Preparing a Peptide Polymer Structures on Example of L-arginine Grafted Peptide-like Biodegradable Polymer

In this study we show an approach to the synthesis of a new L-arginine grafted peptide-like biodegradable polymer. The compound is capable of decomposing in vivo into the initial monomeric molecules due to: sensitivity to the redox potential of the medium (disulfide bonds are present) and presence of enzyme labile peptide bonds. Monomeric blocks are non-toxic and represented by amino acids and diamines susceptible to the following conversion in the corresponding metabolic pathways. The material was obtained by solution phase peptide synthesis. The molar mass of the polymeric molecules was studied using mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization. The polymer chain can be easily modified with amino acids and short peptides. In this study we use L-arginine, a semi-essential amino acid, a key substrate for nitrogen oxide (NO) biosynthesis. L-arginine grafted polymer is water soluble and possesses a set of properties of cell penetrating peptides (CPP). The biosynthesis of NO was tested on rat thoracic aorta smooth muscle cells. Compared to octa-arginine (reference) and monomeric amino acid (control), the polymer demonstrated significant NO production. These data suggest that the material can be used as L-arginine donor and work indirectly as an additional source of NO in human and animal tissues in case of its production deficiency.