IL4-Receptor-Targeted Dual Antitumoral Apoptotic Peptide-siRNA Conjugate Lipoplexes
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
Authors: Luo, Jie; Hoehn, Miriam; Reinhard, Soeren; Loy, Dominik M.; Klein, Philipp Michael; Wagner, Ernst
Abstract
Targeted delivery remains the major limitation in the development of small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutics. The successful siRNA multistep delivery requires precise carriers of substantial complexity. To achieve this, a monodisperse carrier is presented, synthesized by solid-phase supported chemistry. The sequence-defined assembly contains two oleic acids attached to a cationizable oligoaminoamide backbone in T-shape configuration, and a terminal azide functionality for coupling to the atherosclerotic plaque-specific peptide-1 (AP-1) as the cell targeting ligand for interleukin-4 receptor (IL-4R) which is overexpressed in a variety of solid cancers. For combined cytosolic delivery with siRNA, different apoptotic peptides (KLK, BAK, and BAD) are covalently conjugated via bioreversible disulfide linkage to the 5 '-end of the siRNA sense strand. siRNA-KLK conjugates provide the highest antitumoral potency. The optimized targeted carrier is complexed with dual antitumoral siEG5-KLK conjugates. The functionality of each subdomain is individually confirmed. The lipo-oligomer confers stable assembly of siRNA conjugates into spherical 150-250 nm sized nanoparticles. Click-shielding with dibenzocyclootyne-PEG-AP-1 (DBCO-PEG-AP-1) mediates an IL-4R-specific cell targeting and gene silencing in tumor cells. Most importantly, formulation of the siEG5-KLK conjugate displays enhanced apoptotic tumor cell killing due to the combined effect of mitotic arrest by EG5 gene silencing and mitochondrial membrane disruption by KLK.
Thymic stromal lymphopoietin is a key cytokine for the immunomodulation of atherogenesis with Freund's adjuvant
JOURNAL OF CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MEDICINE
Authors: Steinmetz, Martin; Laurans, Ludivine; Nordsiek, Sarah; Weiss, Lena; van der Veken, Bieke; Ponnuswamy, Padmapriya; Esposito, Bruno; Vandestienne, Marie; Giraud, Andreas; Goebbel, Cristina; Steffen, Eva; Radecke, Tobias; Potteaux, Stephane; Nickenig, Georg; Rassaf, Tienush; Tedgui, Alain; Mallat, Ziad
Abstract
Adaptive immune responses regulate the development of atherosclerosis, with a detrimental effect of type 1 but a protective role of type 2 immune responses. Immunization of Apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE(-/-)) mice with Freund's adjuvant inhibits the development of atherosclerosis. However, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is an IL7-like cytokine with essential impact on type 2 immune responses (Th2). Thymic stromal lymphopoietin is strongly expressed in epithelial cells of the skin, but also in various immune cells following appropriate stimulation. In this study, we investigated whether TSLP may be crucial for the anti-atherogenic effect of Freund's adjuvant. Subcutaneous injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) rapidly led to the expression of TSLP and IL1 beta at the site of injection. In male mice, CFA-induced TSLP occurred in immigrated monocytes-and not epithelial cells-and was dependent on NLRP3 inflammasome activation and IL1 beta-signalling. In females, CFA-induced TSLP was independent of IL1 beta and upon ovariectomy. CFA/OVA led to a more pronounced imbalance of the T cell response in TSLPR-/- mice, with increased INF gamma/IL4 ratio compared with wild-type controls. To test whether TSLP contributes to the anti-atherogenic effects of Freund's adjuvant, we treated ApoE(-/-) and ApoE(-/-)/TSLPR-/- mice with either CFA/IFA or PBS. ApoE(-/-) mice showed less atherogenesis upon CFA/IFA compared with PBS injections. ApoE(-/-)/TSLPR-/- mice had no attenuation of atherogenesis upon CFA/IFA treatment. Freund's adjuvant executes significant immune-modulating effects via TSLP induction. TSLP-TSLPR signalling is critical for CFA/IFA-mediated attenuation of atherosclerosis.