Meong Cheol Shin1,2, Kyoung Ah Min1,2,3, Heesun Cheong4, Cheol Moon5, Yongzhuo Huang6, Huining He7, Victor C Yang2,7. 1. College of Pharmacy and Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Gyeongsang National University, 501 Jinju Daero, Jinju, Gyeongnam, 52828, Republic of Korea. 2. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, 428 Church St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. 3. College of Pharmacy, Inje University, 197 Injero, Gimhae, Gyeongnam, 50834, Republic of Korea. 4. Comparative Biomedicine Research Branch, Division of Cancer Biology, National Cancer Center, 323 Ilsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, 10408, Republic of Korea. 5. College of Pharmacy, Sunchon National University, 255 Jungang-ro, Suncheon, Jeonnam 57922, Republic of Korea. 6. Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 501 Hai-ke Rd., Shanghai 201203, China. 7. Tianjin Key Laboratory on Technologies Enabling Development of Clinical Therapeutics and Diagnosis, School of Pharmacy, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To investigate the applicability of fusion biotoxins combining pore-forming toxins (PFTs) and ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) for the anti-cancer treatment. METHODS: Membrane active PFTs tend to destabilize cell membranes of tumor cells, but lack a warhead inducing significant cause of cell death. Cell-impermeable RIPs possess a powerful warhead, yet not able to enter the tumor cells. To address these challenges for anti-tumor effects, we introduced a fusion strategy of conjugating melittin (a PFT) and gelonin (a type 1 RIP) via chemical and recombinant methods, followed by in vitro assays and in vivo animal studies. RESULTS: In vitro characterization results confirmed that the chimeric gelonin-melittin fusion proteins retained equivalent intrinsic activity to that of unmodified gelonin in inhibiting protein translation. However, chemically conjugated gelonin-melittin (cGel-Mel) and recombinant chimeric gelonin-melittin fusion (rGel-Mel) exhibited greater cell uptake, yielding a significantly enhanced cytotoxic activity over treatment of gelonin, melittin or physical mixture of gelonin and melittin. Remarkably, cGel-Mel and rGel-Mel displayed 32- and 10-fold lower IC50 than gelonin in the cell lines. The superior anti-tumor efficacy of multivalent cGel-Mel to monovalent rGel-Mel suggested that valency could be a crucial factor for the extent of melittin-mediated cell uptake. Tumoricidal effects observed from animal studies were in good accordance with our findings from the cellular assays. CONCLUSIONS: This study successfully demonstrated that fusion of biotoxins could provide a simple yet effective way to synergistically augment their anti-tumor activity.
PURPOSE: To investigate the applicability of fusion biotoxins combining pore-forming toxins (PFTs) and ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) for the anti-cancer treatment. METHODS: Membrane active PFTs tend to destabilize cell membranes of tumor cells, but lack a warhead inducing significant cause of cell death. Cell-impermeable RIPs possess a powerful warhead, yet not able to enter the tumor cells. To address these challenges for anti-tumor effects, we introduced a fusion strategy of conjugating melittin (a PFT) and gelonin (a type 1 RIP) via chemical and recombinant methods, followed by in vitro assays and in vivo animal studies. RESULTS: In vitro characterization results confirmed that the chimeric gelonin-melittin fusion proteins retained equivalent intrinsic activity to that of unmodified gelonin in inhibiting protein translation. However, chemically conjugated gelonin-melittin (cGel-Mel) and recombinant chimeric gelonin-melittin fusion (rGel-Mel) exhibited greater cell uptake, yielding a significantly enhanced cytotoxic activity over treatment of gelonin, melittin or physical mixture of gelonin and melittin. Remarkably, cGel-Mel and rGel-Mel displayed 32- and 10-fold lower IC50 than gelonin in the cell lines. The superior anti-tumor efficacy of multivalent cGel-Mel to monovalent rGel-Mel suggested that valency could be a crucial factor for the extent of melittin-mediated cell uptake. Tumoricidal effects observed from animal studies were in good accordance with our findings from the cellular assays. CONCLUSIONS: This study successfully demonstrated that fusion of biotoxins could provide a simple yet effective way to synergistically augment their anti-tumor activity.
Authors: Tien-Yi Lee; Yoon Shin Park; George A Garcia; Roger K Sunahara; James H Woods; Victor C Yang Journal: Mol Pharm Date: 2012-03-28 Impact factor: 4.939
Authors: Meong Cheol Shin; Jian Zhang; Kyoung Ah Min; Huining He; Allan E David; Yongzhuo Huang; Victor C Yang Journal: Pharm Res Date: 2015-02-21 Impact factor: 4.200
Authors: R Smith; F Separovic; T J Milne; A Whittaker; F M Bennett; B A Cornell; A Makriyannis Journal: J Mol Biol Date: 1994-08-19 Impact factor: 5.469