Peptide Surfactants Research Articles

Design of stimuli-responsive minimalist heptad surfactants for stable emulsions

Peptide surfactants have been extensively investigated with various applications in detergents, foods, and pharmaceutics due to their biodegradability, biocompatibility, and customizable structures. Traditional peptide surfactants are often designed in a head-to-tail fashion mimicking chemical surfactants. Alternatively, a side-by-side design pattern based on heptad repeats offers an approach to designing peptide surfactants. However, minimalist peptide design using a single heptad for stabilizing interfaces remains largely unexplored. Here, we design four heptad surfactants (AM1.2, 6H, 6H7K, and HK) responsive to metal ions and compare their emulsification performance with a three-heptad peptide, AM1. Among them, the HK peptide generates emulsions exhibiting good stability over months. We further optimize factors such as buffering salts, ionic strength, and emulsion dilutions to uncover their impacts on emulsion properties. Our findings deepen the understanding of emulsion properties and provide practical insights for characterizing peptide-based emulsions, paving the way for their broader utilization in diverse applications.

Interfacial rheology of lanthanide binding peptide surfactants at the air-water interface.

Peptide surfactants (PEPS) are studied to capture and retain rare earth elements (REEs) at air-water interfaces to enable REE separations. Peptide sequences, designed to selectively bind REEs, depend crucially on the position of ligands within their binding loop domain. These ligands form a coordination sphere that wraps and retains the cation. We study variants of lanthanide binding tags (LBTs) designed to complex strongly with Tb3+. The peptide LBT5- (with net charge -5) is known to bind Tb3+ and adsorb with more REE cations than peptide molecules, suggesting that undesired non-specific coulombic interactions occur. Rheological characterization of interfaces of LBT5- and Tb3+ solutions reveal the formation of an interfacial gel. To probe whether this gelation reflects chelation among intact adsorbed LBT5-:Tb3+ complexes or destruction of the binding loop, we study a variant, LBT3-, designed to form net neutral LBT3-:Tb3+ complexes. Solutions of LBT3- and Tb3+ form purely viscous layers in the presence of excess Tb3+, indicating that each peptide binds a single REE in an intact coordination sphere. We introduce the variant RR-LBT3- with net charge -3 and anionic ligands outside of the coordination sphere. We find that such exposed ligands promote interfacial gelation. Thus, a nuanced requirement for interfacial selectivity of PEPS is proposed: that anionic ligands outside of the coordination sphere must be avoided to prevent the non-selective recruitment of REE cations. This view is supported by simulation, including interfacial molecular dynamics simulations, and interfacial metadynamics simulations of the free energy landscape of the binding loop conformational space.

Exploring biosurfactants as a sustainable alternative to chemical surfactants

Surfactants play critical roles in various applications including food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, mineral processing, wastewater treatment, etc. However, traditional chemical-based surfactants are often non-biodegradable, toxic, and persistent, leading to environmental pollution and potential health risks. To address these challenges, bio-inspired surfactants have emerged as promising alternatives owing to their well-defined compositions, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and the potential to finely tune their functionality by altering the amino acid sequence. Here, we report a comparative study of traditional foaming agents, MIBC, DPG, and DPM, and a bio-inspired peptide surfactant, AM1, and a protein surfactant, DAMP4. Furthermore, the pH- and metal ion- responsive properties of these two biosurfactants make them an innovative class of smart materials that can further expand the scope of applications. Our findings provide new insights into the potential of applying these new biosurfactants for various applications, representing a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative approach.

Lung Surfactant Protein B Peptide Mimics Interact with the Human ACE2 Receptor

Lung surfactant is a complex mixture of phospholipids and surfactant proteins that is produced in alveolar type 2 cells. It prevents lung collapse by reducing surface tension and is involved in innate immunity. Exogenous animal-derived and, more recently, synthetic lung surfactant has shown clinical efficacy in surfactant-deficient premature infants and in critically ill patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), such as those with severe COVID-19 disease. COVID-19 pneumonia is initiated by the binding of the viral receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 to the cellular receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Inflammation and tissue damage then lead to loss and dysfunction of surface activity that can be relieved by treatment with an exogenous lung surfactant. Surfactant protein B (SP-B) is pivotal for surfactant activity and has anti-inflammatory effects. Here, we study the binding of two synthetic SP-B peptide mimics, Super Mini-B (SMB) and B-YL, to a recombinant human ACE2 receptor protein construct using molecular docking and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to evaluate their potential as antiviral drugs. The SPR measurements confirmed that both the SMB and B-YL peptides bind to the rhACE2 receptor with affinities like that of the viral RBD–ACE2 complex. These findings suggest that synthetic lung surfactant peptide mimics can act as competitive inhibitors of the binding of viral RBD to the ACE2 receptor.

Emulation of the structure of the Saposin protein fold by a lung surfactant peptide construct of surfactant Protein B.

The three-dimensional structure of the synthetic lung Surfactant Protein B Peptide Super Mini-B was determined using an integrative experimental approach, including mass spectrometry and isotope enhanced Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Mass spectral analysis of the peptide, oxidized by solvent assisted region-specific disulfide formation, confirmed that the correct folding and disulfide pairing could be facilitated using two different oxidative structure-promoting solvent systems. Residue specific analysis by isotope enhanced FTIR indicated that the N-terminal and C-terminal domains have well defined α-helical amino acid sequences. Using these experimentally derived measures of distance constraints and disulfide connectivity, the ensemble was further refined with molecular dynamics to provide a medium resolution, residue-specific structure for the peptide construct in a simulated synthetic lung surfactant lipid multilayer environment. The disulfide connectivity combined with the α-helical elements stabilize the peptide conformationally to form a helical hairpin structure that resembles critical elements of the Saposin protein fold of the predicted full-length Surfactant Protein B structure.

Impact of Honeybee Venom Melittin on Cell Viability of Different Prostate Cancer Lineages

Background. Melittin is a major constituent of honeybee venom and comprises a water-soluble surfactant peptide with cytolytic effects potentially applicable in anticancer therapy. We evaluated the impact of melittin from Bashkir honeybee (Apis mellifera mellifera L.) venom on cell viability of various prostate cancer lineages.Materials and methods. MTT assays with cell viability index estimation were used to evaluate the effect of melittin on cell proliferation in various-grade malignancy prostate cancer (PC) lineages, LNCaP, PC-3 and DU145.Results and discussion. Lineage DU145 revealed a low sensitivity to melittin, because a relatively high peptide concentration of 10 μg/mL had a suppressive effect on its proliferation. With PC-3 cells, a 0.1 μg/mL concentration suppressed proliferation significantly to 46.15 %, while melittin at a 10 μg/mL dose had a cytolytic effect on most cells (4.27 % viability). LNCaP cells experienced the lowest toxicity at 10 μg/mL melittin compared to PC-3 and DU145 lineages. The LNCaP, PC-3 and DU145 PC lineages demonstrated suppressed proliferation at melittin levels 0.01–100 μg/mL.Conclusion. The study reveals a significant reduction of the PC lineages viability at a minimal melittin concentration of 0.01 μg/mL, which indicates a high cytolytic activity of this peptide and renders it a candidate agent in antitumour therapy.

The interaction and orientation of Peptide KL[formula omitted] in model membranes

We report on the orientation and location of synthetic pulmonary surfactant peptide KL4, (KLLLL)4K, in model lipid membranes. The partitioning depths of selectively deuterated leucine residues within KL4 were determined in DPPC:POPG (4:1) and POPC:POPG (4:1) bilayers by oriented neutron diffraction. These measurements were combined with an NMR-generated model of the peptide structure to determine the orientation and partitioning of the peptide at the lipid–water interface. The results demonstrate KL4 adopting an orientation that interacts with a single membrane leaflet. These observations are consistent with past 2H NMR and EPR studies (Antharam et al., 2009; Turner et al., 2014).

