Dual‐peptide functionalized nanoparticles for therapeutic use

Abstract

Peptide-functionalized nanoparticles combine the best of both; the ability of nanoparticles to deliver a drug "cargo" throughout the body and the ability of peptides to selectively target certain cell types or biological systems. The vast majority of peptide-functionalized nanoparticles employ only one type of peptide, however, to truly realize the potential of these systems in medicine, nanoparticles equipped with two or even more peptide functionalities are desirable. In this review, the latest developments in dual-peptide functionalized nanoparticles are discussed. These are categorized depending on their structure; first broadly into grafted and selfassembled dual-peptide-nanoparticles with the former then subdivided further into nonconjugated, linearly conjugated and branched conjugated dual-peptide functionalized nanoparticles. These different categories of dual-peptide nanoparticles are then discussed with regards to the type of functional peptides used and their role in selective targeting nanomedicine.