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Peptide‐stabilized nanomaterials for drug delivery and cancer therapy
Author(s) -
DRAGULSKA SYLWIA ANNA,
POURSHARIFI MINA,
CHENG YING,
Martignetti JOHN,
MIESZAWSKA ANETA JOANNA
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.02041
Subject(s) - drug delivery , nanotechnology , nanoparticle , nanomedicine , peptide , nanomaterials , drug , cancer therapy , materials science , biocompatibility , chemistry , pharmacology , medicine , cancer , biochemistry , organic chemistry
Peptides are increasingly applied in medical field, including applications in cancer therapies, cardiovascular diseases, but also in metabolic disorders and in the development of antibiotics. There are over a hundred of small‐peptide therapeutics undergoing clinical trials. The big advantage of small peptides is their fast and easy synthesis, modification and low cost. In addition, they are biodegradable, which greatly facilitates their biological and pharmaceutical applications. Importantly, short peptides that include phenylalanine residue were found to have self‐assembling properties that could be used to stabilize nanostructures. The goal of this study is to develop peptide‐stabilized nanoparticle–based system for delivery of anticancer agents at high dosages. This work explores self‐assembling tri‐ and hexapeptides as a coating material for polymeric and oil‐based nanoparticles and delivery of cytotoxic platinum‐based drug as well as antiangiogenic combretastatine A4 (CA4). The nanoparticles have spherical morphology and the size, confirmed with transmission electron microscope, is ~ 100 nm. This size range is suitable for clinical applications, as small‐sized nanoparticles extravasate through leaky tumor vasculature into the tumor’s interstitium: a phenomenon known as enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect or passive targeting. The components of the nanoparticles are biocompatible and biodegradable and amino acids have an FDA Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status, which reduces future barriers clinical applications of the proposed nanoparticles.