Identification of pancreatic cancer-specific protease substrates for protease-dependent targeted delivery.

ABSTRACT: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) presents significant challenges due to the inadequacy of existing chemotherapeutics, which often result in toxicity-dependent dose limitations and premature cessation of therapy. Targeted delivery of therapeutic molecules offers a promising solution. Given that PDAC is marked by a desmoplastic reaction with extensive aberrant protease activity, protease-dependent targeted delivery could minimize off-target toxicities and is of increasing interest. The efficacy of targeted delivery hinges on the specificity of the substrates used; insufficient specificity can lead to off-target effects, reducing the advantage over non-targeted methods. Here, we employ an unbiased library approach to screen over 7 million peptide substrates for proteolytic cleavage by

SUBMITTER: Slapak EJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11579016 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature