We have synthesized (CPC Scientific, Inc.) four stapled peptides, as depicted in Figure 2. We also synthesized the linear peptide, NYBSP-C, as a control. Besides, we purchased a linear peptide, SBP1, to use as a control, which was reported recently to bind to SARS-CoV-2 RBD with high affinity (KD = 47nM).
Abstract
Human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the primary receptor of SARS-CoV-2 to enter the host cells and start the infection process. Therefore, it is prudent to design therapeutics based on the critical binding region of ACE2, which is a ∼30 aa long helix with a kink in the middle. However, the small peptide in solution may lose its helical conformation and subsequently lose its binding potential to the SARS-CoV-2 RBD, which it utilizes to bind to that helical region. Here we report the design of four stapled peptides based on that helix, which is expected to bind to SARS-CoV-2 with high affinity and prevent the binding of the virus to the ACE2 receptor and disrupt the infection. All stapled peptides showed high helical contents (50-94% helicity). On the contrary, the linear control peptide NYBSP-C showed no helicity (19%). We have evaluated the peptides in a pseudovirus based single-cycle assay in HT1080 and human lung cells, A549. Three of the four stapled peptides showed potent antiviral activity in HT1080 (IC50: 1.9 – 4.1 µM) and A549 cells (IC50: 2.2 – 2.8 µM). It is noteworthy that the stapled peptide, NYBSP-3, which showed the least helical content, also had the lowest antiviral activity in both cell lines. The linear peptides NYBSP-C and SBP1, reported recently to bind SARS-CoV-2 with KD of ∼47nM affinity, showed no antiviral activity. Most significantly, none of the stapled peptides show any appreciable cytotoxicity at the highest dose tested. We determined the proteolytic stability of one of the most active stapled peptides, NYBSP-4, in human plasma, which showed a half-life (T1/2) of >289 min.
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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."
Gibbs, Ebrima, Judith M. Silverman, Beibei Zhao, Xubiao Peng, Jing Wang, Cheryl L. Wellington, Ian R. Mackenzie, Steven S. Plotkin, Johanne M. Kaplan, and Neil R. Cashman. Scientific Reports 9, no. 1 (2019): 1-14.
The conformational epitope was synthesized as a cyclic peptide with additional N-terminal residues CG and a C-terminal G to recapitulate the predicted structure of HHQK on AβO. Peptide synthesis was performed by CPC Scientific Inc. (Sunnyvale CA, USA) [..] Cyclization was performed via a head-to-tail (C-G) amide bond and c[CGHHQKG] was then conjugated to either keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) or bovine serum albumin (BSA) via maleimide-based coupling.
SUNNYVALE, US. and Hangzhou, China, June 24th, 2019 /CPCNewswire/ — CPC Scientific Inc. and its affiliate Chinese Peptide Company, a public Hangzhou-based CDMO (Stock Symbol: 002390) is pleased to announce today that their GMP manufacturing facility, has successfully passed its inspection by the competent authority of Germany as an“active substance manufacturer that has been inspected […]