Cytolytic peptide nanoparticles (‘NanoBees’) for cancer therapy

Abstract

Cytolytic peptides are an attractive class of anticancer candidates because of their wide‐spectrum lytic properties. However, their therapeutic potential cannot be realized without a proper delivery vehicle, because of their off‐target toxicity, nonspecificity, and unfavorable pharmacokinetics. The physical properties of perfluorocarbon (PFC)‐core surfactant‐coated nanoparticles render them a highly promising delivery vehicle for targeted therapeutic applications of cytolytic peptides. This article provides an overview of the mechanism underlying the anticancer efficacy of cytolytic peptides, the limitations in clinic applications, and the advantages of PFC nanoparticles over traditional FDA‐approved nanocarriers such as liposomes. Recent reports of successful anticancer therapeutics delivered by PFC nanoparticles will be discussed, as well as new applications. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2011 3 318–327 DOI: 10.1002/wnan.126 This article is categorized under: Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Oncologic Disease

The Antifungal Activity of Bee Venom against Dermatophytes

“…Among them, melittin, a water-soluble cationic amphipathic 26 amino acid α-helical peptide, is a very nonspecific cytolytic peptide that attacks all lipid membranes leading to significant toxicity (Pan et al, 2011).…”

“…Melittin, a 26 amino acid polypeptide, has been known to have antibacterial effects (Eiseman et al, 1982;Akdis et al, 1996;Kwon et al, 2001). Recently, melittin-loaded perfluorocarbon nanoparticles possessed the ability to safely deliver significant payloads of melittin intravenously and to target and kill tumor cells (Pan et al, 2011). However, the information on the antifungal efficacy of the bee venom is not available.…”

Melittin: A Key Composition of Honey Bee Venom with Diverse Pharmaceutical Function

“…Further, a stable perfluorocarbon nanoparticles was designed to solve the disadvantages [31]. This kind of nanoparticles presented perfect pharmacokinetics, transported melittin to tumor cell and reduced tumor growth but no significant toxicity [32,33].…”

Melittin, a Potential Natural Toxin of Crude Bee Venom: Probable Future Arsenal in the Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus

“…A number of reviews are available in the literature, which focused on the miscellaneous pharmacological effects of BV proteins [17,[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. However, to date, reviews of the mechanisms by which BV contributes to the antidiabetic activity are currently not available.…”