An anti-PDGFRβ aptamer for selective delivery of small therapeutic peptide to cardiac cells

PLoS One. 2018 Mar 7;13(3):e0193392. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193392. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Small therapeutic peptides represent a promising field for the treatment of pathologies such as cardiac diseases. However, the lack of proper target-selective carriers hampers their translation towards a potential clinical application. Aptamers are cell-specific carriers that bind with high affinity to their specific target. However, some limitations on their conjugation to small peptides and the functionality of the resulting aptamer-peptide chimera exist. Here, we generated a novel aptamer-peptide chimera through conjugation of the PDGFRβ-targeting Gint4.T aptamer to MP, a small mimetic peptide that via targeting of the Cavβ2 subunit of the L-type calcium channel (LTCC) can recover myocardial function in pathological heart conditions associated with defective LTCC function. The conjugation reaction was performed by click chemistry in the presence of N,N,N',N',N"-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine as a Cu (I) stabilizing agent in a DMSO-free aqueous buffer. When administered to cardiac cells, the Gint4.T-MP aptamer-peptide chimera was successfully internalized in cells, allowing the functional targeting of MP to LTCC. This approach represents the first example of the use of an internalizing aptamer for selective delivery of a small therapeutic peptide to cardiac cells.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Aptamers, Nucleotide*
  • Blotting, Western
  • Calcium / metabolism
  • Calcium Channels, L-Type / metabolism
  • Cardiovascular Agents / administration & dosage*
  • Cardiovascular Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Cardiovascular Agents / chemistry
  • Cell Line
  • Click Chemistry
  • Drug Carriers*
  • Intracellular Space / drug effects
  • Intracellular Space / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Myocytes, Cardiac / drug effects*
  • Myocytes, Cardiac / metabolism
  • Peptides / administration & dosage*
  • Peptides / chemical synthesis
  • Peptides / chemistry
  • Protein Stability
  • Receptor, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor beta* / metabolism
  • Voltage-Sensitive Dye Imaging
  • Water / chemistry

Substances

  • Aptamers, Nucleotide
  • Calcium Channels, L-Type
  • Cardiovascular Agents
  • Drug Carriers
  • Peptides
  • Water
  • Receptor, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor beta
  • Calcium

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Italian Ministry of Health (http://www.salute.gov.it/portale/home.html; GR-2011-02352546) to DC and by Associazione Italiana Ricerca sul Cancro (http://www.airc.it/aiutare-la-ricerca/bomboniere-solidali.asp?ets_cmmk=3123&ets_sgmt=16923&gclid=CjwKEAjwvYPKBRCYr5GLgNCJ_jsSJABqwfw7DMtnt2m8plSbXCl0XMmSHgRPg495q6IiUt4jeXObjhoCIrrw_wcB; AIRC - IG 2016 Id. 18473) to GC. MI was supported by the Federazione Italiana Ricerca sul Cancro (FIRC, http://www.fondazionefirc.it) Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship.