pH-responsive amphiphilic peptide nanofibers facilitate endosomal escape for cytosolic protein delivery
摘要
The therapeutic use of proteins often depends on cytosolic access, which is frequently limited by endosomal trapping. Here, we developed pH-responsive amphiphilic peptide nanofibers (NFs) that may facilitate cytosolic protein delivery by selectively destabilizing endosomal membranes. We prepared a series of NFs by varying the number of glutamic acid residues (CE1, CE2, and CE3) appended to β-sheet-forming peptides. The resulting nanofibers were uniform in width and presented hydrophobic surface domains. Among these, CE2 NFs emerged as optimal: red blood cell hemolysis assays showed strong activity at mildly acidic pH, but they remained inert at neutral pH. In cells, a pH-sensitive FITC–PEG probe revealed a time-dependent increase in fluorescence with CE2 NFs, which is consistent with the translocation of the probe from acidic endosomes to the neutral cytosol, supporting endosomal-membrane destabilization by CE2 NFs. Furthermore, in OVA-treated dendritic cells, CE2 NFs increased surface SIINFEKL–H-2Kb presentation to levels comparable to the L17E peptide, a reagent known to promote cytosolic protein delivery. These results suggest that CE2 NFs facilitate the cytosolic translocation of coadministered proteins. In contrast, monomeric peptides showed no endosomal escape-promoting activity, supporting the necessity of self-assembled nanofiber architecture. Collectively, these findings suggest that pH-responsive peptide nanofibers serve as effective facilitators of cytosolic protein delivery via endosome-selective membrane destabilization.