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Published on: June 28, 2019
Cellular membrane enrichment of self-assembling D-peptides for cell surface engineering
Huaimin Wang1, Youzhi Wang, Aitian Han
1State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), ‡College of Pharmacy and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Drug Research, Nankai University , Tianjin 300071, People's Republic of China.
Self-assembling peptides with D-amino acids target cell membranes, enabling cell surface engineering. Integrating protein-binding peptides further allows protein introduction to the cell surface for regenerative medicine applications.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Cell Biology
- Materials Science
Background:
- Self-assembling peptides (SAPs) are crucial in biomaterials.
- Understanding the behavior of D-amino acid-containing SAPs in cellular environments is key.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cellular localization of D-amino acid-containing SAPs.
- To explore the potential of these SAPs for cell surface engineering.
- To demonstrate the introduction of proteins to the cell surface using engineered SAPs.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of cellular distribution for D-amino acid and L-amino acid SAPs.
- Integration of a PDZ domain-binding peptide (WRESAI) with D-amino acid SAPs.
- Assessment of protein binding to the engineered cell surface.
Main Results:
- D-amino acid SAPs preferentially localized to cell membranes upon self-assembly.
- L-amino acid SAPs showed even distribution in the cytoplasm.
- Engineered D-amino acid SAPs successfully introduced proteins to the cell surface.
Conclusions:
- D-amino acid SAPs exhibit unique membrane-enrichment properties.
- This offers a novel strategy for cell surface functionalization.
- Potential applications in regenerative medicine, drug delivery, and tissue engineering.
