Journal
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BIOENGINEERING
Volume 8, Issue 3, Pages 471-487Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s12195-015-0399-2
Keywords
Self-assembly; Peptide nanofibers; Galectin; Protein-carbohydrate interactions
Funding
- National Institutes of Health (NIBIB) [1R01EB009701]
- National Institutes of Health (NCI) [U54 CA151880]
- National Institutes of Health (NIAID) [1F32AI096769]
- National Science Foundation [DMR-1455201]
- NSF CHE MRI [1040016]
- Division Of Chemistry
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien [1040016] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Galectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins that act as extracellular signaling molecules in various normal and pathological processes. Galectin bioactivity is mediated by specific non-covalent interactions with cell-surface and extracellular matrix glycoproteins, which can enhance or inhibit signaling events that influence various cellular behaviors, including adhesion, proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Here, we developed a materials approach to modulate galectin bioactivity by mimicking natural galectin-glycoprotein interactions. Specifically, we created a variant of a peptide that self-assembles into beta-sheet nanofibers under aqueous conditions, QQKFQFQFEQQ (Q11), which has an asparagine residue modified with the monosaccharide N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) at its N-terminus (GlcNAc-Q11). GlcNAc-Q11 self-assembled into beta-sheet nanofibers under similar conditions as Q11. Nanofibrillar GlcNAc moieties were efficiently converted to the galectin-binding disaccharide N-acetyllactosamine (LacNAc) via the enzyme beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase and the sugar donor UDP-galactose, while retaining beta-sheet structure and nanofiber morphology. LacNAc-Q11 nanofibers bound galectin-1 and -3 in a LacNAc concentration-dependent manner, although nanofibers bound galectin-1 with higher affinity than galectin-3. In contrast, galectin-1 bound weakly to GlcNAc-Q11 nanofibers, while no galectin-3 binding to these nanofibers was observed. Galectin-1 binding to LacNAc-Q11 nanofibers was specific because it could be inhibited by excess soluble beta-lactose, a galectin-binding carbohydrate. LacNAc-Q11 nanofibers inhibited galectin-1-mediated apoptosis of Jurkat T cells in a LacNAc concentration-dependent manner, but were unable to inhibit galectin-3 activity, consistent with galectin-binding affinity of the nanofibers. We envision that glycopeptide nanofibers capable of modulating galectin-1 bioactivity will be broadly useful as biomaterials for various medical applications, including cancer therapeutics, immunotherapy, tissue regeneration, and viral prophylaxis.
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