Facile bioinspired synthesis of iron oxide encapsulating silica nanocapsules

Iron oxide nanoparticles have been extensively studied for a wide variety of applications. However, there remains a challenge in developing hierarchical magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles as existing synthetic techniques require harsh, toxic chemical conditions and high temperatures or give poorly defined product with weak magnetic properties. In addition, drug loading is limited to post-loading methods such as chemical conjugation or surface adsorption that have poor loading efficiency and are prone to premature drug release. We report a facile biomimetic method for making iron oxide nanoparticle-loaded silica nanocapsules based on a bimodal catalytic peptide surfactant stabilized nanoemulsion template. Iron oxide nanoparticles can be preloaded into the oil phase of the nanoemulsion at tunable concentrations, and the excellent surface activity of the designed bimodal peptide in combination with sufficient electrostatic repulsion promotes the stability of the nanoemulsions. Biosilicification induced by the catalytic peptide module leads to the formation of silica shell nanocapsules containing a magnetic oil core. The bioinspired silica nanocapsules encapsulating iron oxide nanoparticles demonstrate the next-generation of magnetic nanostructures for drug delivery applications.

Traceless native chemical ligation of lipid-modified peptide surfactants by mixed micelle formation

Biology utilizes multiple strategies, including sequestration in lipid vesicles, to raise the rate and specificity of chemical reactions through increases in effective molarity of reactants. We show that micelle-assisted reaction can facilitate native chemical ligations (NCLs) between a peptide-thioester – in which the thioester leaving group contains a lipid-like alkyl chain – and a Cys-peptide modified by a lipid-like moiety. Hydrophobic lipid modification of each peptide segment promotes the formation of mixed micelles, bringing the reacting peptides into close proximity and increasing the reaction rate. The approach enables the rapid synthesis of polypeptides using low concentrations of reactants without the need for thiol catalysts. After NCL, the lipid moiety is removed to yield an unmodified ligation product. This micelle-based methodology facilitates the generation of natural peptides, like Magainin 2, and the derivatization of the protein Ubiquitin. Formation of mixed micelles from lipid-modified reactants shows promise for accelerating chemical reactions in a traceless manner.

Pep‐Lipid Cubosomes and Vesicles Compartmentalized by Micelles from Self‐Assembly of Multiple Neuroprotective Building Blocks Including a Large Peptide Hormone PACAP‐DHA

AbstractStructural control over design and formation of self‐assembled nanomaterials for neuroprotection and neuroregeneration is crucial for their application in nanomedicine. Here a synthetic construct of the pituitary adenylate cyclase‐activating polypeptide (PACAP38) coupled to a docosahexaenoic acid (DHA: an ω‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)) is designed towards the creation of compartmentalized liquid crystalline assemblies of neuroprotective compounds. The hormone PACAP38 is a ligand of the class B PAC1 G‐protein‐coupled receptor (GPCR), whereas DHA is a lipid trophic factor. The lipidated peptide PACAP‐DHA is co‐assembled into hierarchical nanostructures elaborated from hybrid vesicle‐micelle reservoirs as well into PEGylated cubosomes composed of multiple neuroprotective building blocks. The resulting nanostructures are determined by synchrotron small‐angle X‐ray scattering (BioSAXS) and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo‐TEM). Multicompartment topologies are obtained in a two‐fold approach: (i) intriguing compartmentalized vesicles, which embed pep‐lipid micelles forming nanopatterns, and (ii) multidomain pep‐lipid cubosomes. Both kinds of topologies are favorable for sustained‐release applications in combination therapies of neurodegeneration. The organizational complexity of the scaffolds involving the lipidated high‐molecular weight peptide hormone is beyond the one that has been reached with small lipid‐like peptide surfactants.

