Publications Repository - Gdańsk University of Technology

Ischemic stroke is a disturbance in cerebral blood flow caused by brain tissue ischemia and hypoxia. We optimized a multifactorial in vitro model of acute ischemic stroke using rat primary neural cultures. This model was exploited to investigate the pro-viable activity of cell-penetrating peptides: arginine-rich Tat(49–57)-NH2 (R49KKRRQRRR57-amide) and its less basic analogue, PTD4 (Y47ARAAARQARA57-amide). Our model included glucose deprivation, oxidative stress, lactic acidosis, and excitotoxicity. Neurotoxicity of these peptides was excluded below a concentration of 50 μm, and PTD4-induced pro-survival was more pronounced. Circular dichroism spectroscopy and molecular dynamics (MD) calculations proved potential contribution of the peptide conformational properties to neuroprotection: in MD, Tat(49–57)-NH2 adopted a random coil and polyproline type II helical structure, whereas PTD4 adopted a helical structure. In an aqueous environment, the peptides mostly adopted a random coil conformation (PTD4) or a polyproline type II helical (Tat(49–57)-NH2) structure. In 30% TFE, PTD4 showed a tendency to adopt a helical structure. Overall, the pro-viable activity of PTD4 was not correlated with the arginine content but rather with the peptide’s ability to adopt a helical structure in the membrane-mimicking environment, which enhances its cell membrane permeability. PTD4 may act as a leader sequence in novel drugs for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke.

Authors

• Jarosław Mazuryk,
• Izabela Puchalska,
• Kamil Koziński,
• Magdalena J. Ślusarz,
• Jarosław Ruczyński link open in new tab ,
• Piotr Rekowski,
• Piotr Rogujski,
• dr Rafał Płatek link open in new tab ,
• Marta Barbara Wiśniewska,
• dr hab. Arkadiusz Piotrowski,
• dr Łukasz Janus,
• Piotr M. Skowron,
• dr hab. med. Michał Pikuła,
• prof. dr hab. inż. Paweł Sachadyn link open in new tab ,
• dr hab. Sylwia Rodziewicz-Motowidło,
• dr Artur Czupryn,
• dr hab. Piotr Mucha