Intracellular Self‐Assembly of Peptide Conjugates for Tumor Imaging and Therapy

• Published in: Advanced healthcare materials Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. e2001211 - n/a
• Main Authors: Deng, Yu, Zhan, Wenjun, Liang, Gaolin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.01.2021
• Subjects: Assembly; Biocompatibility; Biodegradability; Biological activity; Biomedical engineering; Conjugates; Diagnostic Imaging; Humans; Imaging; Intracellular; Nanostructures; Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Neoplasms - therapy; peptide conjugates; Peptides; self‐assembly; Therapeutic applications; tumor imaging; tumor therapy; Tumors; self-assembly; peptide conjugates; tumor imaging; tumor therapy
• ISSN: 2192-2640; 2192-2659; 2192-2659
• DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202001211

Intracellular self‐assembly (ISA) is a versatile and powerful strategy for in situ constructing sophisticated and functional supramolecular nanostructures, which has been widely applied in biomedicine and biomedical engineering. Among the common building blocks for ISA, peptides have attracted increasingly attention due to their intrinsic bioactivity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Particularly, by conjugating functional motifs (e.g., probes or drugs) to peptides to yield the peptide conjugates, the latter show enhanced stability and efficiency, and probably new functions. In recent years, employing ISA of peptide conjugates for tumor imaging and treatment has achieved great progresses. Therefore, the recent progress of ISA of peptide conjugates is summarized in this progress report. Moreover, several examples of ISA of peptide conjugates for other important imaging or therapeutic applications are also introduced. Finally, a brief perspective on remaining challenges and potential directions for future research in this area is presented. Intracellular self‐assembly (ISA) is proposed as a new strategy to in situ construct sophisticated nanomaterials for fighting against tumors. Triggered by abnormal biological cues, ISA can selectively occur in tumor sites, leading to an amplified imaging signal or enhanced therapeutic efficacy. Recent progress in this area, mainly in the applications of tumor imaging and therapy, is reviewed.