Inhibitor of inflammation, peptide fragment (65–76) of monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), inhibits binding of MCP-1 to heparin

Monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1, CCL2) is one of the most important chemokines involved in inflammation. MCP-1 stimulates migration of monocytes and certain lymphocyte populations to the affected area, in particular to the sites of atherosclerotic plaque formation. Development of drugs inhibiting MCP-1 is now a topical task. We earlier designed and synthesized a dodecapeptide from C-terminal domain of MCP-1 (65–76, peptide X) that possessed an anti-inflammatory activity. The mechanism of action of chemokines (in particular, of MCP-1) in vivo is based on activation of CCR2 receptor on target cells and binding to glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) on the cell surface of and extracellular matrix. Peptide X did not affect the MCP-1-CCR2 interaction. Thus, we hypothesized that peptide X could impair MCP-1 binding to GAGs. Here we studied the effect of peptide X on the MCP-1 binding to heparin using the label-free biosensing device Picoscope®, enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA), and the intrinsic fluorescence method. According to the data obtained, peptide X interfered with the MCP-1-heparin binding, which may be due to the competition of peptide X with MCP-1 for heparin binding sites. Probably, this effect determines the anti-inflammatory activity of peptide X in vivo.