A Novel Polypeptide from Shark Cartilage with Potent Anti-Angiogenic Activity

Lanhong Zheng, Peixue Ling, Zheng Wang, Rongli Niu, Chaoxin Hu, Tianmin Zhang and Xiukun Lin

volume 6 | issue 5

May 2007
Pages: 775 - 780

We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:

Download PDF

If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.

Using guanidine-HCl extraction, acetone precipitation, ultra-filtration and chromatography, a novel polypeptide with potent anti-angiogenic activity was purified from cartilage of the shark, Prionace glauca. N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis and SDS-PAGE revealed that the substance is a novel polypeptide with MW 15500 (PG155). The anti-angiogenic effects of PG155 were evaluated using zebrafish embryos model in vivo. Treatment of the embryos with 20 μg/ml PG155 resulted in a significant reduction in the growth of subintestinal vessels (SIVs). A higher dose resulted in almost complete inhibition of SIV growth, as observed by endogenous alkaline phosphatase (EAP) staining assay. An in vitro transwell experiment revealed that the polypeptide inhibited vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) induced migration and tubulogenesis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Exposure of HUVECs in 20 μg/ml PG155 significantly decreased the density of migrated cells. Almost complete inhibition of cell migration was found when HUVECs were treated with 40-80 μg/ml PG155. PG155 (20 μg/ml) markedly inhibited the tube formation of HUVECs and a dose-dependent effect was also found when treatment of HUVECs with PG155 at the concentration from 20 to 160 μg/ml.