Protein transduction domains (PTDs) are short basic peptide sequences present in many cellular and viral proteins that mediate translocation across cellular membranes. PTDs have become widely used as tools for the delivery of high M r polypetides, polynucleotides, or nanoparticles to cells in culture; and even the transfer of cargo molecules to the tissue of live animals has been reported. These cell-permeable peptides are functional when fused in-frame to recombinant polypeptides or when chemically coupled to their cargo. The mechanism responsible for PTD-mediated membrane translocation is controversially discussed and may vary among the various PTDs reported in the literature. Thus direct physical interaction with membrane lipids resulting in vectorial delivery to cells has been proposed for the Antennapedia (Antp) PTD, whereas uptake by the retroviral TAT (transactivator of transcription) protein PTD seems to require cell surface-expressed glycosaminoglycans. The view that PTD-mediated cellular uptake is energy-independent has been dismissed recently as an artifact resulting from fixation of cells. The data reported here agree with and further extend this work. They support the idea that certain PTDs promote cellular uptake via endocytosis and require the expression of negatively charged glycosaminoglycans on the surface of the target cells. Uptake of Antp PTD conjugates or peptide-derivatized liposomes was blocked by heparan sulfate proteoglycans, whereas TAT-mediated uptake was inhibited by both heparin and dextran sulfate. Mutant cells defective for glycosaminoglycan synthesis showed dramatically reduced Antp-or TAT-mediated transmembrane transport confirming the role of these complex polysaccharides in PTD-mediated cellular uptake. The fact that PTDs selectively interact with distinct glycosaminoglycan species has implications for therapeutic applications and may allow targeting of selective tissues that differ in their surface-expressed glycosaminoglycan patterns.

HIV-1 expresses a multifunctional protein called TAT (trans-acting transcriptional activator), the function of which in vivo is tightly correlated with the incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma in AIDS patients. TAT is angiogenic and apparently binds to receptors specific for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Amino acids 46-60 of HIV-TAT, known as the basic peptide, have been shown to be responsible for its functional interaction with VEGF receptors. To characterize further the binding properties of this peptide, its coding sequence was fused to the reading frame of bacterial thioredoxin, allowing the production of large amounts of chimaeric polypeptides in bacteria in a biologically active form. Binding of chimaeric proteins to VEGF receptors was studied in vitro in endothelial cell cultures expressing either of the two receptors. Chimaeric thioredoxin proteins carrying the basic domain of TAT bound to both VEGF receptors with affinities similar to those of HIV-TAT or VEGF. Interestingly, these polypeptides competed only partially with VEGF for receptor binding, implying different binding sites for the TAT peptide and VEGF. This suggests that TAT binds VEGF receptors at new sites that might be useful targets for pharmacological intervention during pathological angiogenesis. The thioredoxin/basic-peptide chimaeras are functional agonists that mediate VEGF receptor signalling: (1) they stimulate the growth of endothelial cells; (2) together with basic fibroblast growth factor they cause tube formation of endothelial cells in collagen gels; (3) they induce blood vessel formation on the chicken chorioallantoic membrane; and (4) they activate VEGF receptor kinase and mitogen-activated protein kinase activity.

HIV-1 expresses a multifunctional protein called TAT (trans-acting transcriptional activator), the function of which in vivo is tightly correlated with the incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma in AIDS patients. TAT is angiogenic and apparently binds to receptors specific for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Amino acids 46–60 of HIV-TAT, known as the basic peptide, have been shown to be responsible for its functional interaction with VEGF receptors. To characterize further the binding properties of this peptide, its coding sequence was fused to the reading frame of bacterial thioredoxin, allowing the production of large amounts of chimaeric polypeptides in bacteria in a biologically active form. Binding of chimaeric proteins to VEGF receptors was studied in vitro in endothelial cell cultures expressing either of the two receptors. Chimaeric thioredoxin proteins carrying the basic domain of TAT bound to both VEGF receptors with affinities similar to those of HIV-TAT or VEGF. Interestingly, these polypeptides competed only partially with VEGF for receptor binding, implying different binding sites for the TAT peptide and VEGF. This suggests that TAT binds VEGF receptors at new sites that might be useful targets for pharmacological intervention during pathological angiogenesis. The thioredoxin/basic-peptide chimaeras are functional agonists that mediate VEGF receptor signalling: (1) they stimulate the growth of endothelial cells; (2) together with basic fibroblast growth factor they cause tube formation of endothelial cells in collagen gels; (3) they induce blood vessel formation on the chicken chorioallantoic membrane; and (4) they activate VEGF receptor kinase and mitogen-activated protein kinase activity.