Large scale preparations were performed based on the described protocol by CPC Scientific.
Abstract
The prominent role of voltage-gated sodium channel 1.7 (Nav1.7) in nociception was revealed by remarkable human clinical and genetic evidence. Development of potent and subtype-selective inhibitors of this ion channel is crucial for obtaining therapeutically useful analgesic compounds. Microproteins isolated from animal venoms have been identified as promising therapeutic leads for ion channels, because they naturally evolved to be potent ion channel blockers. Here, we report the engineering of highly potent and selective inhibitors of the Nav1.7 channel based on tarantula ceratotoxin-1 (CcoTx1). We utilized a combination of directed evolution, saturation mutagenesis, chemical modification, and rational drug design to obtain higher potency and selectivity to the Nav1.7 channel. The resulting microproteins are highly potent (IC50 to Nav1.7 of 2.5 nm) and selective. We achieved 80- and 20-fold selectivity over the closely related Nav1.2 and Nav1.6 channels, respectively, and the IC50 on skeletal (Nav1.4) and cardiac (Nav1.5) sodium channels is above 3000 nm. The lead molecules have the potential for future clinical development as novel therapeutics in the treatment of pain.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Connect with us and stay updated by following our social media channels.
Latest Briefings from our Knowledge Center
Press Releases, Industry News, Articles, and Technical Content
This guide will help you understand how to read ESI spectra for large and complex bio-molecules like peptides. Other techniques such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) show one major peak (i.e., absorbance and purity for RP-HPLC) in the spectra, making the interpretation straightforward. ESI-MS spectra are more complicated due to the multiplicity of the data. While most small molecules (100-500 AMU) behave well in ESI-MS and ionize as a single charged state, larger biomolecules, such as peptides, ionize as multiple charged variants. A major advantage of ESI-MS over other mass spectroscopy techniques is that molecular fragmentation is rare (t-Boc groups and a few other protection groups are an exception), which is why ESI-MS is often referred to as a soft ionization technique.
Vickers, Timothy A., Meghdad Rahdar, Thazha P. Prakash, and Stanley T. Crooke. Nucleic Acids Research (2019).
A solution of 1.5 umol SmBiT peptide (Val-Thr-Gly-Tyr-Arg-Leu-Phe-Glu-Glu-Ile-Leu-Gly-Gly-Ser-Gly-Gly-Lys(N3)-NH2) containing an azide group at the C-terminus (CPC Scientific, 1245 Reamwood Ave, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) in DMSO (0.5 ml) was added and the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 5 h.
Solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) has many advantages over liquid-phase peptide synthesis (LPPS) for preparing and manufacturing synthetic peptides. Except the synthesis of short peptide sequences (i.e., less than five amino acid residues), SPPS is faster, more efficient, and more economical than liquid-phase peptide synthesis (LPPS). Some of the advantages of SPPS include: (1) Excess reagents and products can be easily washed away, (2) using excess reagents to increase reaction rates and drive reactions to completion, (3) intermediates do not require isolation or characterization, (4) access to a broader range of solvents with low volatility and high polarity, (5) tethered peptide provides a ‘pseudo-dilute’ microenvironment, which can inhibit intermolecular reactions, making some modifications easier to accomplish, and (6) compatibility with automated synthesis technology.
Lo, J.H., Hao, L., Muzumdar, M.D., Raghavan, S., Kwon, E.J., Pulver, E.M., Hsu, F., Aguirre, A.J., Wolpin, B.M., Fuchs, C.S. and Hahn, W.C. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 17, no. 11 (2018): 2377-2388.
pTP-TAMRA-iRGD (CH3(CH)15-[GWTLNSAGYLLGKINLKALAALAKKIL-GGK(TAMRA)GGCRGDKGPDC, Cys-Cys bridge]) used in all figures except Fig. S1 was synthesized by CPC Scientific.
Ng, Ee Xien, Myat Noe Hsu, Guoyun Sun, and Chia-Hung Chen. Methods in Enzymology 628 (2019): 59-94.
The peptide sequences of the four FRET-based substrates ([..] CPC Scientific) are as follows: UV: AlexaFluor405-Leu-Ala-Gln-Ala-HompheArg-Ser-Lys (QSY35)-NH2; Blue: Dabcyl-Gly-Pro-Leu-Gly-Met-Arg-Gly-Lys (5-FAM)-NH2; Green: QSY7-Ala-Pro-Phe-Glu..
West, J.A., Tsakmaki, A., Huang, J.H., Ghosh, S.S., Parkes, D.G., Wismann, P., Rigbolt, K.T., Pedersen, P.J., Pavlidis, P., Maggs, D. and Lopez-Talavera, J.C. bioRxiv (2019) 822122.
- Fractyl Laboratories Inc, Lexington, MA, 02421, USA
- Diabetes Research Group, School of Life Course Sciences, Faculty of Life Science and Medicine, King’s College London, London, WC2R 2LS, England, UK
[..] infusion of vehicle 2 via osmotic minipump; (2) glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonist (0.2 mg/kg liraglutide, SC, QD, Victoza (Novo Nordisk, Bagsværd, Denmark) and continuous infusion of vehicle 2 via osmotic minipump; (3) vehicle 1 (SC, QD) and continuous infusion of a glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor (GIPR) antagonist (∼4.5 mg/kg/day / 56.8 nmol/kg/h GIP[3-30]NH2, CPC Scientific Inc, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) via osmotic minipump;
Artur Javmen, Vladimir Y. Toshchakov, et al. Journal of Leukocyte Biology (2019).
All CPDPs included the N‐terminal Antennapedia homeodomain sequence RQIKIWFQNRRMKWKK.38 The Cy3‐labeled peptides were produced by CPC Scientific (Sunnyvale, CA, USA). The Cy3 label was placed at the peptide N‐terminus..
Gilles, Maud-Emmanuelle, Slack, Frank J, et al. Oncotarget, 2019, Vol. 10, (No. 51), pp: 5349-5358
"Tandem peptide (pTP-iRGD: CH3(CH)15-GWTLNSAGYLLGKINLKALAALAKKIL-GGK(TAMRA)GGCRGDKGPDC, Cys-Cys bridge) was synthesized by CPC Scientific."
Garner, Thomas P., Dulguun Amgalan, Denis E. Reyna, Sheng Li, Richard N. Kitsis, and Evripidis Gavathiotis. Nature Chemical Biology 15, no. 4 (2019): 322.
"Hydrocarbon-stapled peptides corresponding to the BH3 domain of BIM, BIM SAHBA2: N-acetylated- and FITC-Ahx-EIWIAQELRS5IGDS5FNAYYA-CONH2, where S5 represents the non-natural amino acid inserted for olefin metathesis, were synthesized, purified at >95% purity by CPC Scientific Inc. and characterized as previously described."