Self-assembling peptides-based nano-cargos for targeted chemotherapy and immunotherapy of tumors: recent developments, challenges, and future perspectives

Abstract

Self-assembling peptides (SAPs) have enormous potential in medical and biological applications, particularly noninvasive tumor therapy. SAPs self-assembly is governed by multiple non-covalent interactions and results in the formation of a variety of morphological features. SAPs can be assembled in a variety of ways, including chemical conjugation and physical encapsulation, to incorporate multiple bioactive motifs. Peptide-based nanomaterials are used for chemotherapy, delivery vehicles, immunotherapy, and noninvasive tumor therapies (e.g. photodynamic therapy) by employing the self-assembling properties of peptides. The recent increase of SAPs is almost entirely due to their excellent biocompatibility, responsiveness toward tumor microenvironment, multivalency, and structural versatility. Synergistic therapy is a more effective and powerful approach to treat the tumor. Notably, SAPs can be used to subtly combine various treatments. Importantly, SAPs are capable of subtly making the combination of various treatments. This review describes mechanisms of peptides self-assemble into various structures and their biomedical applications with a focus on possible treatments.

Implications of hydrogen sulfide in colorectal cancer: Mechanistic insights and diagnostic and therapeutic strategies

“…The development of tumor-targeted intelligent diagnostic and therapeutic drugs based on TME characteristics is currently a popular cancer treatment strategy [ 218 , [303] , [304] , [305] , [306] ]. The high level of H 2 S in CRC cells makes it a promising endogenous microenvironment molecule for the design and synthesis of H 2 S-responsive diagnostic therapeutics targeting CRC.…”

Comprehensive characterization of extracellular matrix-related genes in PAAD identified a novel prognostic panel related to clinical outcomes and immune microenvironment: A silico analysis with in vivo and vitro validation

“…The predominant therapies for PAAD are those that target the ECM pathway, including poly ADP-ribose polymerase inhibitors, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and plant anticancer drugs ( 36 , 37 ). Therefore, in the treatment of PAAD, we investigated the potential involvement of some of the most widely administered medicines that target ECMGs.…”

“…Is there any connection between the ECMGs and the currently available targeted medications that can efficiently treat PAAD? To obtain greater insights into this topic, we conducted further analysis on the theoretical grounds and instructions provided for PAAD to investigate the connection between ECMGs and the IC50 values of 12 targeted treatments and traditional drugs that are often used in tumor research [35,36]. The 12 drugs we selected included the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitor(e.g., saracatinib, sunitinib), mTOR inhibitor, poly ADPribose polymerase inhibitor(e.g., rucaparib, olaparib), plant anticancer drugs(e.g., camptothecin, docetaxel, cisplatin, vinblastine, vinorelbine), the first-line chemotherapeutic drugs, pyrimidine antineoplastic drugs(e.g., gemcitabine), and Bcl-2 inhibitor(e.g., obatoclax.…”

Self-assembling peptides as immunomodulatory biomaterials

“…These modulators may face insufficient immune stimulation, off-target side effects, and bioactivity loss during circulation (Sathish et al, 2013;Feng et al, 2019). Many of these modulators, whether monotherapeutic or in combination, are administered systemically and require high doses to maintain modulators in circulation, ultimately resulting in high toxicities (Bast et al, 2019;Wang et al, 2022). Therefore, it is vital to have localized and sustained release of these immunomodulators.…”