinoma cell (CCRF-CEM), human ovarian carcinoma cell (SKOV-3), and normal kidney cell line (LLCPK). Cyclic peptide-doxorubicin conjugate …

Difatty Acyl-Conjugated Linear And Cyclic Peptides For Sirna Delivery, Hung Do, Meenakshi Sharma, Naglaa Salem El-Sayed, Parvin Mahdipoor, Emira Bousoik, Keykavous Parang, Hamidreza Montazeri Aliabadi

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

A number of amphiphilic difatty acyl linear and cyclic R5K2 peptide conjugates were synthesized by solid-phase peptide methods to enhance the interaction with the hydrophobic cellular phospholipid bilayer and to improve siRNA delivery and silencing. Binding to siRNA molecules was significantly less for the cyclic peptide conjugates. A gradual decrease was observed in the particle size of the complexes with increasing peptide/siRNA ratio for most of the synthesized peptides, suggesting the complex formation. Most of the complexes showed a particle size of less than 200 nm, which is considered an appropriate size for in vitro siRNA delivery. A number of …

Role Of Microglial Amylin Receptors In Mediating Beta Amyloid (Aβ)-Induced Inflammation, Wen Fu, Vlatka Vukojevic, Aarti Patel, Rania Soudy, David Mactavish, David Westaway, Kamaljit Kaur, Valeri Goncharuk, Jack Jhamandas

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Background: Neuroinflammation in the brain consequent to activation of microglia is viewed as an important component of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology. Amyloid beta (Aβ) protein is known to activate microglia and unleash an inflammatory cascade that eventually results in neuronal dysfunction and death. In this study, we sought to identify the presence of amylin receptors on human fetal and murine microglia and determine whether Aβ activation of the inflammasome complex and subsequent release of cytokines is mediated through these receptors.

Methods: The presence of dimeric components of the amylin receptor (calcitonin receptor and receptor activity modifying protein 3) …

Trkb-Enhancer Facilitates Functional Recovery After Traumatic Brain Injury, John Marshall, Joanna Szmydynger-Chodobska, Mengia S. Rioult-Pedotti, Kara Lau, Andrea T. Chin, Siva K. Reddy Kotla, Rakesh Tiwari, Keykavous Parang, Steven W. Threlkeld, Adam Chodobski

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a key player in regulating synaptic strength and learning, is dysregulated following traumatic brain injury (TBI), suggesting that stimulation of BDNF signaling pathways may facilitate functional recovery. This study investigates whether CN2097, a peptidomimetic ligand which targets the synaptic scaffold protein, postsynaptic density protein 95, to enhance downstream signaling of tropomyosin-related kinase B, a receptor for BDNF, can improve neurological function after TBI. Moderate to severe TBI elicits neuroinflammation and c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK) activation, which is associated with memory deficits. Here we demonstrate that CN2097 significantly reduces the post-traumatic synthesis of proinflammatory mediators and inhibits the …

Tumor-Targeted Delivery Of Sirna Using Fatty Acyl-Cgkrk Peptide Conjugates, Meenakshi Sharma, Naglaa Salem El-Sayed, Hung Do, Keykavous Parang, Rakesh Tiwari, Hamidreza Montazeri Aliabadi

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Tumor-targeted carriers provide efficient delivery of chemotherapeutic agents to tumor tissue. CGKRK is one of the well-known tumor targeting peptides with significant specificity for angiogenic blood vessels and tumor cells. Here, we designed fatty acyl conjugated CGKRK peptides, based on the hypothesis that hydrophobically-modified CGKRK peptide could enhance cellular permeation and delivery of siRNA targeted to tumor cells for effective silencing of selected proteins. We synthesized six fatty acyl-peptide conjugates, using a diverse chain of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids to study the efficiency of this approach. At peptide:siRNA weight/weight ratio of 10:1 (N/P ≈ 13.6), almost all the peptides …

Synthesis And Evaluation Of Antimicrobial Activity Of [R4w4k]-Levofloxacin And [R4w4k]-Levofloxacin-Q Conjugates, Neda Riahifard, Kathy Tavakoli, Jason Yamaki, Keykavous Parang, Rakesh Tiwari

