Morphologically transformable peptide nanocarriers coloaded with doxorubicin and curcumin inhibit the growth and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

ABSTRACT: In tumor treatment, the highly disordered vascular system and lack of accumulation of chemotherapeutic drugs in tumors severely limit the therapeutic role of nanocarriers. Smaller drug-containing nanoparticles (NPs) can better penetrate the tumor but are easily removed, which severely limits the tumor-killing properties of the drug. The chemotherapeutic medication doxorubicin (DOX) is highly toxic to the heart, but this toxicity can be effectively mitigated and the combined anticancer effect can be enhanced by clinically incorporating curcumin (CUR) as part of the dual therapy. We designed a small-molecule peptide, Pep1, containing a targeting peptide (CREKA) and a pH-responsive moiety. These NPs can target the blood vessels in tumor microthrombi and undergo a morphological shift in the tu

SUBMITTER: Liu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10733681 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature