| 1. |
- Fossat, P., et al.
(författare)
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Knockdown of L calcium channel subtypes : differential effects in neuropathic pain
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Neuroscience. - 0270-6474 .- 1529-2401. ; 30:3, s. 1073-1085
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The maintenance of chronic pain states requires the regulation of gene expression, which relies on an influx of calcium. Calcium influx through neuronal L-type voltage-gated calcium channels (LTCs) plays a pivotal role in excitation-transcription coupling, but the involvement of LTCs in chronic pain remains unclear. We used a peptide nucleic acid (transportan 10-PNA conjugates)-based antisense strategy to investigate the role of the LTC subtypes Ca(V)1.2 and Ca(V)1.3 in long-term pain sensitization in a rat model of neuropathy (spinal nerve ligation). Our results demonstrate that specific knockdown of Ca(V)1.2 in the spinal dorsal horn reversed the neuropathy-associated mechanical hypersensitivity and the hyperexcitability and increased responsiveness of dorsal horn neurons. Intrathecal application of anti-Ca(V)1.2 siRNAs confirmed the preceding results. We also demonstrated an upregulation of Ca(V)1.2 mRNA and protein in neuropathic animals concomitant to specific Ca(V)1.2-dependent phosphorylation of the cAMP response element (CRE)-binding protein (CREB) transcription factor. Moreover, spinal nerve ligation animals showed enhanced transcription of the CREB/CRE-dependent gene COX-2 (cyclooxygenase 2), which also depends strictly on Ca(V)1.2 activation. We propose that L-type calcium channels in the spinal dorsal horn play an important role in pain processing, and that the maintenance of chronic neuropathic pain depends specifically on channels comprising Ca(V)1.2.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Hansen, Mats, et al.
(författare)
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Predicting cell-penetrating peptides
- 2008
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Ingår i: Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-409X .- 1872-8294. ; 60:4-5, s. 572-579
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Possibility to predict short peptide sequences capable to penetrate the plasma membrane opens new opportunities for developing peptide based intracellular delivery vectors, called cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs). Predictions of CPPs, however are often based on trial and error and may not always lead to new potent sequences. In this review we discuss different problems associated with CPP prediction. Additionally, the used methods of CPP prediction are compared. Also, a few suggestions are made for designing new CPP sequences and improvement of predictions.
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| 4. |
- Kilk, Kalle, et al.
(författare)
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Analysis of in vitro toxicity of five cell-penetrating peptides by metabolic profiling
- 2009
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Ingår i: Toxicology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0300-483X .- 1879-3185. ; 265:3, s. 87-95
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are promising candidates for safe and efficient delivery vectors for a wide range of cargoes. However, any compound that is internalized into cells may affect the cell homeostasis. The plethora of possible biological responses makes large scale “omics” studies appealing approaches for hunting any unsuspected side-effects and evaluate the toxicity of drug candidates. Here we have compared the alterations in cytosolic metabolome of CHO cells caused by five representatives of the most common CPPs: transportan (TP), penetratin (pAntp), HIV Tat derived peptide (pTat), nonaarginine (R9) and model amphipathic peptide (MAP). Analysis was done by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry techniques, principal component analysis and heatmap displays. Results showed that the intracellular metabolome was the most affected by TP followed by pTat and MAP. Only minor changes could be associated with pAntp or R9 treatment. The cells could recover from a treatment with 5 μM TP, but no recovery was observed at higher concentration. Both metabolomic and control experiments showed that TP affected cellular redox potential, depleted energy and the pools of purines and pyrimidines. In conclusion, we have performed a metabolomic analysis comparing the safety of cell-penetrating peptides and demonstrate the toxicity of one of them.
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| 5. |
- Kilk, Kalle, 1978-
(författare)
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Cell-penetrating peptides and bioactive cargoes : Strategies and mechanisms
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The cell membrane is an impermeable barrier for most macromolecules. Recently discovered cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) have gained lot of attention because they can cross the membrane, and even more, carry cargoes with them. How CPPs enter cells is still not clear, while the delivery of different cargoes has been convincingly shown. This thesis concentrates on evaluating CPPs as vectors for different biologically relevant cargoes. Proposed internalisation mechanisms are reviewed as well as cargo coupling strategies. Biological activities of antisense oligonucleotides delivered by CPPs have been of particular interest and are explained in greater details.A new CPP, pIsl, was derived from Islet-1 transcription factor, and compared to archetypical CPPs like penetratin and transportan. All three peptides resided in the headgroup region of lipid bilayers in model membranes. However, penetratin and pIsl did only interact with negatively charged membranes, while transportan did not distinguish negatively charged and neutral membranes. This suggests different translocation pathways for different CPPs. Biotinylated pIsl and penetratin were complexed with avidin, and uptake of avidin into the human melanoma cell line Bowes was observed in both cases. This means that the protein is not unfolded during the translocation process, which is important in delivery of other, biologically active proteins.Transportan and its analogue TP10 were used for peptide nucleic acid (PNA) antisense oligonucleotide delivery. First, eight human galanin receptor type 1 targeting PNA oligomers were designed, conjugated to transportan and assayed for antisense efficiency. In contrary to avidin-biotinylated peptide conjugate, a covalent bond between PNA oligomers and the transport peptide was necessary for cellular uptake of oligomers. A common problem in antisense technology is inactivity of antisense oligonucleotides due to the secondary structure of the target. Efficiencies of tested galanin receptor type 1 targeting PNA oligomers varied over two orders of magnitude. The most efficient oligomers were targeting coding sequence regions 24-38 and 27-38, and had EC50 values 70 and 80 nM, respectively.TP10-antisense PNA oligomer conjugates were targeted also to L-type voltage dependent Ca2+ channel subunits CaV1.2 and CaV1.3. Specific down-regulation of respective proteins was demonstrated by immunohistochemistry. Physiological response to the down-regulation of either of Ca2+ channels was studied by alteration of flexor reflex sensitisation. Rats treated with either of the antisense PNA, but not with scrambled PNA lost the action potential windup phenomenon. In conjunction with a variety of drugs, modulating the conductivity and excitability of neuronal membranes, a central role of L-type CaV channels in sensitisation was confirmed. Nevertheless, also N-methyl-D-aspartate and glycine receptors were found to be required.Finally, delivery of plasmids by TP10 was evaluated. In contrary to many similar CPPs, TP10 was incapable to translocate plasmids to cells. However, addition of TP10 or a TP10-PNA conjugate to polyethyleneimine-condensed plasmids increased the expression of reporter genes.In summary, different types of cargoes have been delivered by CPPs and different cargo coupling strategies have been used. CPP-mediated antisense oligonucleotide delivery has been used to identify accessible sites in human galanin receptor type 1 mRNA and to determine the role of L-type voltage dependent Ca2+ channels in axon potential windup.
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| 6. |
- Kilk, Kalle, et al.
(författare)
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Cellular internalization of a cargo complex with a novel peptide derived from the third helix of the islet-1 homeodomain : Comparison with the penetratin peptide
- 2001
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Ingår i: Bioconjugate chemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1043-1802 .- 1520-4812. ; 12:6, s. 911-916
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cellular translocation into a human Bowes melanoma cell line was investigated and compared for penetratin and pIsl, two peptides that correspond to the third helices of the related homeodomains, from the Antennapedia transcription factor of Drosophila and the rat insulin-1 gene enhancer protein, respectively. Both biotinylated peptides internalized into the cells with similar efficacy, yielding an analogous intracellular distribution. When a large cargo protein, 63 kDa avidin, was coupled to either peptide, efficient cellular uptake for both the peptide−protein complexes was observed. The interactions between each peptide and SDS micelles were studied by fluorescence spectroscopy and acrylamide quenching of the intrinsic tryptophan (Trp) fluorescence. Both peptides interacted strongly and almost identically with the membrane mimicking environment. Compared to penetratin, the new transport peptide pIsl has only one Trp residue, which simplifies the interpretation of the fluorescence spectra and in addition has a native Cys residue, which may be used for alternative coupling reactions of cargoes of different character.
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| 7. |
- Kilk, Kalle, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluation of transportan 10 in PEI mediated plasmid delivery assay
- 2005
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Ingår i: Journal of Controlled Release. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-3659 .- 1873-4995. ; 103:2, s. 511-23
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are novel high-capacity delivery vectors for different bioactive cargoes. We have evaluated the CPP transportan 10 (TP10) as a delivery vector in different in vitro plasmid delivery assays. Tested methods include: TP10 crosslinked to a plasmid via a peptide nucleic acid (PNA) oligomer, TP10 conjugation with polyethyleneimine (PEI), and addition of unconjugated TP10 to standard PEI transfection assay. We found that without additional DNA condensing agents, TP10 has poor transfection abilities. However, the presence of TP10 increases the transfection efficiency several folds compared to PEI alone. At as low concentrations as 0.6 nM, TP10–PNA constructs were found to enhance plasmid delivery up to 3.7-fold in Neuro-2a cells. Interestingly, the transfection efficiency was most significant at low PEI concentrations, allowing reduced PEI concentration without loss of gene delivery. No increase in cytotoxicity due to TP10 was observed and the uptake mechanism was determined to be endocytosis, as previously reported for PEI mediated transfection. In conclusion, TP10 can enhance PEI mediated transfection at relatively low concentrations and may help to develop future gene delivery systems with reduced toxicity.
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| 8. |
- Kilk, Kalle, et al.