Estimating Factors Determining Emulsification Capability of Surfactant-Like Peptide with Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Simulation

The ability of surfactant-like peptides to emulsify oil has become the main focus of our current study. We predicted the ability of a series of surfactant-like peptides (G6D, A6D, M6D, F6D, L6D, V6D, and I6D) to emulsify decane molecules using coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. A 1-μs simulation of each peptide was carried out at 298 K and 1 atm using MARTINI force field. Simulation system was constructed to consist of 100 peptide molecules, 20 decane molecules, water, antifreeze particles and neutralizing ions in a random configuration. Out of seven tested peptides, M6D, F6D, L6D, V6D, and I6D were able to form emulsion while G6D and A6D self-assembled to order b-strands. A higher hydropathy index of amino acids constituting the hydrophobic tail renders the formation of an emulsion by peptides more likely. By calculating contact number between peptides and decanes, we found that emulsion stability and geometry depends on the structure of amino acids constituting the hydrophobic tail. Analysis of simulation trajectory revealed that emulsions are formed by small nucleation following by fusion to form a bigger emulsion. This study reveals the underlying principle at the molecular level of surfactant peptide ability to form an emulsion with hydrophobic molecules.

Surface tension and intrinsic amyloid fluorescence of serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples in Alzheimer´s disease.

Surface tension of biological fluids can be influenced by changes in oligomerization or aggregation of surfactant peptides or proteins. Amphiphilic peptides of amyloid-β or other amyloidogenic peptides/proteins display properties of surfactants, oligomerization and aggregation increase also their fluorescence intensity compared with native structures. Results/methodology: We estimated surface tension and native/ThioflavinT-based/intrinsic amyloid fluorescence intensity in serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples for their evalution as diagnostic biomarkers for Alzheimer´s disease (AD). Our results indicate that values of surface tension are not a suitable biomarker for AD. However, the ratio of ThioflavinT-based fluorescence to intrinsic amyloid fluorescence in cerebrospinal fluid appears to be an acceptable supportive diagnostic biomarker for AD (its sensitivity was 61.1%, and the specificity 70.8% when compared with aged controls).

Single-Molecule Study of Peptide Gel Dynamics Reveals States of Prestress.

De novo peptide surfactant (I3K) gels provide an ideal system to study the complex dynamics of lightly cross-linked semiflexible fibers because of their large contour lengths, simple chemistry, and slow dynamics. We used single-molecule fluorescence microscopy to record individual fibers and Fourier decomposition of the fiber dynamics to separate thermal contributions to the persistence length from compressive states of prestress (SPS). Our results show that SPS in the network depend strongly on peptide concentration, buffer, and pH and that the fibril energies in SPS follow a Lévy distribution. The presence of SPS in the network imply that collective states of self-stress are also present. Therefore, semiflexible polymer gels need to be considered as complex load-bearing structures and the mean field models for polymer gel elasticity and dynamics often applied to them will not be fully representative of the behavior at the nanoscale. We quantify the impact of cross-links on reptation tube dynamics, which provides a second population of tube fluctuations in addition to those expected for uncross-linked entangled solutions.

IN SILICO POTENTIAL ANALYSIS OF X6D MODEL OF PEPTIDE SURFACTANT FOR ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY

Peptides and their derivatives can be applied in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) due to their ability to form an emulsion with hydrophobic molecules. However, peptide research for EOR application, either theoretical or computational studies, is still limited. The purpose of this research is to analyse the potency of the X6D model of surfactant peptide for EOR by molecular dynamics simulations in oil-water interface. Molecular dynamics simulation using GROMACS Software with Martini force field can assess a peptides ability for self-assembly and emulsification on a microscopic scale. Molecular dynamics simulations combined with coarse grained models will give information about the dynamics of peptide molecules in oil-water interface and the calculation of interfacial tension value. Four designs of X6D model: F6D, L6D, V6D, and I6D are simulated on the oil-water interface. The value of interfacial tension from simulation show the trend of F6D L6D I6D V6D. The results indicate that V6D has the greatest reduction in interfacial tension and has the stability until 90C with the salinity of at least 1M NaCl.

