Project description:Effects of bioactive peptides IPP(Ile-Pro-Pro), VPP (Val-Pro-Pro), and LKP(Leu-Lys-Pro) on gene expression of osteoblast differentiated from human mesenchymal stem cells. Experimental design types: compound treatment and augmented reference design.
Project description:Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a prevalent malignancy worldwide, often treated with chemotherapy despite its limitations, including adverse effects and resistance. Chemotherapy combined with the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Jianpi formula has been demonstrated to improve efficacy. In this study, we aim to screen bioactive peptides derived from the blood of CRC patients through peptidomics and explore the molecular mechanisms of the candidate peptides in HCT116 cells using multi-omics analysis. Differential peptides were identified in plasma samples from patients treated with chemotherapy alone and those receiving the combined therapy. Among these, YG-22 exhibited the strongest cytotoxic effect on HCT116 cells, reducing viability in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Transcriptome analysis highlighted the modulation of key pathways involved in lysosome-mediated degradation and apoptosis, while metabolomic profiling indicated disruptions in tumor-supportive metabolic pathways. Additionally, chromatin accessibility and histone modifications suggested epigenetic reprogramming induced by YG-22. These findings demonstrate that combining chemotherapy with TCM enriches the molecular landscape and generates bioactive peptides with strong antitumor activity. Furthermore, this study also lays the foundation for further development of peptide-based therapies and highlights the value of combining traditional and modern therapeutic strategies for CRC management.
Project description:Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a prevalent malignancy worldwide, often treated with chemotherapy despite its limitations, including adverse effects and resistance. Chemotherapy combined with the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Jianpi formula has been demonstrated to improve efficacy. In this study, we aim to screen bioactive peptides derived from the blood of CRC patients through peptidomics and explore the molecular mechanisms of the candidate peptides in HCT116 cells using multi-omics analysis. Differential peptides were identified in plasma samples from patients treated with chemotherapy alone and those receiving the combined therapy. Among these, YG-22 exhibited the strongest cytotoxic effect on HCT116 cells, reducing viability in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Transcriptome analysis highlighted the modulation of key pathways involved in lysosome-mediated degradation and apoptosis, while metabolomic profiling indicated disruptions in tumor-supportive metabolic pathways. Additionally, chromatin accessibility and histone modifications suggested epigenetic reprogramming induced by YG-22. These findings demonstrate that combining chemotherapy with TCM enriches the molecular landscape and generates bioactive peptides with strong antitumor activity. Furthermore, this study also lays the foundation for further development of peptide-based therapies and highlights the value of combining traditional and modern therapeutic strategies for CRC management.
Project description:Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a prevalent malignancy worldwide, often treated with chemotherapy despite its limitations, including adverse effects and resistance. Chemotherapy combined with the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Jianpi formula has been demonstrated to improve efficacy. In this study, we aim to screen bioactive peptides derived from the blood of CRC patients through peptidomics and explore the molecular mechanisms of the candidate peptides in HCT116 cells using multi-omics analysis. Differential peptides were identified in plasma samples from patients treated with chemotherapy alone and those receiving the combined therapy. Among these, YG-22 exhibited the strongest cytotoxic effect on HCT116 cells, reducing viability in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Transcriptome analysis highlighted the modulation of key pathways involved in lysosome-mediated degradation and apoptosis, while metabolomic profiling indicated disruptions in tumor-supportive metabolic pathways. Additionally, chromatin accessibility and histone modifications suggested epigenetic reprogramming induced by YG-22. These findings demonstrate that combining chemotherapy with TCM enriches the molecular landscape and generates bioactive peptides with strong antitumor activity. Furthermore, this study also lays the foundation for further development of peptide-based therapies and highlights the value of combining traditional and modern therapeutic strategies for CRC management.
Project description:Many eukaryotic RNAs have been considered non-coding as they only contain short open reading frames (sORFs). There is increasing evidence for the translation of these sORFs into bioactive peptides. Yet only a few small peptides are annotated in the model organism Arabidopsis thaliana. To aid the functional annotation of small peptides, we have developed ARA-PEPs, a repository and webserver of putative peptides encoded by sORFs in the Arabidopsis genome from in house Tiling arrays, RNA sequencing and from publicly available datasets. In order to identify novel oxidative stress-induced peptides in Arabidopsis thaliana a tiling array analysis (GeneChip® Arabidopsis Tiling 1.0R Arrays ) was performed on mRNA extracted from leaves inoculated with Botrytis cinerea (BC). Normalized log signals were obtained using the Affymetrix Tiling Analysis Software - Version 1.1, Build 2. ON and OFF probes were selected using a threshold, based on positive controls. Next, groups of 4-13 successive ON probes were combined into short TARs and a selection was made of TARs having an average signal intensity at least 2.6-fold higher after BC treatment compared to the control treatment, resulting in 195 BC induced TARs.
Project description:The recent COVID-19 pandemic shows the critical need for novel broad spectrum antiviral agents. Scorpion venoms are known to contain highly bioactive peptides, several of which have demonstrated strong antiviral activity against a range of viruses. We have generated the first annotated reference transcriptome for the Androctonus amoreuxi venom gland and used high performance liquid chromatography, transcriptome mining, circular dichroism and mass spectrometric analysis to purify and characterize twelve previously undescribed venom peptides. Selected peptides were tested for binding to the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and inhibition of the spike RBD – human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) interaction using surface plasmon resonance-based assays. Seven peptides showed dose-dependent inhibitory effects, albeit with IC50 in the high micromolar range (117–1202 μM). The most active peptide was synthesized using solid phase peptide synthesis and tested for its antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 (Lineage B.1.1.7). On exposure to the synthetic peptide of a human lung cell line infected with replication-competent SARS-CoV-2, we observed an IC50 of 200 nM, which was nearly 600-fold lower than that observed in the RBD – hACE2 binding inhibition assay. Our results show that scorpion venom peptides can inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 replication although unlikely through inhibition of spike RBD – hACE2 interaction as the primary mode of action. Scorpion venom peptides represent excellent scaffolds for design of novel anti-SARS-CoV-2 constrained peptides. Future studies should fully explore their antiviral mode of action as well as the structural dynamics of inhibition of target virus-host interactions.