SummaryPolycomb Group (PcG) proteins maintain transcriptional repression throughout development, mostly by regulating chromatin structure. Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2), a component of the Polycomb machinery, is responsible for the methylation of histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27me2/3). Jarid2 was previously identified as a cofactor of PRC2, regulating PRC2 targeting to chromatin and its enzymatic activity. Deletion of Jarid2 leads to impaired orchestration of gene expression during cell lineage commitment. Here, we reveal an unexpected crosstalk between Jarid2 and PRC2, with Jarid2 being methylated by PRC2. This modification is recognized by the Eed core component of PRC2 and triggers an allosteric activation of PRC2’s enzymatic activity. We show that Jarid2 methylation is important to promote PRC2 activity at a locus devoid of H3K27me3 and for the correct deposition of this mark during cell differentiation. Our results uncover a regulation loop where Jarid2 methylation fine-tunes PRC2 activity depending on the chromatin context.

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) share the property of cellular internalization. The question of how these peptides reach the cytoplasm of cells is still widely debated. Herein, we have used a mass spectrometry-based method that enables quantification of internalized and membrane-bound peptides. Internalization of the most used CPP was studied at 37°C (endocytosis and translocation) and 4°C (translocation) in wild type and proteoglycandeficient Chinese hamster ovary cells. Both translocation and endocytosis are internalization pathways used by CPP. The choice of one pathway versus the other depends on the peptide sequence (not the number of positive changes), the extracellular peptide concentration, and the membrane components. There is no relationship between the high affinity of these peptides for the cell membrane and their internalization efficacy. Translocation occurs at low extracellular peptide concentration, whereas endocytosis, a saturable and cooperative phenomenon, is activated at higher concentrations. Translocation operates in a narrow time window, which implies a specific lipid/peptide co-import in cells.Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) 3 that share the activity of cellular entry are usually short peptides of less than 20 amino acids highly enriched in basic residues. Among them, Antp, Tat-(48 -60), and oligoarginine peptides are the most intensively studied. Despite the wide use of these CPPs as macromolecular delivery devices, the internalization mechanism of these peptides in cells still remains largely controversial. The energy dependence of the internalization mechanism is unique because all endocytotic pathways are inhibited at low temperature. Consequently, at low temperature, internalization likely reflects a direct translocation mechanism. Early studies proposed that Antp enters cells by an energy-independent membrane translocation mechanism (1). This first analysis was then contradicted by other studies that suggested, with the use of inhibitors, the involvement of endocytosis in the cellular internalization of cell-penetrating peptides (2-4).The hypothesis that endocytosis was the only internalization mechanism of CPP resulted from studies examining whether the temperature or the binding to cell-surface glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) were critical for peptide internalization. Most of these interpretations resulted from fluorescence microscopy data. For instance, it was reported that Antp, Tat, and oligoarginine peptides were not efficiently internalized in the Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) mutant pgsA-745 cell line, which does not produce cell-surface heparan sulfate or chondroitin sulfate (5, 6). However, recent data indicates that Tat-mediated transduction occurs in the absence of heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate (7). The discrepancies observed between studies may be explained in part by different incubation conditions (peptide/cells ratio and peptide concentration) (8), limits in fluorescence imaging, such as quenching (9), or fluorophore-dependent intracellular trafficking (10), as...

Deciphering the structural requirements and mechanisms for internalization of cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) is required to improve their delivery efficiency. Herein, a unique role of tryptophan (Trp) residues in the interaction and structuring of cationic CPP sequences with glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) has been characterized, in relation with cell internalization. Using isothermal titration calorimetry, circular dichroism, NMR, mass spectrometry, and phase-contrast microscopy, we compared the interaction of 7 basic CPPs with 5 classes of GAGs. We found that the affinity of CPPs for GAGs increases linearly with the number of Trp residues, from 30 nM for a penetratin analog with 1 Trp residue to 1.5 nM for a penetratin analog with 6 Trp residues for heparin (HI); peptides with Trp residues adopt a predominantly β-strand structure in complex with HI and form large, stable β-sheet aggregates with GAGs; and in the absence of any cytotoxicity effect, the quantity of peptide internalized into CHO cells increased 2 times with 1 Trp residue, 10 times with 2 Trp residues, and 20 times with 3 Trp residues, compared with +6 peptides with no Trp residues. Therefore, Trp residues represent molecular determinants in basic peptide sequences not only for direct membrane translocation but also for efficient endocytosis through GAGs.

