Fatty Acid Modification of the Anticancer Peptide LVTX-9 to Enhance Its Cytotoxicity against Malignant Melanoma Cells
Spider venom is a valuable resource for the development of novel anticancer drugs. In this study, we focused on novel linear amphipathic α-helical anticancer peptide LVTX-9, which was derived from the cDNA library of the venom gland of the spider <i>Lycosa vittata</i>. The cytotoxicity o...
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Toxins |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/13/12/867 |
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| author | Fengjiao Li Saizhi Wu Ninglin Chen Jingyu Zhu Xinxin Zhao Peng Zhang Youlin Zeng Zhonghua Liu |
| author_facet | Fengjiao Li Saizhi Wu Ninglin Chen Jingyu Zhu Xinxin Zhao Peng Zhang Youlin Zeng Zhonghua Liu |
| author_sort | Fengjiao Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Spider venom is a valuable resource for the development of novel anticancer drugs. In this study, we focused on novel linear amphipathic α-helical anticancer peptide LVTX-9, which was derived from the cDNA library of the venom gland of the spider <i>Lycosa vittata</i>. The cytotoxicity of LVTX-9 against murine melanoma cells in the range of 1.56–200 μM was tested and found to be significantly lower than those of most anticancer peptides reported. Its IC<sub>50</sub> was determined to be 59.2 ± 19.8 μM in a serum or 76.3 ± 12.7 μM in serum-free medium. Fatty acid modification is a promising strategy for improving peptide performance. Therefore, to enhance the cytotoxic activity of LVTX-9, fatty acid modification of this peptide was performed, and five different carbon chain length lipopeptides named LVTX-9-C<sub>12</sub>-C<sub>20</sub> were produced. Among them, the lipopeptide LVTX-9-C<sub>18</sub> showed the highest cytotoxic activity in relation to B16-F10 cells, whether in a serum or serum-free medium. Most importantly, the cytotoxic activity of LVTX-9-C<sub>18</sub> was improved by about 12.9 times in a serum medium or 19.3 times in a serum-free medium compared to that of LVTX-9. Subsequently, assays including scanning electron microscopy, trypan blue staining, lactate dehydrogenase leakage assay, and hemolytic activity could indicate that the potential direct cell membrane disruption is the main mechanism of LVTX-9-C<sub>18</sub> to induce cancer cell death. Furthermore, the LVTX-9-C<sub>18</sub> also showed strong cytotoxicity in relation to 3D B16-F10 spheroids, which indicates it might be a promising lead for developing anticancer drugs. |
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| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:57:58Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
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| series | Toxins |
| spelling | doaj.art-5b7ba407188e4071ab0f80879938bebc2023-11-23T10:50:40ZengMDPI AGToxins2072-66512021-12-01131286710.3390/toxins13120867Fatty Acid Modification of the Anticancer Peptide LVTX-9 to Enhance Its Cytotoxicity against Malignant Melanoma CellsFengjiao Li0Saizhi Wu1Ninglin Chen2Jingyu Zhu3Xinxin Zhao4Peng Zhang5Youlin Zeng6Zhonghua Liu7The National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Animal Peptide Drug Development, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, ChinaThe National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Animal Peptide Drug Development, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, ChinaThe National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Animal Peptide Drug Development, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, ChinaThe National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Animal Peptide Drug Development, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, ChinaThe National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Animal Peptide Drug Development, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, ChinaThe National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Animal Peptide Drug Development, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, ChinaKey Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research (Hunan Normal University), Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Changsha 410081, ChinaThe National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Animal Peptide Drug Development, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, ChinaSpider venom is a valuable resource for the development of novel anticancer drugs. In this study, we focused on novel linear amphipathic α-helical anticancer peptide LVTX-9, which was derived from the cDNA library of the venom gland of the spider <i>Lycosa vittata</i>. The cytotoxicity of LVTX-9 against murine melanoma cells in the range of 1.56–200 μM was tested and found to be significantly lower than those of most anticancer peptides reported. Its IC<sub>50</sub> was determined to be 59.2 ± 19.8 μM in a serum or 76.3 ± 12.7 μM in serum-free medium. Fatty acid modification is a promising strategy for improving peptide performance. Therefore, to enhance the cytotoxic activity of LVTX-9, fatty acid modification of this peptide was performed, and five different carbon chain length lipopeptides named LVTX-9-C<sub>12</sub>-C<sub>20</sub> were produced. Among them, the lipopeptide LVTX-9-C<sub>18</sub> showed the highest cytotoxic activity in relation to B16-F10 cells, whether in a serum or serum-free medium. Most importantly, the cytotoxic activity of LVTX-9-C<sub>18</sub> was improved by about 12.9 times in a serum medium or 19.3 times in a serum-free medium compared to that of LVTX-9. Subsequently, assays including scanning electron microscopy, trypan blue staining, lactate dehydrogenase leakage assay, and hemolytic activity could indicate that the potential direct cell membrane disruption is the main mechanism of LVTX-9-C<sub>18</sub> to induce cancer cell death. Furthermore, the LVTX-9-C<sub>18</sub> also showed strong cytotoxicity in relation to 3D B16-F10 spheroids, which indicates it might be a promising lead for developing anticancer drugs.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/13/12/867spider venomanticancer peptidesLVTX-9fatty acids modificationcytotoxicity3D B16-F10 spheroids |
| spellingShingle | Fengjiao Li Saizhi Wu Ninglin Chen Jingyu Zhu Xinxin Zhao Peng Zhang Youlin Zeng Zhonghua Liu Fatty Acid Modification of the Anticancer Peptide LVTX-9 to Enhance Its Cytotoxicity against Malignant Melanoma Cells Toxins spider venom anticancer peptides LVTX-9 fatty acids modification cytotoxicity 3D B16-F10 spheroids |
| title | Fatty Acid Modification of the Anticancer Peptide LVTX-9 to Enhance Its Cytotoxicity against Malignant Melanoma Cells |
| title_full | Fatty Acid Modification of the Anticancer Peptide LVTX-9 to Enhance Its Cytotoxicity against Malignant Melanoma Cells |
| title_fullStr | Fatty Acid Modification of the Anticancer Peptide LVTX-9 to Enhance Its Cytotoxicity against Malignant Melanoma Cells |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fatty Acid Modification of the Anticancer Peptide LVTX-9 to Enhance Its Cytotoxicity against Malignant Melanoma Cells |
| title_short | Fatty Acid Modification of the Anticancer Peptide LVTX-9 to Enhance Its Cytotoxicity against Malignant Melanoma Cells |
| title_sort | fatty acid modification of the anticancer peptide lvtx 9 to enhance its cytotoxicity against malignant melanoma cells |
| topic | spider venom anticancer peptides LVTX-9 fatty acids modification cytotoxicity 3D B16-F10 spheroids |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/13/12/867 |
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