Aspartyl-threonine

Polymeric peptides containing defined repetitive or cyclic structures of RGDT sequence, (RGDT)n (n = 1 to 11) and cyclo(RGDT)n (n = 2 to 4), at a dose of 500 micrograms exhibited an inhibitory effect on experimental lung metastasis upon co-injection with tumor cells and the magnitude of the effect increased in parallel with the increase of degree of repetition of the RGDT sequence. The conjugation of (RGDT)n (n = 1, 5, 11) with poly(ethylene glycol), PEG as a polymeric carrier led to enhanced inhibition of lung metastasis in proportion to the degree of RGDT sequence repetition and in a dose-dependent manner. Multiple i.v. administrations of PEG-(RGDT)11, at 2-day and 3-day intervals before the excision of primary tumors, effectively inhibited spontaneous lung metastasis by s.c. inoculation of tumors, whereas (RGDT)11 exhibited inhibition of lung metastasis only when given at 2-day intervals. This indicates that the conjugation of PEG with (RGDT)n allowed the prolongation of administration interval, implying a sustained inhibitory effect on tumor metastasis. In support of this supposition, a decrease in the arrest of radiolabeled tumor cells in the lungs was observed when PEG-(RGDT)11 was co-injected i.v. with tumor cells, or injected i.v. one day before tumor inoculation. In contrast, (RGDT)11 significantly inhibited the tumor cell arrest in the lungs only upon co-injection with tumor cells. We also noted that (RGDT)n, cyclo(RGDT)n and PEG-(RGDT)11 inhibited tumor cell invasion into Matrigel in a concentration-dependent manner and in proportion to the degree of RGDT sequence repetition, indicating that the peptide-mediated antimetastatic effect is partly associated with the anti-invasive potential. Thus, the conjugation of anti-cell adhesive and anti-metastatic RGDT peptide with PEG might provide a therapeutically promising basis for the prevention of cancer metastasis ("anti adhesion therapy").

We have investigated the anti-metastatic and anti-invasive activities of polypeptide analogues based on the Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) adhesive signal in fibronectin, poly(RGD), poly(RGDS)[Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser] and poly(RGDT)[Arg-Gly-Asp-Thr]. These polypeptides containing repetitive RGD sequences were able to inhibit experimental and spontaneous lung metastases of B16-BL6 cells more effectively than the corresponding monomer peptides. In the spontaneous metastasis model, multiple i.v. administrations of these polymeric peptides before or after surgical excision of the primary tumor resulted in a significant reduction of lung tumor colonies. However, there was no significant difference in ability to inhibit spontaneous lung metastasis among poly(RGD), poly(RGDS) and poly(RGDT), although the carboxy-terminal amino acid residue (i.e., Xaa in -RGDXaa-) has been shown to play an important role in the expression of cell adhesive character. The treatment with poly(RGD) substantially prolonged the survival time for mice injected s.c. with B16-BL6 melanoma as compared with the untreated control. We also found that the polypeptides were potently able to inhibit the invasion and migration of tumor cells in vitro. Since these polypeptide analogues showed no antigenicity in the host and had no toxic effect on tumor cells in vitro, they may be potentially useful in the prevention of cancer metastasis.

We evaluated the plasma amine/phenol- and carbonyl-metabolome and whole-blood immune gene expression profiles in beef steers with divergent average daily gain (ADG). Forty-eight Angus crossbred beef steers (21 days postweaning; 210 ± 8.5 kg of body weight) were fed the same total mixed ration ad libitum for 42 days with free access to water. After 42 days of feeding, the steers were divided into two groups of lowest (LF: n = 8) and highest ADG (HF: n = 8). Blood samples were taken from all steers. The blood samples from LF and HF steers were used for further analysis. A subsample of the whole blood was immediately transferred into RNA-protect tubes for RNA extraction and messenger RNA expressions of 84 genes involved in innate and adaptive immune responses. Another subsample of the whole blood was immediately centrifuged to harvest the plasma for subsequent metabolome analysis. The average daily dry matter intake of the steers in LF and HF was 6.08 kg ± 0.57 and 6.04 kg ± 0.42, respectively, and was similar between the two groups (P = 0.72). The ADG (1.09 kg ± 0.13) of LF was lower (P = 0.01) than that of HF (1.63 kg ± 0.20). The expressions of 10 immune-related genes were upregulated (FC ≥ 1.2; P ≤ 0.05) in HF steers; these genes were involved in viral pathogen recognition and eradication, defense against intracellular and extracellular pathogens and parasites, and immune response homeostasis. A total number of 42 carbonyl-containing metabolites and 229 amine/phenol-containing metabolites were identified in the plasma samples of both groups. No alteration in carbonyl-metabolome was detected. Ten metabolites with immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, and reactive oxygen-scavenging properties were greater (FDR ≤ 0.05) in HF steers, whereas eight metabolites including arginine, phenylalanine, guanidoacetic acid, and aspartyl-threonine were greater in LF steers. This study demonstrated that beef steers with divergent ADG had altered plasma amine/phenol metabolome and immune-related gene expressions in the blood. Notably, plasma metabolites and immune-related genes of great health benefits were greater in steers with high ADG.