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) can cross the cell membrane and are widely used to deliver bioactive cargoes inside cells. The cargo and the CPP are often conjugated through a disulfide bridge with the common acceptation that this linker is stable in the extracellular biological medium and should not perturb the internalization process. However, with the use of thiol-specific reagents combined with mass spectrometry (as a quantitative method to measure intracellular concentrations of peptides) and confocal microscopy (as a qualitative method to visualize internalized peptides) analyses, we could show that, depending on the peptide sequence, thiol/disulfide exchange reactions could happen at the cell surface. These exchange reactions lead to the reduction of disulfide conjugates. In addition, it was observed that not only disulfide- but also thiol-containing peptides could cross-react with cell-surface thiols. The peptides cross-linked by thiol-containing membrane proteins were either trapped in the membrane or further internalized. Therefore, a new route of cellular uptake was unveiled that is not restricted to CPPs: a protein kinase C peptide inhibitor that is not cell permeant could cross cell membranes when an activated cysteine (with a 3-nitro-2-pyridinesulfenyl moiety) was introduced in its sequence.

BackgroundBasic cell-penetrating peptides are potential vectors for therapeutic molecules and display antimicrobial activity. The peptide-membrane contact is the first step of the sequential processes leading to peptide internalization and cell activity. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in peptide-membrane interaction are not well understood and are frequently controversial. Herein, we compared the membrane activities of six basic peptides with different size, charge density and amphipaticity: Two cell-penetrating peptides (penetratin and R9), three amphipathic peptides and the neuromodulator substance P.Methodology/Principal FindingsExperiments of X ray diffraction, video-microscopy of giant vesicles, fluorescence spectroscopy, turbidimetry and calcein leakage from large vesicles are reported. Permeability and toxicity experiments were performed on cultured cells. The peptides showed differences in bilayer thickness perturbations, vesicles aggregation and local bending properties which form lipidic tubular structures. These structures invade the vesicle lumen in the absence of exogenous energy.Conclusions/SignificanceWe showed that the degree of membrane permeabilization with amphipathic peptides is dependent on both peptide size and hydrophobic nature of the residues. We propose a model for peptide-induced membrane perturbations that explains the differences in peptide membrane activities and suggests the existence of a facilitated “physical endocytosis,” which represents a new pathway for peptide cellular internalization.

The mechanism of cell-penetrating peptides entry into cells is unclear, preventing the development of more efficient vectors for biotechnological or therapeutic purposes. Here, we developed a protocol relying on fluorometry to distinguish endocytosis from direct membrane translocation, using Penetratin, TAT and R9. The quantities of internalized CPPs measured by fluorometry in cell lysates converge with those obtained by our previously reported mass spectrometry quantification method. By contrast, flow cytometry quantification faces several limitations due to fluorescence quenching processes that depend on the cell line and occur at peptide/cell ratio >6.108 for CF-Penetratin. The analysis of cellular internalization of a doubly labeled fluorescent and biotinylated Penetratin analogue by the two independent techniques, fluorometry and mass spectrometry, gave consistent results at the quantitative and qualitative levels. Both techniques revealed the use of two alternative translocation and endocytosis pathways, whose relative efficacy depends on cell-surface sugars and peptide concentration. We confirmed that Penetratin translocates at low concentration and uses endocytosis at high μM concentrations. We further demonstrate that the hydrophobic/hydrophilic nature of the N-terminal extremity impacts on the internalization efficiency of CPPs. We expect these results and the associated protocols to help unraveling the translocation pathway to the cytosol of cells.

The ins and outs of peptides: The internalization efficiencies of three cell‐penetrating peptides (CPPs; penetratin, (Arg)9, and Tat48–59) have been measured by MALDI‐TOF MS (see scheme). The method leads to direct detection of the CPPs and allows unambiguous discrimination between membrane‐bound and internalized CPP. Furthermore, the cellular uptake efficiencies of several CPPs can be compared in a single experiment.

In this study, the direct translocation of cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) into large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) was shown to be rapid for all the most commonly used CPPs. This translocation led within a few minutes to intravesicular accumulation up to 0.5 mM, with no need for a transbilayer potential. The accumulation of CPPs inside LUVs was found to depend on CPP sequence, CPP extravesicular concentration and phospholipid (PL) composition, either in binary or ternary mixtures of PLs. More interestingly, the role of anionic phospholipid flip-flopping in the translocation process was ascertained. CPPs enhanced the flipping of PLs, and the intravesicular CPP accumulation directly correlated with the amount of anionic PLs that had been transferred from the external to the internal leaflet of the LUV bilayer, thus demonstrating the transport of peptide/lipid complexes as inverted micelles.