Protein and Peptide Letters - Volume 20, Issue 4, 2013

Despite progress in understanding carcinogenesis, cancer is still a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Treatment is complicated by the resistance to chemotherapeutics acquired by tumors, ability to repair damaged DNA, alteration of the interaction between drug and its target, and defects in the machinery that leads to apoptosis. The development of novel therapies based on biologically active peptides, especially antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), and proteins has emerged as a new strategy to defeat cancer.

Red blood cell (RBC) encapsulated L-asparaginase is a novel therapeutic for the treatment of asparagine auxotrophic malignancies. The enzyme-loaded red blood cells function as bioreactors to deplete bloodstream substrate. This delivery system provides improved pharmacodynamics with protection from circulating proteolytic enzymes and avoidance of early liver or renal clearance. The “drug” is manufactured with ABO and Rh compatible donor blood when a prescription is received. Because of the industrial scale manufacturing, the “drug” is transfused the day of receipt at the clinical site. Preliminary clinical studies show utility in childhood and adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Based on previous studies of applications in different diseases and assessment of different biomarkers, we propose this agent offers a safe and potentially effective treatment for a subset of chemotherapy refractory acute myeloid leukemia patients. The history, chemistry, biology, pharmacology, and relevant clinical experiences with L-asparaginase as well as the properties and proposed protocols with the red cell-encapsulated enzyme are reviewed.

Endogenous angiogenesis inhibitor that specifically decreases tumor cell proliferation can be used to treat cancer since angiogenesis is required at every step of tumor progression and metastasis. Endothelial cells are the main target for the antiangiogenic therapy because they are non-transformed and easily accessible to angiogenic inhibitors. Antithrombin functions as a principal plasma protein inhibitor of blood coagulation proteinases and belongs to the family of serine protease inhibitors (serpins) which have common mechanism of inhibition. Antithrombin acquires a potent antiangiogenic activity upon conversion of the native molecule to cleaved or latent conformation. Cleaved and latent preparations of bovine and human plasma derived antithrombin inhibits capillary endothelial cell proliferation and the growth of human SK-NAS neuroblastoma and Lewis lung carcinoma tumors in mice but not the native antithrombin’s. The native form of antithrombin binds with high affinity to vascular heparan sulfate proteoglycans containing a specific pentasaccharide sequence and it is this cofactor interaction that activates antithrombin to maximal rate of thrombin inhibition. Upon inhibitory complex formation with target proteinases the antithrombin undergoes stressed to relaxed transformation and lose their high affinity for pentasacchride. Low affinity relaxed conformation with reduced heparin binding like cleaved and latent are antiangiogenic but native high affinity heparin binding stressed conformation is not, indicating the critical importance of heparin affinity in antithrombin antiangiogenic function. Based on evidence of interactions of the endothelial cell growth factors bFGF (basic fibroblast growth factor) and VEGF (vascular endothelial cell growth factor) with heparin like molecule in matrix, the possibility of antiangiogenic antithrombin to interfere with endothelial cell growth and angiogenesis through heparin mediated mechanism deserves serious consideration and investigation. It is also possible that cleaved and latent conformations with reduced affinity for heparins can also induce conformational change in the antithrombin which can open an epitope on the antithrombin surface for appropriate interactions on the endothelial surface for better antiangiogenic activity. This review illustrates the potential of antithrombin and other serpin family members as endogenous antiangiogenic proteins.

Type I interferons (IFNs) represent a group of cytokines that act through a common receptor composed by two chains (IFNAR-1 and IFNAR-2). Several in vitro and in vivo studies showed a potent antitumor activity induced by these cytokines. IFN-α, the first cytokine to be produced by recombinant DNA technology, has emerged as an important regulator of cancer cell growth and differentiation, affecting cellular communication and signal transduction pathways. IFN-α, is currently the most used cytokine in the treatment of cancer. However, the potential anti-tumour activity of IFN-α is limited by the activation of tumour resistance mechanisms. This article reviews the current knowledge about the antitumor activity of type I IFNs, focusing on new potential strategies able to strengthen the antitumor activity of these cytokines.

