Arginine-rich molecular transporters for drug delivery: role of backbone spacing in cellular uptake.

Short oligomers of arginine, either alone or when conjugated to therapeutic agents or large biopolymers, have been shown to cross readily a variety of biological barriers (e.g., lipid bilayers and epithelial tissue). Molecular modeling suggests that only a subset of the side chain guanidinium groups of these transporters might be required for transport involving contact with a common surface such as a plasma membrane or cell surface receptor. To evaluate this hypothesis, a series of decamers were prepared that incorporated seven arginines and three nonarginine residues. Several of these mixed decamers were comparable to the all arginine decamer in their ability to enter cells. More significantly, these decamers containing seven arginines performed almost without exception better than heptaarginine itself, suggesting that spacing between residues is also important for transport. The influence of spacing was more fully evaluated with a library of oligomers incorporating seven arginines separated by one or more nonconsecutive, non-alpha-amino acids. This study led to the identification of a new series of highly efficient molecular transporters.