Therapeutic cancer targeting peptides

Abstract

Antitumor monoclonal antibodies have shown clinical promise as cancer cell surface targeting agents. More tumor targeting antibodies are likely to be approved by the FDA in the next few years. However, there are two major limitations in antibody-targeted therapy: large size and nonspecific uptake of the antibody molecules by the liver and the reticuloendothelial system. These result in poor tumor penetration of antibody pharmaceuticals and dose-limiting toxicity to the liver and bone marrow. Peptides are excellent alternative targeting agents for human cancers, and they may alleviate some of the problems with antibody targeting. In the last decade, several investigators have successfully used combinatorial library methods to discover cell surface binding peptides that may be useful for cancer targeting. The phage-display library technique and the "one-bead one-compound" combinatorial library method are the two approaches that have been used. Cancer cell surface receptors or endothelial cell surface receptors of the neovasculature are the two popular therapeutic targets for cancer. Results from preclinical studies with some peptides are encouraging in their targeting potential.

Cell-penetrating and cell-targeting peptides in drug delivery

“…This is probably the reason why the second technique was developed about a decade ago [131]. Hence, it has been defined as the "one-bead one-compound" (OBOC) strategy [132], and has led to the discovery of a large number of specific ligands (for a recent review [133]). Once the library has been assembled, various cell lines can be grown in the presence of the beads.…”

Nano-encapsulation of a novel anti-Ran-GTPase peptide for blockade of regulator of chromosome condensation 1 (RCC1) function in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells

“…The development of peptide-based therapeutics has had promising results (Thayer, 2011), both in terms of efficacy and targeting specificity (Aina et al, 2002;Enbäck and Laakkonen, 2007;Vlieghe et al, 2010). Biodegradable polyester matrices, in particular, feature in many innovative approaches evaluated over the past four decades.…”

Strategies for reversing drug resistance

“…As peptides are small and usually very stable chemically, they are easy to work with and to derivatize, making them attractive reagents. The existence of naturally occurring peptides that have been used as chemotherapeutic agents suggests that such reagents can be effective (Aina et al, 2002;Hamel, 2002).…”