The in vivo immunomodulatory and synergistic anti-tumor activity of thymosin α1-thymopentin fusion peptide and its binding to TLR2.

Cancer letters2013PMID: 23684552

View on PubMed DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2013.05.006

Plain Language Summary

A fusion peptide combining thymosin alpha-1 and thymopentin reversed immune suppression and enhanced anti-tumor effects when combined with cyclophosphamide in mice. The fusion peptide bound more strongly to toll-like receptor 2 than thymosin alpha-1 alone, suggesting this could be the mechanism behind its superior immunomodulatory activity.

Abstract

In the present study, the immunomodulatory and synergistic anti-tumor activity of thymosin α1-thymopentin fusion peptide (Tα1-TP5) was investigated in vivo. In addition, the potential receptor of Tα1-TP5 was investigated by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) binding studies. It was found that Tα1-TP5 (305 μg/kg) alleviated immunosuppression induced by hydrocortisone (HC). Tα1-TP5 (305 μg/kg) combined with cyclophosphamide (CY) had a better tumor growth inhibitory effect than CY alone. Furthermore, Tα1-TP5 had a higher affinity (KD=6.84 μmol/L) to toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) than Tα1 (K(D)=35.4 μmol/L), but its affinity was not significantly different from that of TP5. The results of our present work indicate that Tα1-TP5 can possibly be developed as a new immunomodulatory agent.

Authors

Li, Juan; Cheng, Yanna; Zhang, Xinke; Zheng, Lei; Han, Zhen; Li, Pingli; Xiao, Yuliang; Zhang, Qian; Wang, Fengshan

Keywords

Immunoregulatory activitySurface plasmon resonanceSynergistic anti-tumor activityThymosin α1–thymopentinToll-like receptor 2