Presenter: Vineet Kumar Mishra

Title: “Role of Peptide Architecture and Composition in Folic Acid Delivery”

Folate is an essential component of many metabolic processes, including the synthesis of nucleoproteins, purines, and pyrimidines, and is a recommended supplement to lower the incidence of various disorders, including neural tube birth defect formation in pregnant females. To meet the requirement of folic acid, several carriers including nanoparticles are developed and studied to overcome folic acid deficiency in vitro and in vivo. Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are broadly recognized as efficient non-viral vectors for the internalization of essential macro and micronutrients, therapeutic oligonucleotides, and drugs in the living cells. These peptides can be cationic, amphipathic, or hydrophobic in nature. This study aims to investigate the role of peptide composition and architecture on folic acid delivery efficacies and their immunomodulatory outcomes in the presence of bacteria and virus challenges in vitro. For this purpose, a library of linear and cyclic peptides with cationic (TAT), amphipathic (KALA) and hydrophobic (C105Y) nature was synthesized and conjugated with folic acid. The successful synthesis of linear and cyclic peptides and corresponding conjugates was confirmed by mass spectrometry. CPPs were tested for their cellular uptake, enzymatic stability and bioavailability of folic acid in intestinal cells and macrophages. The results indicate that compared to linear CPPs, cyclic CPPs are better internalized in cells and showed higher bioavailability than folic acid as was demonstrated by the downregulation of folate receptors and by the evaluation of immunomodulatory activities of the conjugates.

Date/Time/Location: Monday, June 24, 12:30 pm, AVC 287N

Everyone is welcome.