Peptide-Based Nanoparticle Delivery Systems for Cancer Therapy
Summary
Peptide-based nanoparticles represent a versatile and rapidly evolving class of delivery vehicles for cancer therapeutics. By harnessing the inherent biocompatibility and modular design of peptides, researchers have engineered self-assembling constructs that can encapsulate or conjugate a range of payloads, from chemotherapeutic agents to imaging probes. These systems often feature tunable amphiphilicity, stimuli-responsive elements and targeting motifs that enhance tumour accumulation, cellular uptake and endosomal escape. Advances in peptide synthesis and computational modelling have led to the rational design of nanostructures—spherical micelles, vesicles (peptidesomes), nanofibres and co-assemblies with metals—that combine high drug loading with protease resistance and controlled release. Such platforms offer precise control over size, surface charge and ligand presentation, enabling passive and active targeting strategies to exploit the enhanced permeability and retention effect or receptor-mediated endocytosis. Globally, peptide nanoparticles have demonstrated improved therapeutic indices in preclinical cancer models, with potential to overcome multidrug resistance and reduce off-target toxicity. Contemporary efforts focus on integrating multifunctionality—simultaneous imaging, therapy and immunomodulation—into a single peptide scaffold, thereby bridging nanotechnology, oncology and translational medicine.
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Peptide-Based Nanoparticle Delivery Systems for Cancer Therapy publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in peptide-based nanoparticle delivery systems for cancer therapy across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Self-assembly: Spontaneous organisation of peptide monomers into defined nanostructures through non-covalent interactions.
Peptidesome: A vesicular nanoparticle formed by the bilayer assembly of amphiphilic peptides, capable of encapsulating hydrophilic cargo.
Stimuli-responsive: Design feature enabling nanoparticle disassembly or drug release in response to environmental cues (pH, enzymes, light).
Endosomal escape: Mechanism by which nanoparticles disrupt endosomal membranes to release payloads into the cytosol.
Protease resistance: Structural modification that prevents enzymatic degradation of peptide nanocarriers in biological fluids.
References
- Structural control of self-assembled peptide nanostructures to develop peptide vesicles for photodynamic therapy of cancer. Materials Today Bio (2022).
- A de novo dual-targeting supramolecular self-assembly peptide against pulmonary metastasis of melanoma. Theranostics (2023).
- Peptide Self‐Assembled Nanostructures for Drug Delivery Applications. Journal of Nanomaterials (2017).
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