Inhibition of cancer cell invasiveness by synthetic peptides GEGEEGEE and DFGEEAEE

Abstract

The ability of two synthetic peptides GEGEEGEE and DFGEEAEE to inhibit the invasiveness of tumor cells has been studied. Using confocal microscopy, it was demonstrated that these peptides specifically bind to receptor for hyaluronic acid mediated motility (RHAMM) on the prostate cancer cell surface. Effect of peptides on invadopodia formation in cancer cells was studied by fluorescent gelatin degradation. Using confocal microscopy, images of the cells were obtained and the degree of their invasiveness was analyzed by assessing the gelatin degradation area using ImageJ software. It was found that pre-incubation of tumor cells with the peptides at a concentration of 40 μg/mL (2 × 10^–7 M) inhibited the invasiveness by more than 80%. Thus, it was shown that peptides GEGEEGEE and DFGEEAEE may be potential antitumor agents.