Intra-mitochondrial self-assembly to overcome the intracellular enzymatic degradation of l-peptides

Chem Commun (Camb). 2020 Jun 11;56(46):6265-6268. doi: 10.1039/d0cc02029j. Epub 2020 May 6.

Abstract

The design of peptide-based therapeutics is generally based on the replacement of l-amino acids with d-isomers to obtain improved therapeutic efficiency. However, d-isomers are expensive and frequently induce undesirable immune responses. In the present work, we demonstrate that an intra-mitochondrially self-assembling amphiphilic peptide exhibits analogous activity in both d- and l-isomeric forms. This outcome is in contrast to the general observation considering higher therapeutic efficiencies of d-isomers compared with l-analogues. This suggests that l-peptides overcome proteolytic degradation during intra-mitochondrial self-assembly both in vitro and in vivo.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • HT29 Cells
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Isomerism
  • Mice
  • Mitochondria / metabolism*
  • Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Peptides / administration & dosage*
  • Peptides / chemistry
  • Proteolysis

Substances

  • Peptides