Abstract
The ability to modulate angiogenesis by chemical tools has several important applications in different scientific fields. With the perspective of finding novel proangiogenic molecules, we searched peptide sequences with a chemical profile similar to that of the QK peptide, a well described VEGF mimetic peptide. We found that residues 1617-1627 of the IQGAP1 protein show molecular features similar to those of the QK peptide sequence. The IQGAP1-derived synthetic peptide was analyzed by NMR spectroscopy and its biological activity was characterized in endothelial cells. These studies showed that this IQGAP1-derived peptide has a biological activity similar to that of VEGF and could be considered as a novel tool for reparative angiogenesis.
MeSH terms
-
Amino Acid Sequence
-
Angiogenesis Inducing Agents / chemical synthesis
-
Angiogenesis Inducing Agents / pharmacology*
-
Animals
-
Aorta / cytology
-
Aorta / drug effects
-
Aorta / metabolism
-
Caspase 3 / genetics
-
Caspase 3 / metabolism
-
Cell Line, Transformed
-
Cell Proliferation / drug effects
-
Endothelial Cells / cytology
-
Endothelial Cells / drug effects*
-
Endothelial Cells / metabolism
-
Gene Expression Regulation
-
Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells / cytology
-
Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells / drug effects*
-
Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells / metabolism
-
Humans
-
Molecular Mimicry
-
Neovascularization, Physiologic / drug effects
-
Peptides / chemical synthesis
-
Peptides / pharmacology*
-
Protein Conformation, alpha-Helical
-
Swine
-
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / chemistry
-
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / pharmacology*
-
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1 / genetics
-
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1 / metabolism
-
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 / genetics
-
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 / metabolism
-
ras GTPase-Activating Proteins / chemistry*
Substances
-
Angiogenesis Inducing Agents
-
IQ motif containing GTPase activating protein 1
-
Peptides
-
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A
-
ras GTPase-Activating Proteins
-
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1
-
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2
-
Caspase 3