Open AccessThe role of cell‐penetrating peptides in potential anti‐cancer therapy
Author(s) -
Zhou Meiling,
Zou Xi,
Cheng Kexin,
Zhong Suye,
Su Yangzhou,
Wu Tao,
Tao Yongguang,
Cong Li,
Yan Bin,
Jiang Yiqun
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
clinical and translational medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.125
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 2001-1326
DOI - 10.1002/ctm2.822
Subject(s) - endocytosis , immunogenicity , cancer therapy , cell penetrating peptide , cancer cell , cancer treatment , cell , cancer research , cancer , chemistry , pharmacology , computational biology , medicine , immune system , biology , biochemistry , immunology
Due to the complex physiological structure, microenvironment and multiple physiological barriers, traditional anti‐cancer drugs are severely restricted from reaching the tumour site. Cell‐penetrating peptides (CPPs) are typically made up of 5–30 amino acids, and can be utilised as molecular transporters to facilitate the passage of therapeutic drugs across physiological barriers. Up to now, CPPs have widely been used in many anti‐cancer treatment strategies, serving as an excellent potential choice for oncology treatment. However, their drawbacks, such as the lack of cell specificity, short duration of action, poor stability in vivo, compatibility problems (i.e. immunogenicity), poor therapeutic efficacy and formation of unwanted metabolites, have limited their further application in cancer treatment. The cellular uptake mechanisms of CPPs involve mainly endocytosis and direct penetration, but still remain highly controversial in academia. The CPPs‐based drug delivery strategy could be improved by clever design or chemical modifications to develop the next‐generation CPPs with enhanced cell penetration capability, stability and selectivity. In addition, some recent advances in targeted cell penetration that involve CPPs provide some new ideas to optimise CPPs.