The snail Lymnaea stagnalis produces a neuropeptide precursor protein that contains seven Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) sites. These sites are recognized and cleaved by one or more prohormone convertases in the first processing step to yield mature neuropeptides in the secretory pathway. Conformations of two synthetic RGD-containing peptides derived from the L. stagnalis precursor protein were determined b...

Described herein is the efficient synthesis and evaluation of bioactive arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) functionalized polynorbornene-based materials for cell adhesion and spreading. Polynorbornenes containing either linear or cyclic RGD peptides were synthesized by ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) using the well-defined ruthenium initiator [(H(2)IMes)(pyr)(2)(Cl)(2)Ru═CHPh]. ...

This study aimed at testing whether an RGD-restricted substrate interface is sufficient for adhesion and growth of human articular chondrocytes (HAC), and whether it enhances their post expansion chondrogenic capacity. HAC/substrate interaction was restricted to RGD by modifying tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) with a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) based copolymer system that renders the surface ...

BACKGROUND Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), the rate-limiting enzyme in the tryptophan catabolism, has recently emerged as an important immunosuppressive enzyme involved in the regulation of both physiologic (maternal tolerance), as well as pathologic (neoplasia, autoimmune diseases, asthma) processes. Accumulating evidence points to a role for IDO in suppressing T-cell responses, thereby pro...

The objective of this study was to design and prepare a new contrast agent of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for the evaluation of therapeutic angiogenesis. Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) residue of a chelator was chemically introduced to dextran with a molecular weight of 74,000 (dextran-DTPA). Cyclic peptide containing an arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) sequence (cyclic RGD) ...

BACKGROUND Cyclic RGD peptidomimetics containing a bifunctional diketopiperazine scaffold are a novel class of high-affinity ligands for the integrins αVβ3 and αVβ5. Since integrins are a promising target for the modulation of normal and pathological angiogenesis, the present study aimed at characterizing the ability of the RGD peptidomimetic cyclo[DKP-RGD] 1 proliferation, migration and networ...

PURPOSE Liposomes have been proposed to be a means of selectively targeting cancer sites for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. The focus of this work was the evaluation of radiolabeled PEGylated liposomes derivatized with varying amounts of a cyclic arginyl-glycyl-aspartic acid (RGD) peptide. RGD peptides are known to bind to α(v)β(3) integrin receptors overexpressed during tumor-induced...

This study shows that disintegrins, echistatin as a model, can be used as a radiolabeled probe to simultaneously detect the presence of individual RGD-dependent integrins on cardiac fibroblasts. Binding of (125)I-echistatin to fibroblasts was proportional to cell number, time dependent, reversible, saturable, specific, and membrane bound. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiogram...

BACKGROUND Adenoviruses are often used as vehicles to mediate gene delivery for therapeutic purposes, but their research scope in hematological cells remains limited due to a narrow choice of host cells that express the adenoviral receptor (CAR). T cells, which are attractive targets for gene therapy of numerous diseases, remain resistant to adenoviral infection because of the absence of CAR ex...

The Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) sequence was selected by using phage-display peptides to target tumors, focusing on targeting ·(v) integrins in tumor blood vessels. Recent studies suggest that peptides containing the RGD sequence can bind to tumor cells, as well as tumor endothelial cells. To investigate whether the RGD peptide has other effects on tumor cells expressing ·(v) integrins, besides its tumor...