Cancer has become one the most common causes of death in developed countries and has been defined as the medical challenge of our times. Accumulating evidence support the notion that prevention can be a major component of cancer control. Chemoprevention, a relatively new and promising strategy to prevent cancer, is defined as the use of natural and/or synthetic substances to block, reverse, or retard the process of carcinogenesis. Plant-based foods, containing significant amounts of bioactive phytochemicals, may provide desiderable health benefits beyond basic nutrition to reduce the process of cancer. In the last few years, proteins and peptides have become one group of nutraceuticals that show potential results in preventing the different stages of cancer including initiation, promotion, and progression. Lunasin is a 43- amino acid peptide identified in soybean and other plants whose anti-carcinogenic activity has been demonstrated both in in vitro and in vivo assays. Moreover, this peptide has been found to exert anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that could contribute to its chemopreventive effects. Lunasin’s bioactivity and its molecular mechanism(s) of actions are summarized in this review.

Fungi produce a variety of proteins with antiproliferative activity toward tumor cells and anticancer activity in tumor bearing mice. The aforementioned fungal proteins include ribonucleases, antifungal proteins, ubiquitin-like peptides, ribosome inactivating proteins, hemolysins, hemagglutinins/lectins, laccases, and protein-bound polysaccharopeptides.

Lamprey gonadotropin-releasing hormone-III (lGnRH-III; Glp-His-Trp-Ser-His-Asp-Trp-Lys-Pro-Gly-NH2), a native isoform of human GnRH (GnRH-I), was initially isolated from the brain of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus). It is a weak GnRH agonist, which exerts a direct antiproliferative effect on cancer cells and has an insignificant LH and FSH releasing potency in mammals. These features reveal the advantages of lGnRH-III and its derivatives for use in cancer therapy. Here we give an overview of various strategies to increase the antitumor activity of lGnRH-III, such as amino acid replacement, cyclization, dimerization and conjugation to polymers or to chemotherapeutic agents. In vitro and in vivo antitumor activity of lGnRH-III based compounds was demonstrated both on hormone dependent and independent tumors.

Lactoferrin (Lf), an iron binding ∼80 kDa glycoprotein is a well characterized multifunctional protein found to be present in mammalian milk and in most exocrine secretions. Besides Lf’s important physiological roles in the process of iron homeostasis, iron transportation and sequestration, it is well known for its properties such as anti-microbial, antiviral anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory functions. In the recent decade, Lf has gained significant attention for its future potential use as a safer natural food (bovine milk) derived anti-cancer therapeutic. With regards to Lf’s chemopreventive effects in targeting carcinogenesis, both animal and human studies have widely reported its immunomodulatory properties to play a significant role. The deregulation of apoptosis (programmed cell death) mechanisms has not only major implications for the development of uncontrolled tumour growth but evasion of apoptosis is also an important factor affecting drug resistance and radioresistance in cancer. With the exception of few studies, the molecular basis by Lf treatment remains unclear. In this review, by addressing the main features of Lf’s structure and function we discuss the recent developments in delineating the therapeutic mechanisms of Lf and its effects on the proteins and receptors modulating apoptosis.

