Designed Antitumor Peptide for Targeted siRNA Delivery into Cancer Spheroids.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces
; 13(42): 49713-49728, 2021 Oct 27.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34657415
ABSTRACT
Antimicrobial/anticancer peptides (AMPs/ACPs) have shown promising results as new therapeutic agents in cancer thearpy. Among them, the designed amphiphilic α-helical peptide G(IIKK)3I-NH2 (G3) displayed great affinity and specificity in targeting cancer cells. Here, we report new insights on how G3 penetrates cancer cells. G3 showed high specificity to HCT-116 colon cancer cells compared to the HDFs (human neonatal primary dermal fibroblasts) control. With high concentrations of peptide, a clear cancer cell membrane disruption was observed through SEM. Gene knockdown of the endocytic pathways demonstrated that an energy-dependent endocytic pathway is required for the uptake of the peptide. In addition, G3 can protect and selectively deliver siRNAs into cancer cells and successfully modulated their gene expression. Gene delivery was also tested in 3D cancer spheroids and showed deep penetration delivery into the cancer spheroids. Finally, the in vivo toxicity of G3 was evaluated on zebrafish embryos, showing an increasing toxicity effect with concentration. However, the toxicity of the peptide was attenuated when complexed with siRNA. In addition, negligible toxicity was observed at the concentration range for efficient gene delivery. The current results demonstrate that G3 is promising as an excellent agent for cancer therapy.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Peptídeos
/
Desenho de Fármacos
/
Técnicas de Transferência de Genes
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Esferoides Celulares
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RNA Interferente Pequeno
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Neoplasias
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Antineoplásicos
Limite:
Animals
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces
Assunto da revista:
BIOTECNOLOGIA
/
ENGENHARIA BIOMEDICA
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Reino Unido