CONSTRUCTION AND EXPRESSION?OF QUARTET RECOMBINANT PEPTIDE SURFACTANT FOR EOR APPLICATION

The main drawback of the SUPEL peptide surfactant product which has been developed for EOR application is it isunstable at a high temperature. This research is aimed at generating the prototype of peptide surfactant construction in recombinant by stringing up 4 SUPEL linier sequences. Quartet recombinant technology can produce the peptide surfactant characterized as reversible biosurfactant, which is active at high temperature but inactive at low temperature. Multiple SUPEL Construction (MSC) that was developed in this research is using synthetic DNA and producing SUPEL in 4 sequences that can flip at normal temperature and can open when heated. SDS PAGE analysis results show that MSC construction can be expressed by inducting IPTG and cell harvested at 90C. This research proves that construction and expression of the SUPEL quartet has been achieved by producing the peptide at an ideal size.

Using elongated microparticles to enhance tailorable nanoemulsion delivery in excised human skin and volunteers

This study demonstrates, for the first time, clinical testing of elongated silica microparticles (EMP) combined with tailorable nanoemulsions (TNE) to enhance topical delivery of hydrophobic drug surrogates. Likewise, this is the first report of 6-carboxyfluorescein (a model molecule for topically delivered hydrophobic drugs) AM1 & DAMP4 (novel short peptide surfactants) used in volunteers. The EMP penetrates through the epidermis and stop at the dermal-epidermal junction (DEJ). TNE are unusually stable and useful because the oil core allows high drug loading levels and the surface properties can be easily controlled. At first, we chose alginate as a crosslinking agent between EMP and TNE. We initially incorporated a fluorescent lipophilic dye, DiI, as a hydrophobic drug surrogate into TNE for visualization with microscopy. We compared four different coating approaches to combine EMP and TNE and tested these formulations in freshly excised human skin. The delivery profile characterisation was imaged by dye- free coherent anti-Stoke Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy to detect the core droplet of TNE that was packed with pharmaceutical grade lipid (glycerol) instead of DiI. These data show the EMP penetrating to the DEJ followed by controlled release of the TNE. Freeze-dried formulations with crosslinking resulted in a sustained release profile, whereas a freeze-dried formulation without crosslinking showed an immediate burst-type release profile. Finally, we tested the crosslinked TNE coated EMP formulation in volunteers using multiphoton microscopy (MPM) and fluorescence-lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) to document the penetration depth characteristics. These forms of microscopy have limitations in terms of image acquisition speed and imaging area coverage but can detect fluorescent drug delivery through the superficial skin in volunteers. 6-Carboxyfluorescein was selected as the fluorescent drug surrogate for the volunteer study based on the similarity of size, charge and hydrophobicity characteristics to small therapeutic drugs that are difficult to deliver through skin. The imaging data showed a 6-carboxyfluorescein signal deep in volunteer skin supporting the hypothesis that EMP can indeed enhance the delivery of TNE in human skin. There were no adverse events recorded at the time of the study or after the study, supporting the use of 6-carboxyfluorescein as a safe and detectable drug surrogate for topical drug research. In conclusion, dry formulations, with controllable release profiles can be obtained with TNE coated EMP that can effectively enhance hydrophobic payload delivery deep into the human epidermis.

Novel surfactant peptide for removal of biofilms.

