Non-covalent loading of anti-cancer doxorubicin by modularizable peptide self-assemblies for a nanoscale drug carrier

Abstract

We prepared nanoscale, modularizable, self-assembled peptide nanoarchitectures with diameters less of than 20 nm by combining β-sheet-forming peptides tethering a cell-penetrating peptide or a nuclear localization signal sequence. We also found that doxorubicin (Dox), an anti-cancer drug, was non-covalently accommodated by the assemblies at a ratio of one Dox molecule per ten peptides. The Dox-loaded peptide assemblies facilitated cellular uptake and subsequent nuclear localization in HeLa cells, and induced cell death even at low Dox concentrations. This peptide nanocarrier motif is a promising platform for a biocompatible drug delivery system by altering the targeting head groups of the carrier peptides.