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Pulmonary surfactant and drug delivery : Vehiculization of a tryptophan-tagged antimicrobial peptide over the air-liquid interfacial highway

García-Mouton, Cristina ; Parra-Ortiz, Elisa ; Malmsten, Martin LU ; Cruz, Antonio and Pérez-Gil, Jesús (2022) In European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics 180. p.33-47
Abstract

This work evaluates interaction of pulmonary surfactant (PS) and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in order to investigate (i) if PS can be used to transport AMPs, and (ii) to what extent PS interferes with AMP function and vice versa. This, in turn, is motivated by a need to find new strategies to treat bacterial infections in the airways. Low respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) are a leading cause of illness and death worldwide that, together with the problem of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria, bring to light the necessity of developing effective therapies that ensure high bioavailability of the drug at the site of infection and display a potent antimicrobial effect. Here, we propose the combination of AMPs with PS to improve their... (More)

This work evaluates interaction of pulmonary surfactant (PS) and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in order to investigate (i) if PS can be used to transport AMPs, and (ii) to what extent PS interferes with AMP function and vice versa. This, in turn, is motivated by a need to find new strategies to treat bacterial infections in the airways. Low respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) are a leading cause of illness and death worldwide that, together with the problem of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria, bring to light the necessity of developing effective therapies that ensure high bioavailability of the drug at the site of infection and display a potent antimicrobial effect. Here, we propose the combination of AMPs with PS to improve their delivery, exemplified for the hydrophobically end-tagged AMP, GRR10W4 (GRRPRPRPRPWWWW-NH2), with previously demonstrated potent antimicrobial activity against a broad spectrum of bacteria under various conditions. Experiments using model systems emulating the respiratory interface and an operating alveolus, based on surface balances and bubble surfactometry, served to demonstrate that a fluorescently labelled version of GRR10W4 (GRR10W4-F), was able to interact and insert into PS membranes without affecting its biophysical function. Therefore, vehiculization of the peptide along air–liquid interfaces was enabled, even for interfaces previously occupied by surfactants layers. Furthermore, breathing-like compression-expansion dynamics promoted the interfacial release of GRR10W4-F after its delivery, which could further allow the peptide to perform its antimicrobial function. PS/GRR10W4-F formulations displayed greater antimicrobial effects and reduced toxicity on cultured airway epithelial cells compared to that of the peptide alone. Taken together, these results open the door to the development of novel delivery strategies for AMPs in order to increase the bioavailability of these molecules at the infection site via inhaled therapies.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Air–liquid interface, Antimicrobial peptide, Drug delivery, Membrane, Pulmonary surfactant
in
European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics
volume
180
pages
15 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:36154903
  • scopus:85138778508
ISSN
0939-6411
DOI
10.1016/j.ejpb.2022.09.018
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f0d6fcca-70b4-4e72-8057-f1d4e3d39b64
date added to LUP
2022-12-12 09:22:47
date last changed
2024-04-18 16:13:27
@article{f0d6fcca-70b4-4e72-8057-f1d4e3d39b64,
  abstract     = {{<p>This work evaluates interaction of pulmonary surfactant (PS) and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in order to investigate (i) if PS can be used to transport AMPs, and (ii) to what extent PS interferes with AMP function and vice versa. This, in turn, is motivated by a need to find new strategies to treat bacterial infections in the airways. Low respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) are a leading cause of illness and death worldwide that, together with the problem of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria, bring to light the necessity of developing effective therapies that ensure high bioavailability of the drug at the site of infection and display a potent antimicrobial effect. Here, we propose the combination of AMPs with PS to improve their delivery, exemplified for the hydrophobically end-tagged AMP, GRR10W4 (GRRPRPRPRPWWWW-NH<sub>2</sub>), with previously demonstrated potent antimicrobial activity against a broad spectrum of bacteria under various conditions. Experiments using model systems emulating the respiratory interface and an operating alveolus, based on surface balances and bubble surfactometry, served to demonstrate that a fluorescently labelled version of GRR10W4 (GRR10W4-F), was able to interact and insert into PS membranes without affecting its biophysical function. Therefore, vehiculization of the peptide along air–liquid interfaces was enabled, even for interfaces previously occupied by surfactants layers. Furthermore, breathing-like compression-expansion dynamics promoted the interfacial release of GRR10W4-F after its delivery, which could further allow the peptide to perform its antimicrobial function. PS/GRR10W4-F formulations displayed greater antimicrobial effects and reduced toxicity on cultured airway epithelial cells compared to that of the peptide alone. Taken together, these results open the door to the development of novel delivery strategies for AMPs in order to increase the bioavailability of these molecules at the infection site via inhaled therapies.</p>}},
  author       = {{García-Mouton, Cristina and Parra-Ortiz, Elisa and Malmsten, Martin and Cruz, Antonio and Pérez-Gil, Jesús}},
  issn         = {{0939-6411}},
  keywords     = {{Air–liquid interface; Antimicrobial peptide; Drug delivery; Membrane; Pulmonary surfactant}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{33--47}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics}},
  title        = {{Pulmonary surfactant and drug delivery : Vehiculization of a tryptophan-tagged antimicrobial peptide over the air-liquid interfacial highway}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpb.2022.09.018}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.ejpb.2022.09.018}},
  volume       = {{180}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}