Conventional chemical surfactants attach on blots randomly, accompanied with health and environmental issues. To address this, a surfactant peptide was designed to mimic chemical surfactants with an affinity binding peptide as a hydrophobic tail for the cleanup of biofilm contaminations. The micelle forming and structural changes of the peptide in aqueous solution were systematically investigated. More importantly, the biofilm removal efficiency toward Escherichia coli O157:H7 biofilm reached 75% in neutral aqueous solutions at the concentration of 125 mg/L (critical micelle concentration 91 mg/L), a significant improvement in comparison to conventional surfactants and random surfactant peptide. The dynamic removal process reported by confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) also displayed the different constituents of biofilm blots, which associated with surfactant peptide binding efficiency. Hopefully, this surfactant strategy will eventually provide new scopes in the design of surface active biological agents.

Comparing Surfactant Structures at "Soft" and "Hard" Hydrophobic Materials: Not All Interfaces Are Equivalent.

The interfacial structures of a range of amphiphilic molecules are studied with both "soft" and "hard" hydrophobic substrates. Neutron reflection and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation measurements highlight the differences between the adsorbed structures adopted by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (C16TAB), and the "AM1" surface active peptide. At the soft siloxane/water interface, small molecular surfactants form loosely packed layers, with the hydrophobic tails penetrating into the oily layer, and an area per surfactant molecule that is significantly less than previously reported for the air/water interface. Neutron reflection measurements, supported by quartz crystal microbalance studies, indicate that for C16TAB, approximately 30 ± 8% of the alkyl tail penetrates into the poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) layer, whereas 20 ± 5% of the alkyl tail of SDS is located in the PDMS. For the engineered peptide surfactant AM1 (21 residues), it was found that one face of the α helix penetrated into the PDMS film. In contrast, penetration of the surfactant tails was not observed against hard solidlike hydrophobic surfaces made from octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) for any of the molecular species studied. At the OTS/water interface, C16TAB and SDS were seen to adsorb as larger aggregates and not as monolayers. Amphiphilic adsorption (amount, structural conformation) at the PDMS/water interface is shown to be different from that at both the air/water interface and the hard OTS/water interface, illustrating that interfacial structures cannot be predicted by the surfactant packing parameter alone. The bound PDMS layer is shown to be a useful proxy for the oil/water interface in surface and stabilization studies, with hydrophobic components of the molecules able to penetrate into the oily PDMS.

Lipid Interdigitation Promotes Thermal Stabilization of Lipid Polymorphisms Induced by Surfactant Peptide B1-25

Lipid Interdigitation Promotes Thermal Stabilization of Lipid Polymorphisms Induced by Surfactant Peptide B1-25

Entropic Anomaly Observed in Lipid Polymorphisms Induced by Surfactant Peptide SP-B(1-25).

The N-terminal 25 amino-acid residues of pulmonary surfactant protein B (SP-B1-25) induces unusual lipid polymorphisms in a model lipid system, 4:1 DPPC/POPG, mirroring the lipid composition of native pulmonary surfactant. It is widely suggested that SP-B1-25-induced lipid polymorphisms within the alveolar aqueous subphase provide a structural platform for rapid lipid adsorption to the air-water interface. Here, we characterize in detail the phase behavior of DPPC and POPG in hydrated lipid assemblies containing therapeutic levels of SP-B1-25 using 2H and 31P solid state NMR spectroscopy. The appearance of a previously observed isotropic lipid phase is found to be highly dependent on the thermal cycling of the samples. Slow heating of frozen samples leads to phase separation of DPPC into a lamellar phase whereas POPG lipids interact with the peptide to form an isotropic phase at physiologic temperature. Rapid heating of frozen samples to room temperature leads to strongly isotropic phase behavior for both DPPC and POPG lipids, with DPPC in exchange between isotropic and interdigitated phases. 31P T2 relaxation times confirm the isotropic phase to be consistent with a lipid cubic phase. The observed phases exhibit thermal stability up to physiologic temperature (37 °C) and are consistent with the formation of a ripple phase containing a large number of peptide-induced membrane structural defects enabling rapid transit of lipids between lipid lamellae. The coexistance of a lipid cubic phase with interdigitated lipids suggests a specific role for the highly conserved N-terminus of SP-B in stabilizing this unusual lipid polymorphism.