(författare)
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Targeting of antisense PNA oligomers to human galanin receptor type 1 mRNA
- 2004
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Ingår i: Neuropeptides. - : Elsevier BV. - 0143-4179 .- 1532-2785. ; 38:5, s. 316-324
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this work, we have targeted positions 18–38 of the human galanin receptor type 1 (GalR1) mRNA coding sequence with different peptide nucleic acid (PNA) oligomers. This region has previously been shown to be a good antisense region and therefore we aimed to identify the subregions and/or thermodynamic parameters determining the antisense efficacy. Nine different PNA oligomers were conjugated to a cell-penetrating peptide, transportan, to enhance their cellular uptake. Concentration-dependent down-regulation of GalR1 protein expression in human melanoma cell line Bowes was measured by radioligand binding assay. No reduction of GalR1 mRNA level was observed upon PNA treatment, thus, the effect was concluded to be translational arrest. Judging from the EC50 values, antisense PNA oligomers targeting regions 24–38 (EC50 = 70 nM) or 27–38 (EC50 = 80 nM) were the most potent suppressors of protein expression. No parameter predicted by M-fold algorithm was found to correlate with the measured antisense activities. Presence of some subregions was found not to increase antisense efficiency of PNA. Presence of a short unpaired triplet between nucleotides 33 and 35 in the target region was, on the other hand, found to be the most critical for efficient GalR1 down-regulation. Thus, the results are of high impact in designing antisense oligomers. Specific results of this study demonstrate 20-fold more efficient antisense down-regulation of GalR1 as achieved before.
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| 9. |
- Magzoub, Mazin, et al.
(författare)
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Interaction and structure induction of cell-penetrating peptides in the presence of phospholipid vesicles
- 2001
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Ingår i: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Biomembranes. - 0005-2736 .- 1879-2642. ; 1512:1, s. 77-89
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Certain short peptides, which are able to translocate across cell membranes with a low lytic activity, can be useful as carriers (vectors) for hydrophilic molecules. We have studied three such cell penetrating peptides: pAntp (‘penetratin’), pIsl and transportan. pAntp and pIsl originate from the third helix of homeodomain proteins (Antennapedia and Isl-1, respectively). Transportan is a synthetic chimera (galanin and mastoparan). The peptides in the presence of various phospholipid vesicles (neutral and charged) and SDS micelles have been characterized by spectroscopic methods (fluorescence, EPR and CD). The dynamics of pAntp were monitored using an N-terminal spin label. In aqueous solution, the CD spectra of the three peptides show secondary structures dominated by random coil. With phospholipid vesicles, neutral as well as negatively charged, transportan gives up to 60% α-helix. pAntp and pIsl bind significantly only to negatively charged vesicles with an induction of around 60% β-sheet-like secondary structure. With all three peptides, SDS micelles stabilize a high degree of α-helical structure. We conclude that the exact nature of any secondary structure induced by the membrane model systems is not directly correlated with the common transport property of these translocating peptides.
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| 10. |
- Meitern, Richard, et al.
(författare)
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On the methodological limitations of detecting oxidative stress: effects of paraquat on measures of oxidative status in greenfinches
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Experimental Biology. - : The Company of Biologists. - 1477-9145 .- 0022-0949. ; 216:14, s. 2713-2721
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Oxidative stress (OS) is widely believed to be responsible for the generation of trade-offs in evolutionary ecology by means of constraining investment into a number of components of fitness. Yet, progress in understanding the true role of OS in ecology and evolution has remained elusive. Interpretation of current findings is particularly hampered by the scarcity of experiments demonstrating which of the many available parameters of oxidative status respond most sensitively to and are relevant for measuring OS. We addressed these questions in wild-caught captive greenfinches (Carduelis chloris) by experimental induction of OS by administration of the pro-oxidant compound paraquat with drinking water. Treatment induced 50% mortality, a significant drop in body mass and an increase in oxidative DNA damage and glutathione levels in erythrocytes among the survivors of the high paraquat (0.2 g l(-1) over 7 days) group. Samples taken 3 days after the end of paraquat treatment showed no effect on the peroxidation of lipids (plasma malondialdehyde), carbonylation of proteins (in erythrocytes), parameters of plasma antioxidant protection (total antioxidant capacity and oxygen radical absorbance), uric acid or carotenoids. Our findings of an increase in one marker of damage and one marker of protection from the multitude of measured variables indicate that detection of OS is difficult even under the most stringent experimental induction of oxidative insult. We hope that this study highlights the need for reconsideration of over-simplistic models of OS and draws attention to the limitations of detection of OS due to time-lagged and hormetic upregulation of protective mechanisms. This study also underpins the diagnostic value of measurement of oxidative damage to DNA bases and assessment of erythrocyte glutathione levels.
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