Transepithelial Transport and Metabolism of Boronated Dipeptides Across Caco-2 and HCT-8 Cell Monolayers

Oral delivery of proteins and peptides as therapeutic agents is problematic due to their low bioavailability. This study examined the effect of boronation on the transepithelial transport and metabolism of three glycine-phenylalanine dipeptides in Caco-2 and HCT-8 cell monolayers. The three dipeptides exhibited passive transport characteristics in the monolayer systems. However, metabolism of the boronated dipeptides did occur, but to a lesser extent than the non-boronated glycine-phenylalanine dipeptide. The same metabolic scheme was seen in both cell monolayer system, but greater metabolism was seen in the HCT-8 cell monolayers.