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

The development of a new class of antibiotics to fight bacterial resistance is a time-consuming effort associated with high-cost and commercial risks. Thus, modification, conjugation or combination of existing antibiotics to enhance their efficacy is a suitable strategy. We have previously reported that the amphiphilic cyclic peptide [R4W4] had antibacterial activity with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 2.97 g/mL against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Herein, we hypothesized that conjugation or combination of the amphiphilic cyclic peptide [R4W4] with levofloxacin or levofloxacin-Q could improve the antibacterial activity of levofloxacin and levofloxacin-Q. Fmoc/tBu solid-phase chemistry was employed to synthesize conjugates of …

Kinetic Studies Of Dna Repair Enzyme Alkbh2, Michael R. Vittori

Senior Honors Projects

The genomes of living organisms are under constant bombardment from various sources, including chemical modification stemming from processes within the organisms themselves or from exogenous agents, and from radiation. These sources of genomic damage may induce structural changes in the genome’s most basic functional units, the nucleotides that comprise DNA. Damage to an organism’s DNA may result in the production of dysfunctional or nonfunctional proteins. Failure to repair such damage may result in the compounding of successive mutations within the organism’s genome, the pathogenesis of cancer and various genetic disorders in humans. To ensure their viability, organisms have developed unique …

Engineered Peptides For Applications In Cancer-Targeted Drug Delivery And Tumor Detection, R. Soudy, N. Byeon, Y. Raghuwanshi, S. Ahmed, A. Lavasanifar, Kamaljit Kaur

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Cancer-targeting peptides as ligands for targeted delivery of anticancer drugs or drug carriers have the potential to significantly enhance the selectivity and the therapeutic benefit of current chemotherapeutic agents. Identification of tumor-specific biomarkers like integrins, aminopeptidase N, and epidermal growth factor receptor as well as the popularity of phage display techniques along with synthetic combinatorial methods used for peptide design and structure optimization have fueled the advancement and application of peptide ligands for targeted drug delivery and tumor detection in cancer treatment, detection and guided therapy. Although considerable preclinical data have shown remarkable success in the use of tumor targeting …

Identification Of Potential Drug Targets In Cancer Signaling Pathways Using Stochastic Logical Models, Peican Zhu, Hamidreza Montazeri Aliabadi, Hasan Uludag, Jie Han

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

The investigation of vulnerable components in a signaling pathway can contribute to development of drug therapy addressing aberrations in that pathway. Here, an original signaling pathway is derived from the published literature on breast cancer models. New stochastic logical models are then developed to analyze the vulnerability of the components in multiple signalling sub-pathways involved in this signaling cascade. The computational results are consistent with the experimental results, where the selected proteins were silenced using specific siRNAs and the viability of the cells were analyzed 72 hours after silencing. The genes elF4E and NFkB are found to have nearly no …

Multiple Sirna Delivery Against Cell Cycle And Anti-Apoptosis Proteins Using Lipid-Substituted Polyethylenimine In Triplenegative Breast Cancer And Non-Malignant Cells, Manoj B. Parmar, Bárbara E. Arteaga Ballesteros, Timothy Fu, Remant Bahadur Kc, Hamidreza Montazeri Aliabadi, Judith C. Hugh, Raimar Löbenberg, Hasan Uludag

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Conventional breast cancer therapies have significant limitations that warrant a search for alternative therapies. Short-interfering RNA (siRNA), delivered by polymeric biomaterials and capable of silencing specific genes critical for growth of cancer cells, holds great promise as an effective and more specific therapy. Here, we employed amphiphilic polymers and silenced the expression of two cell cycle proteins, TTK and CDC20, and the anti-apoptosis protein survivin to determine the efficacy of polymer-mediated siRNA treatment in breast cancer cells as well as side effects in non-malignant cells in vitro. We first identified effective siRNA carriers by screening a library of lipid-substituted polyethylenimines …

Structural Similarity Between Β3-Peptides Synthesized From Β3-Homo-Amino Acids Or L-Aspartic Acid Monomers, Sahar Ahmed, Tara Sprules, Kamaljit Kaur

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Formation of stable secondary structures by oligomers that mimic natural peptides is a key asset for enhanced biological response. Here we show that oligomeric β³‐hexapeptides synthesized from l‐aspartic acid monomers (β³‐peptides 1, 5a, and 6) or homologated β³‐amino acids (β³‐peptide 2), fold into similar stable 14‐helical secondary structures in solution, except that the former form right‐handed 14‐helix and the later form left‐handed 14‐helix. β³‐Peptides from l‐Asp monomers contain an additional amide bond in the side chains that provides opportunities for more hydrogen bonding. However, based on the …

Design, Synthesis And Evaluation Of Antimicrobial Activity Of N-Terminal Modified Leucocin A Analogues, Krishna Chaitanya Bodapati, Rania Soudy, Hashem Etayash, Michael Stiles, Kamaljit Kaur

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Class IIa bacteriocins are potent antimicrobial peptides produced by lactic acid bacteria to destroy competing microorganisms. The N-terminal domain of these peptides consists of a conserved YGNGV sequence and a disulphide bond. The YGNGV motif is essential for activity, whereas, the two cysteines involved in the disulphide bond can be replaced with hydrophobic residues. The C-terminal region has variable sequences, and folds into a conserved amphipathic α-helical structure. To elucidate the structure–activity relationship in the N-terminal domain of these peptides, three analogues (1–3) of a class IIa bacteriocin, Leucocin A (LeuA), were designed and synthesized by …

Synthetic Peptides Derived From The Sequence Of A Lasso Peptide Microcin J25 Show Antibacterial Activity, Rania Soudy, Liru Wang, Kamaljit Kaur

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Microcin J25 (MccJ25) is a plasmid-encoded, ribosomally synthesized antibacterial peptide with a unique lasso structure. The lasso structure, produced with the aid of two processing enzymes, provides exceptional stability to MccJ25. We report the synthesis of six peptides (1–6), derived from the MccJ25 sequence, that are designed to form folded conformation by disulfide bond formation and electrostatic or hydrophobic interactions. Two peptides (1 and 6) display good activity against Salmonella newport, and are the first synthetic derivatives of MccJ25 that are bactericidal. Peptide 1 displays potent activity against several Salmonella strains including two …

Fatty Acyl Amide Dderivatives Of Doxorubicin: Synthesis And In Vitro Anticancer Activities, Bhupender S. Chhikara, Nicole St. Jean, Deendayal Mandal, Anil Kumar, Keykavous Parang

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Doxorubicin is an anticancer drug extensively used in anticancer therapy. Doxorubicin is highly hydrophilic, has short half-life, and its use is associated with severe side effects at high doses. Fatty acyl amide derivatives of doxorubicin were synthesized with the expectation to improve the lipophilicity and anticancer activity of the drug. The lipophilicity was enhanced with the increase in chain length of fatty acyl moiety. Conjugation of 4-amino group with fatty acids through an amide bond reduced the anticancer activity in leukemia, breast, ovarian, and colon cancer cell lines, suggesting that the presence of free amino group is required for anticancer …

Thiazolyl N-Benzyl-Substituted Acetamide Derivatives: Synthesis, Src Kinase Inhibitory And Anticancer Activities, Asal Fallah-Tafti, Alireza Foroumadi, Rakesh Tiwari, Amir Nasrolahi Shirazi, David G. Hangauer, Yahao Bu, Tahmineh Akbarzadeh, Keykavous Parang, Abbas Shafiee

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

KX2-391 (KX-01/Kinex Pharmaceuticals), N-benzyl-2-(5-(4-(2-morpholinoethoxy)phenyl)pyridin-2-yl)acetamide, is a highly selective Src substrate binding site inhibitor. To understand better the role of pyridine ring and N-benzylsubstitution in KX2-391 and establish the structure-activity relationship, a number of N-benzyl substituted (2-morpholinoethoxy)phenyl)thiazol-4-yl)acetamide derivatives containing thiazole instead of pyridine were synthesized and evaluated for Src kinase inhibitory activities. The unsubstituted N-benzyl derivative (8a) showed the inhibition of c-Src kinase with GI50 values of 1.34 μM and 2.30 M in NIH3T3/c-Src527F and SYF/c-Src527F cells, respectively. All the synthesized compounds were evaluated for inhibition of cell proliferation of human colon carcinoma (HT-29), breast carcinoma (BT-20), and leukemia (CCRF-CEM) cells. …

