Disclosed are knottin peptides containing non-natural amino acids so that they can be formed by chemical conjugation into two or more knottin monomers. The knottin monomers comprise a non-natural amino acid such as an aminooxy residue within the polypeptide sequence. The exemplified dimers were produced by oxime formation between two aldehyde groups present on a polyether linker and an aminooxy functional group that was site-specifically incorporated the knottin. Knottins variants based on EETI (Ecballium elaterium trypsin inhibitor) and AgRP (Agouti-related protein) were engineered to contain integrin-binding loops. These dimers were shown to have increased binding strength to integrins on U87MG tumor cells, achieving significant increases in inhibition of cell adhesion and proliferation. Also disclosed are knottin monomers comprising an aminooxy residue; these may be conjugated to molecules such as doxorubicin.
本发明公开了含有非天然
氨基酸的节蛋白肽,通过
化学共轭可以形成两个或多个节蛋白单体。结素单体包含非天然
氨基酸,如
多肽序列中的
氨基氧基残基。示例的二聚体是通过聚醚连接体上的两个醛基团与特定位点掺入 knottin 的
氨基氧基官能团之间的
肟化作用产生的。以 EETI(Ecballium elaterium trypsin inhibitor)和 AgRP(Agouti-related protein)为基础的 Knottins 变体被设计成含有整合素结合环。结果表明,这些二聚体与 U87MG 肿瘤细胞上的整合素的结合强度增加,对细胞粘附和增殖的抑制作用显著增强。还公开了含有
氨基氧基残基的结素单体;这些单体可与
多柔比星等分子共轭。