Many synthetic polycationic vectors for non-viral gene delivery show high efficiency in vitro, but their usually excessive charge density makes them toxic for in vivo applications. Here we describe the synthesis of a series of high molecular weight terpolymers with low charge density, and show that they exhibit efficient gene delivery, some surpassing the efficiency of the commercial transfection reagents Polyethylenimine and Lipofectamine 2000. The terpolymers were synthesized via enzyme-catalyzed copolymerization of lactone with dialkyl diester and amino diol, and their hydrophobicity adjusted by varying the lactone content and by selecting a lactone comonomer of specific ring size. Targeted delivery of the pro-apoptotic TRAIL gene to tumour xenografts by one of the terpolymers results in significant inhibition of tumour growth, with minimal toxicity both in vitro and in vivo. Our findings suggest that the gene delivery ability of the terpolymers stems from their high molecular weight and increased hydrophobicity, which compensates for their low charge density.

SUMMARY Ubiquitin-specific proteases (USPs) constitute the largest family of deubiquitinating enzymes, whose catalytic competency is often modulated by their binding partners through unknown mechanisms. Here we report a series of crystallographic and biochemical analyses of an evolutionarily conserved deubiquitinase, USP12, which is activated by two β-propeller proteins, UAF1 and WDR20. Our structures reveal that UAF1 and WDR20 interact with USP12 at two distinct sites far away from its catalytic center. Without increasing substrate affinity of USP12, the two β-propeller proteins potentiate the enzyme through different allosteric mechanisms. UAF1 docks at the distal end of the USP12 Fingers domain and induces a cascade of structural changes that reach to a critical ubiquitin-contacting loop adjacent to the catalytic cleft. By contrast, WDR20 anchors at the base of this loop and remotely modulates the catalytic center of the enzyme. Our results provide a mechanistic example for allosteric activation of USPs by their regulatory partners.

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The use of biodegradable polymers provides a potentially safe and effective alternative to viral and liposomal vectors for the delivery of plasmid DNA to cells for gene therapy applications. In this work we describe the formulation of a novel nanoparticle (NP) system containing a blend of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) and a representative poly(beta-amino) ester (PLGA and PBAE respectively) for use as gene delivery vehicles. Particles of different weight/weight (wt/wt) ratios of the two polymers were characterized for size, morphology, plasmid DNA (pDNA) loading and surface charge. NPs containing PBAE were more effective at cellular internalization and transfection (COS-7 and CFBE41o—) than NPs lacking the PBAE polymer. However, along with these delivery benefits, PBAE exhibited cytotoxic effects that presented an engineering challenge. Surface coating of these blended particles with the cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) mTAT, bPrPp and MPG via a PEGylated phospholipid linker (DSPE-PEG2000) resulted in NPs that reduced surface charge and cellular toxicity to levels comparable with NPs formulated with only PLGA. Additionally, these coated nanoparticles showed an improvement in pDNA loading, intracellular uptake and transfection efficiency, when compared to NPs lacking the surface coating. Although all particles with a CPP coating outperformed unmodified NPs, respectively, bPrPp and MPG coating resulted in 3 and 4.5× more pDNA loading than unmodified particles and approximately an order of magnitude improvement on transfection efficiency in CFBE41o— cells. These results demonstrate that surface-modified PBAE containing NPs are a highly effective and minimally toxic platform for pDNA delivery.

The reversible post-translational modification (PTM) of eukaryotic proteins by ubiquitin (Ub) regulates key cellular processes including protein degradation and gene transcription. Studies of the mechanistic roles for protein ubiquitylation require quantities of homogenously modified substrates that are typically inaccessible from natural sources or by enzymatic ubiquitylation in vitro. Therefore, we developed a facile and scalable methodology for site-specific chemical ubiquitylation. Our semisynthetic strategy utilized a temporary ligation auxiliary, 2-(aminooxy)ethanethiol, to direct ubiquitylation at specific lysines in peptide substrates. Mild reductive removal of the auxiliary after ligation yielded ubiquitylated peptides with the native isopeptide linkage. Alternatively, retention of the ligation auxiliary yielded protease-resistant analogues of ubiquitylated peptides. Importantly, our strategy was fully compatible with protein sulfhydryl groups, as demonstrated by the synthesis of peptides modified by the human small ubiquitin-related modifier 3 (SUMO-3) protein.