Delivery of Therapeutics and Molecules Using Self-Assembled Peptides

Title:Delivery of Therapeutics and Molecules Using Self-Assembled Peptides

Volume: 21 Issue: 22

Author(s): S. Sundar, Y. Chen and Y.W. Tong

Affiliation:

Keywords: Anti-Cancer, drug delivery, growth factors, hormones, nanomedicine, nucleic acids, peptide amphiphiles, proteins, self-assembly, therapeutics.

Abstract: The use of nanobiotechnology in the formulation of drug carriers has been gaining popularity in recent years. Peptide self-assembly technology is a particularly attractive option due to its simplicity and programmability. Selfassembling peptide amphiphiles are surfactant-like molecules that are capable of spontaneous organization into a variety of nanostructures. The structural and functional features of these nanostructures can be designed through alterations to the peptide sequence. With a keen understanding of the supramolecular principles governing the non-covalent interactions involved, drug loading strategies can be customised. Hydrophobic drugs can be hidden within the core via aromatic interactions while gene-based therapeutics can be complexed with a cationic region of lysine residues. This review article focuses on the application of self-assembling peptide amphiphiles to drug delivery in the area of anti-cancer therapeutics, protein- and peptide-based therapeutics and nucleic acid-based therapeutics. Specific examples are used to discuss the various systems available and emphasis is given to the encapsulation and release mechanism.

Cite this article as:

Sundar S., Chen Y. and Tong Y.W., Delivery of Therapeutics and Molecules Using Self-Assembled Peptides, Current Medicinal Chemistry 2014; 21 (22) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/0929867321666131212152637