Title
Photo-Switching of Cell Penetration of Amphipathic Peptides by Control of Alpha-Helical Conformation
Author
Gyu Chan Kim, Joon Hyung Ahn, Jae Hoon Oh, Sohee Nam, Soonsil Hyun, Jaehoon Yu, Yan Lee
Year
2018
Journal
Biomacromolecules
Abstract
We stapled an amphipathic peptide mainly consisting of leucine (L) and lysine (K) by an azobenzene (Ab) linker for photo-control of the secondary structure. The cis-trans isomerization of the Ab moieties could stabilize and destabilize the α-helical conformation of the LK peptide along with dramatic change of associated peptide structures in a reversible manner by UV-Vis irradiation. The cell-penetrating activities of the LK peptide can be readily regulated by the photo-control, as the stabilized cis Ab-LK peptide showed remarkable increase of cell penetration compared to the destabilized trans Ab-LK peptide. The photo-switchable cell-penetrating peptides would provide important structural information for cell permeability as well as an effective targeting strategy for peptide-based pharmaceuticals with spatiotemporal specificity.
Instrument
J-815