Peptide targeting and imaging of damaged lung tissue in influenza-infected mice
In this study, we investigate whether pH (low) insertion peptide (pHLIP) can target regions of lung injury associated with influenza infection. Materials & methods: Fluorophore-conjugated pHLIP was injected intraperitoneally into mice infected with a sublethal dose of H1N1 influenza and visualiz...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
Future Medicine
2013
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77907 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5687-6154 |
| Summary: | In this study, we investigate whether pH (low) insertion peptide (pHLIP) can target regions of lung injury associated with influenza infection. Materials & methods: Fluorophore-conjugated pHLIP was injected intraperitoneally into mice infected with a sublethal dose of H1N1 influenza and visualized histologically. Results: pHLIP specifically targeted inflamed lung tissues of infected mice in the later stages of disease and at sites where alveolar type I and type II cells were depleted. Regions of pHLIP-targeted lung tissue were devoid of peroxiredoxin 6, the lung-abundant antioxidant enzyme, and were deficient in pneumocytes. Interestingly, a pHLIP variant possessing mutations that render it insensitive to pH changes was also able to target damaged lung tissue. Conclusion: pHLIP holds potential for delivering therapeutics for lung injury during influenza infection. Furthermore, there may be more than one mechanism that enables pHLIP variants to target inflamed lung tissue. |
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