The Proteolytic Stability And Cytotoxicity Studies Of L‐Aspartic Acid And L‐Diaminopropionic Acid Derived Β‐Peptides And A Mixed Α/Β‐Peptide, Sahar Ahmed, Kamaljit Kaur

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

The use of peptides as drugs in pharmaceutical applications is hindered by their susceptibility to proteolysis and therefore low bioavailability. β‐Peptides that contain an additional methylene group in the backbone, are gaining recognition from a pharmaceutical stand point as they are considerably more resilient to proteolysis and metabolism. Recently, we reported two new classes of β‐peptides, β³‐ and β²‐peptides derived from l‐aspartic acid and l‐diaminopropionic acid, respectively. Here, we report the proteolytic stability of these β‐peptidic compounds and a mixed α /β‐peptide against three enzymes (pronase, trypsin and elastase), as well as, human serum. The …

Helical Peptides Derived From Lactoferrin Bind Hepatitis C Virus Envelope Protein E2, Reem Beleid, Donna Douglas, Norman Kneteman, Kamaljit Kaur

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Hepatitis C virus is a major cause of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma infecting more than 170 million people. Hepatitis C virus envelope 2 glycoprotein (E2) binds several cell‐surface molecules that act as receptor candidates mediating hepatitis C virus entry into hepatocytes. Peptides derived from human lactoferrin have been shown to bind hepatitis C virus‐E2 protein thereby preventing hepatitis C virus entry in cultured hepatocytes. In this study, starting from a 33‐residue human lactoferrin‐derived peptide, a number of biotin‐linked α‐peptides were synthesized and investigated for their E2 protein binding activity. E2 protein from hepatitis C virus genotype 1b …

Right-Handed 14-Helix In Β3-Peptides From L-Aspartic Acid Monomers, Kamaljit Kaur, Tara Sprules, Wael Soliman, Reem Beleid, Sahar Ahmed

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

β-Peptides made from L-aspartic acid monomers form a new class of β³-peptides. Here we report the first three-dimensional NMR solution structure of a β³-hexapeptide (1) from L-aspartic acid monomers in 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE). We show that 1 forms a right-handed 14-helical structure in TFE. α-peptides from naturally occurring L-amino acids adopt a right-handed α-helix whereas β³-peptides formed from β³-amino acids derived from naturally occurring L-amino acids form left-handed 14-helices. The right-handed 14-helical conformation of 1 is a better mimic of α-peptide conformations. Using the NMR structure of 1 in TFE, we …

Protein Adducts Of Iso[4]Levuglandin E2, A Product Of The Isoprostane Pathway, In Oxidized Low Density Lipoprotein, Robert G. Salomon, Wei Sha, Cynthia Brame, Kamaljit Kaur, Ganesamoorthy Subbanagounder, June O'Neil, Henry F. Hoff, L. Jackson Roberts Ii

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Levuglandin (LG) E₂, a cytotoxic seco prostanoic acid co-generated with prostaglandins by nonenzymatic rearrangements of the cyclooxygenase-derived endoperoxide, prostaglandin H₂, avidly binds to proteins. That LGE₂-protein adducts can also be generated nonenzymatically is demonstrated by their production during free radical-induced oxidation of low density lipoprotein (LDL). Like oxidized LDL, LGE₂-LDL, but not native LDL, undergoes receptor-mediated uptake and impaired processing by macrophage cells. Since radical-induced lipid oxidation produces isomers of prostaglandins, isoprostanes (isoPs), via endoperoxide intermediates, we postulated previously that a similar family of LG isomers, isoLGs, is cogenerated with isoPs. Now …