From the fresh fruiting bodies of the mushroom Pleurotus eryngii a phytase with a molecular mass of 14 kDa was isolated. The isolation protocol entailed ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and CM-cellulose, affinity chromatography on Affi-gel blue gel, and ion exchange chromatography on Q-Sepharose. The phytase was unadsorbed on DEAE-cellulose, CM-cellulose and Affi-gel blue gel, and adsorbed on Q-Sepharose. It appeared as a single band in SDSPAGE. It exhibited maximal activity at around 37°C. Its activity underwent little changes over the range of pH 3.0 to 9.0. The aforementioned characteristics are different from those of animal, plant and bacterial phytases. The low molecular mass and pH stability of P. eryngii phytase also distinguish it from mushroom phytases and other fungal phytases reported earlier. The purified enzyme exhibited a broad substrate specificity on a range of phosphorylated compounds, and the phytase demonstrated the N-terminal sequence ADNVYRHDNN which shows little homology to known phytases. It inhibited proliferation of human nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE2 cells, hepatoma HepG2 cells and breast cancer MCF7 cells with an IC50 of 1.9 µM, 2.9 µM, and 1.0 µM, respectively.

The fusion protein MG7-scFv/SEB has shown anti-tumor activity on gastric cancer in vitro and in vivo. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) is a cytokine exerting anti-tumor effectiveness in various models and modes of applications. In this study, we explored the combination effects of MG7-scFv/SEB and TNF-α in experimental gastric cancer. Both MG7-scFv/SEB and TNF-α could effectively result in a significant inhibition of tumor growth in our experimental models when administered alone. What’s more, MG7-scFv/SEB synergized with TNF-α in further reducing the growth of gastric tumors in gastric-tumor-bearing rats as compared to mono therapy. Additionally, the survival rate of gastric-tumorbearing rats administrated with combined therapy was significantly higher than that of rats treated with MG7-scFv/SEB or TNF-α. These results indicate that combined therapy with MG7-scFv/SEB and TNF-α is a promising strategy for human cancer therapy.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent attractive targets for bioactive and drug discovery programs. The availability of purified receptors in milligram quantities is essential to spur the advancement of protein-based analyses in these programs, although it is still a challenging goal to achieve. Here we report the production of a bioengineered GPCR of human trace amine-associated receptor 5 (hTAAR5) from an E. coli cell-free system. Both the hTAAR5 and hTAAR5-T4 lysozyme fusion proteins (hTAAR5-T4L) were cloned and expressed in this process, with the latter designed for further protein crystallization trials. The detergent Brij-35 was found to solubilize the produced hTAAR5 and hTAAR5-T4L effectively. Immunoaffinity purification in combination with gel filtration was employed to purify the receptors to high homogeneity. The final yields of monomeric hTAAR5 and hTAAR5-T4L from a 1 mL cell-free reaction were 0.4 mg and 0.5 mg, respectively. Circular Dichroism (CD) spectroscopy indicated that both hTAAR5 and hTAAR5- T4L were correctly folded after purification, with characteristic high α-helical contents (>45%).

Sry-related box (Sox) transcription factors share a conserved high-mobility-group box domain (HMG-domain) that binds DNA in the minor groove and bends DNA for further assembly of transcriptional machineries. During organogenesis, each member of the Sox family triggers a specific cell lineage differentiation, indicating that their interactions with DNA are different from each other. Therefore, investigating structural rearrangement of each Sox transcription factor HMG-domain upon binding to DNA would help to elucidate the distinctive molecular mechanism by which they interact with DNA. Previous studies have determined the crystal structures of Sox2 HMG-domain/DNA, Sox4 HMGdomain/ DNA, Sox9 HMG-domain/DNA and Sox17 HMG-domain/DNA complexes. However, major gaps remain in the structural information on the Sox transcription factor HMG-domains. Here, we report the crystal structure of the human Sox17 HMG-domain alone at 2.4 A resolution. Comparing this structure and the structure of the mouse Sox17 HMGdomain/ DNA complex provides structural understanding of the mechanism of Sox17 binding to DNA. Specifically, after electrostatic interactions attract Sox17 to DNA, Asn73, Ser99, and Trp106 form hydrogen bonds with DNA, Arg70, Lys80, Arg83, His94, and Asn95 on Sox17 undergo conformational changes and form hydrogen bonds with DNA, contributing to the electrostatic interaction between Sox17 and DNA.