Liposomal delivery vehicles can dramatically enhance drug transport. However, their clinical application requires enhanced control over content release at diseased sites. For this reason, triggered release strategies have been explored, although a limited toolbox of stimuli has thus far been developed. Here, we report a novel strategy for stimuli-responsive liposomes that release encapsulated contents in the presence of phosphorylated small molecules. Our formulation efforts culminated in selective cargo release driven by ATP, a universal energy source that is upregulated in diseases such as cancer. Specifically, we developed lipid switches 1a–b bearing two ZnDPA units designed to undergo substantial conformational changes upon ATP binding, thereby disrupting membrane packing and triggering the release of encapsulated contents. Dye leakage assays using the hydrophobic dye Nile red validated that ATP-driven release was selective over 11 similar phosphorylated metabolites, and release of the hydrophilic dye calcein was also achieved. Multiple alternative lipid switch structures were synthesized and studied (1c–d and 2), which provided insights into the structural features that render 1a–b selective toward ATP-driven release. Importantly, analysis of cellular delivery using fluorescence microscopy in conjunction with pharmacological ATP manipulation showed that liposome delivery was specific, as it increased upon intracellular ATP accumulation, and was inhibited by ATP downregulation. Our new approach shows strong prospects for enhancing the selectivity of release and payload delivery to diseased cells driven by metabolites such as ATP, providing an exciting new paradigm for controlled release.

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The EphA2 receptor is a promising drug target for cancer treatment, since EphA2 activation can inhibit metastasis and tumor progression. It has been recently described that the TYPE7 peptide activates EphA2 using a novel mechanism that involves binding to the single transmembrane domain of the receptor. TYPE7 is a conditional transmembrane (TM) ligand, which only inserts into membranes at neutral pH in the presence of the TM region of EphA2. However, how membrane interactions can activate EphA2 is not known. We systematically altered the sequence of TYPE7 to identify the binding motif used to activate EphA2. With the resulting six peptides, we performed biophysical and cell migration assays that identified a new potent peptide variant. We also performed a mutational screen that determined the helical interface that mediates dimerization of the TM domain of EphA2 in cells. These results, together with molecular dynamic simulations, allowed to elucidate the molecular mechanism that TYPE7 uses to activate EphA2, where the membrane peptide acts as a molecular clamp that wraps around the TM dimer of the receptor. We propose that this binding mode stabilizes the active conformation of EphA2. Our data, additionally, provide clues into the properties that TM ligands need to have in order to achieve activation of membrane receptors.

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Low adsorption filter membrane materials facilitate effective zonal electrophoresis and electrokinetic gating in microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs).