MD2, a 160-residue accessory glycoprotein, is responsible for the recognition and binding of Gram-negative bacterial membrane component, lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Internalization of pathogen inside the mononuclear phagocytes has also been attributed to MD2 which leads to the clearance of pathogens from the host. However, not much is known about the segments in MD2 that are responsible for LPS interaction or internalization of pathogen inside the defense cells. A 16-residue stretch (MD54) from MD2 protein has been identified that possesses a short heptad repeat sequence and four cationic residues enabling it to participate in both hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions with LPS. An MD54 analog of the same size was also designed in which a leucine residue at a heptadic position was replaced with an alanine residue. MD54 but not its analog, MMD54 induced aggregation of LPS and aided in its internalization within THP-1 monocytes. Furthermore, MD54 inhibited LPS-induced nuclear translocation of NF-κB in PMA-treated THP-1 and TLR4/MD2/CD14-transfected HEK-293T cells and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In addition, in in vivo experiments, MD54 showed marked protection and survival of mice against LPS-induced inflammation and death. Overall, we have identified a short peptide with heptad repeat sequence from MD2 that can cause aggregation of LPS and abet in its internalization within THP-1 cells, resulting in attenuation of LPS-induced pro-inflammatory responses in vitro and in vivo.

To become clinically effective, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) should be non-cytotoxic to host cells. Piscidins are a group of fish-derived AMPs with potent antimicrobial and antiendotoxin activities but limited by extreme cytotoxicity. We conjectured that introduction of cationic residue(s) at the interface of polar and non-polar faces of piscidins may control their insertion into hydrophobic mammalian cell membrane and thereby reducing cytotoxicity. We have designed several novel analogs of piscidin-1 by substituting threonine residue(s) with L and D-lysine residue(s). L/D-lysine-substituted analogs showed significantly reduced cytotoxicity but exhibited either higher or comparable antibacterial activity akin to piscidin-1. Piscidin-1-analogs demonstrated higher efficacy than piscidin-1 in inhibiting lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced pro-inflammatory responses in THP-1 cells. T15,21K-piscidin-1 (0.5 mg/Kg) and T15,21dK-piscidin-1 (1.0 mg/Kg) demonstrated 100% survival of LPS (12.0 mg/Kg)-administered mice. High resolution NMR studies revealed that both piscidin-1 and T15,21K-piscidin-1 adopted helical structures, with latter showing a shorter helix, higher amphipathicity and cationic residues placed at optimal distances to form ionic/hydrogen bond with lipid A of LPS. Remarkably, T15,21dK-piscidin-1 showed a helix-loop-helix structure in LPS and its interactions with LPS could be sustained by the distance of separation of side chains of R7 and D-Lys-15 which is close to the inter-phosphate distance of lipid A.

Vaccination is devised/formulated to stimulate specific and prolonged immune responses for long-term protection against infection or disease. A vaccine component, namely adjuvant, enhances antigen recognition by the host immune system and thereby stimulates its cellular and adaptive responses. Especially synthetic Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists having selfassembling properties are considered as good candidates for adjuvant development. Here, a human TLR4-derived 20-residue peptide (TR-433), present in the dimerization interface of the TLR4 -myeloid differentiation protein-2 (MD2) complex, displayed self-assembly and adopted a nanostructure. Both in vitro studies and in vivo experiments in mice indicated that TR-433 is nontoxic. TR-433 induced pro-inflammatory responses in THP-1 monocytes and HEK293T cells that were transiently transfected with TLR4/CD14/MD2 and also in BALB/c mice. In light of the self-assembly and pro-inflammatory properties of TR-433, we immunized with a mixture of TR-433 and either ovalbumin or filarial antigen trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase (TPP). A significant amount of IgG titers was produced, suggesting adjuvanting capability of TR-433 that was comparable with that of Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA) and appreciably higher than that of alum. We found that TR-433 preferentially activates type 1 helper T cell (T h 1) response rather than type 2 helper T cell (T h 2) response. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the identification of a short TLR4-derived peptide that possesses both self-assembling and pro-inflammatory properties and has significant efficacy as an adjuvant, capable of activating cellular responses in mice. These results indicate that TR-433 possesses significant potential for development as a new adjuvant in therapeutic application. 2 The abbreviations used are: FCA, Freund's complete adjuvant; FIA, Freund's incomplete adjuvant; TLR, Toll-like receptor; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; TPP, trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase; MTT, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide; TEM, transmission EM; ThT, thioflavin T; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; IL, interleukin; PMA, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate; Ova, ovalbumin; HRP, horseradish peroxidase; IFN, interferon. Figure 8. TR-433 adjuvant activity depends on T-bet expression. mRNA expressions of T-bet and GATA-3 were analyzed in splenocytes in duplicates in two independent experiments (n ϭ 2). Mouse glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase was used as an endogenous control, and relative -fold change was determined by the comparative ⌬CT method. Statistical analysis was carried out using one-way analysis of variance using Dunnett's test.

Over the last few decades, anticancer peptides (ACPs) have turned into potential warheads against cancer. Apart from small molecules and monoclonal antibodies, ACPs have been proven to be effective against cancer cells. ACPs are small cationic peptides that selectively bind to the negatively charged cancer cell membrane and kill them by various mechanisms. In the present study, we prepared a random scrambled library of 1200 peptides from the 100 known ACPs and virtually screened them for their anticancer properties. From in silico-predicted ACPs, 27 peptides were prioritized based on their support vector machine (SVM) score. Based on the SVM score and properties such as hydrophobicity, size, overall net charge, secondary structure, and synthetic feasibility, finally, four peptides were synthesized and screened for their biological activities. Cancer cell membrane-deforming potential of two most active peptides, peptide1 and peptide2 was assessed with molecular dynamics simulation. We found that peptide1 remains adsorbed to the membrane surface, while peptide2 has membrane penetration capability. The present study will be helpful in the computational design of ACPs and understanding their interaction with the cancerous cell’s membrane.

Marine fish antimicrobial peptide, chrysophsin-1 possesses versatile biological activities but its non-selective nature restricts its therapeutic possibilities. Often small alterations in structural motifs result in significant changes in the properties of concerned proteins/peptides. We have identified GXXXXG motif in chrysophsin-1. Glycine residue(s) of this motif in Chrysophsin-1 was/were replaced with alanine, valine and proline residue(s). Of these, proline-substituted Chrysophsin-1 analogs exhibited significantly reduced cytotoxicity towards mammalian cells. Further, these analogs showed broad-spectrum activity against Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains and fungi and also retained antibacterial activity in presence of physiological salts, serum and at elevated temperatures indicative of their therapeutic potential. These Chrysophsin-1 analogs also inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced pro-inflammatory responses in THP-1 cells and in murine primary macrophages. One of these single proline-substituted Chrysophsin-1 analogs inhibited LPS-stimulated pro-inflammatory cytokine production in BALB/c mice and elicited appreciable survival of mice administered with a lethal dose of LPS in a model of severe sepsis. The data for the first time showed the implication of GXXXXG motifs in functional and biological properties of an antimicrobial peptide and could be useful to design novel anti-microbial and anti-endotoxin peptides by employing this motif.