Abstract
Peptides are receiving increasing attention as therapeutic agents due to their high binding specificity and versatility to be modified as targeting or carrier molecules. Particularly, peptides with antiangiogenic activity are of high interest because of their applicability to a wide range of cancers. In this study, we investigate the biological activity of two novel antiangiogenic peptides in preclinical glioma models. One peptide SP2000 is derived from collagen IV and the other peptide SP3019 belongs to the CXC family. We have previously characterized the capacity of SP2000 and SP3019 to inhibit multiple biological endpoints linked to angiogenesis in human endothelial cells in several assays. Here, we report additional studies using endothelial cells and focus on the activity of these peptides against human glioma cell growth, migration and adhesion in vitro, and growth as tumor xenografts in vivo. We found that SP2000 completely inhibits migration of the glioma cells at 50 µmol/l and SP3019 produced 50% inhibition at 100 µmol/l. Their relative antiadhesion activities were similar, with SP2000 and SP3019 generating 50% adhesion inhibition at 4.9 ± 0.82 and 21.3 ± 5.92 µmol/l, respectively. In-vivo glioma growth inhibition was 63% for SP2000 and 76% for SP3019 after 2 weeks of administration at daily doses of 10 and 20 mg/kg, respectively. The direct activity of these peptides against glioma cells in conjunction with their antiangiogenic activities warrants their further development as either stand-alone agents or in combination with standard cytotoxic or emerging targeted therapies in malignant brain tumors.