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.
Autorzy
- Jarosław Mazuryk,
- Izabela Puchalska,
- Kamil Koziński,
- Magdalena J. Ślusarz,
- Jarosław Ruczyński link otwiera się w nowej karcie ,
- Piotr Rekowski,
- Piotr Rogujski,
- dr Rafał Płatek link otwiera się w nowej karcie ,
- 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 otwiera się w nowej karcie ,
- dr hab. Sylwia Rodziewicz-Motowidło,
- dr Artur Czupryn,
- dr hab. Piotr Mucha
Informacje dodatkowe
- DOI
- Cyfrowy identyfikator dokumentu elektronicznego link otwiera się w nowej karcie 10.3390/ijms22116086
- Kategoria
- Publikacja w czasopiśmie
- Typ
- artykuły w czasopismach
- Język
- angielski
- Rok wydania
- 2021