PKM2 allosteric converter: A self-assembly peptide for suppressing renal cell carcinoma and sensitizing chemotherapy

Tyrosinase-Woven Melanin Nets for Melanoma Therapy through Targeted Mitochondrial Tethering and Enhanced Photothermal Treatment

Manipulating intracellular biological processes and organelles has emerged as a pivotal strategy to influence cellular physiological functions. Mitochondria, recognized as the powerhouse of cells, play a crucial role in tumorigenesis and progression. Inspired by the Nature's tyrosinase-catalyzed melanin formation within melanoma cells, here an approach is developed using a polysaccharide dually-functionalized with tyrosine and triphenylphosphine (TPP) for targeted mitochondria cross-linking in melanoma cells. This technique intricately weaves melanin nets within the cells, serving as a tether for the mitochondria and effectively decelerating tumor metabolism through nanoparticle-net transformation. Tyrosinase acts as the "needle", while the functionalized polysaccharide serves as the "string" successfully constructing nets within the cell. Furthermore, the tyrosinase-catalyzed cross-linking of tyrosine not only facilitates the production of artificial melanin but also enhances the photothermal conversion efficiency of melanoma cells, leading to decrease of the tumor growth. This study unveils a non-drug method for regulating organelle physiological activity and introduces photothermal treatment. This work not only sheds light on the manipulation of cellular functions but also holds promise for advancing cancer therapeutic strategies.

Self-Assembled Peptide with Morphological Structure for Bioapplication

Peptide materials, such as self-assembled peptide materials, are very important biomaterials. Driven by multiple interaction forces, peptide molecules can self-assemble into a variety of different macroscopic forms with different properties and functions. In recent years, the research on self-assembled peptides has made great progress from laboratory design to clinical application. This review focuses on the different morphologies, including nanoparticles, nanovesicles, nanotubes, nanofibers, and others, formed by self-assembled peptide. The mechanisms and applications of the morphology transformation are also discussed in this paper, and the future direction of self-assembled nanomaterials is envisioned.

Short Peptides as Powerful Arsenal for Smart Fighting Cancer

Short peptides have been coming around as a strong weapon in the fight against cancer on all fronts-in immuno-, chemo-, and radiotherapy, and also in combinatorial approaches. Moreover, short peptides have relevance in cancer imaging or 3D culture. Thanks to the natural 'smart' nature of short peptides, their unique structural features, as well as recent progress in biotechnological and bioinformatics development, short peptides are playing an enormous role in evolving cutting-edge strategies. Self-assembling short peptides may create excellent structures to stimulate cytotoxic immune responses, which is essential for cancer immunotherapy. Short peptides can help establish versatile strategies with high biosafety and effectiveness. Supramolecular short peptide-based cancer vaccines entered clinical trials. Peptide assemblies can be platforms for the delivery of antigens, adjuvants, immune cells, and/or drugs. Short peptides have been unappreciated, especially in the vaccine aspect. Meanwhile, they still hide the undiscovered unlimited potential. Here, we provide a timely update on this highly active and fast-evolving field.

Self-Assembly of Peptides as an Alluring Approach toward Cancer Treatment and Imaging

Cancer is a severe threat to humans, as it is the second leading cause of death after cardiovascular diseases and still poses the biggest challenge in the world of medicine. Due to its higher mortality rates and resistance, it requires a more focused and productive approach to provide the solution for it. Many therapies promising to deliver favorable results, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, have come up with more negatives than positives. Therefore, a new class of medicinal solutions and a more targeted approach is of the essence. This review highlights the alluring properties, configurations, and self-assembly of peptide molecules which benefit the traditional approach toward cancer therapy while sparing the healthy cells in the process. As targeted drug delivery systems, self-assembled peptides offer a wide spectrum of conjugation, biocompatibility, degradability-controlled responsiveness, and biomedical applications, including cancer treatment and cancer imaging.

Intelligent Delivery Systems in Tumor Metabolism Regulation: Exploring the Path Ahead

Cancer metabolism plays multifaceted roles in the initiation and progression of tumors, and interventions in metabolism are considered fundamental approaches for cancer control. Within the vast metabolic networks of tumors, there exist numerous potential therapeutic targets, intricately interconnected with each other and with signaling networks related to immunity, metastasis, drug resistance, and more. Based on the characteristics of the tumor microenvironment, constructing drug delivery systems for multi-level modulation of the tumor microenvironment is proven as an effective strategy for achieving multidimensional control of cancer. Consequently, this article summarizes several features of tumor metabolism to provide insights into recent advancements in intelligent drug delivery systems for achieving multi-level regulation of the metabolic microenvironment in cancer, with the aim of offering a novel paradigm for cancer treatment.

Self-assembling peptides: Perspectives regarding biotechnological applications and vaccine development

Self-assembly involves a set of molecules spontaneously interacting in a highly coordinated and dynamic manner to form a specific supramolecular structure having new and clearly defined properties. Many examples of this occur in nature and many more came from research laboratories, with their number increasing every day via ongoing research concerning complex biomolecules and the possibility of harnessing it when developing new applications. As a phenomenon, self-assembly has been described on very different types of molecules (biomolecules including), so this review focuses on what is known about peptide self-assembly, its origins, the forces behind it, how the properties of the resulting material can be tuned in relation to experimental considerations, some biotechnological applications (in which the main protagonists are peptide sequences capable of self-assembly) and what is yet to be tuned regarding their research and development.

Enzyme-Induced Shape-Shifting Peptide Nanocarrier Coloaded with Paclitaxel and Dipyridamole Inhibits Platelet Function and Tumor Metastasis

Tumor-associated platelets can bind to tumor cells and protect circulating tumor cells from NK-mediated immune surveillance. Tumor-associated platelets secrete cytokines to induce the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in tumor cells, which promotes tumor metastasis. Combining chemotherapeutic agents with antiplatelet drugs can reduce the occurrence of metastasis, but the systemic application of chemotherapeutic agents and antiplatelet drugs is prone to causing serious side effects. Therefore, delivering drugs to the tumor microthrombus site for long-lasting inhibition is a problem that needs to be addressed. Here, we show that small molecule peptide nanoparticles containing the Cys-Arg-Glu-Lys-Ala (CREKA) peptide can deliver the platelet inhibitor dipyridamole (DIP) and the chemotherapeutic drug paclitaxel (PTX) to tumor tissues, thereby inhibiting tumor-associated platelet function while killing tumor cells. The drug-loaded nanoparticles PD/Pep1 inhibited platelet-tumor cell interactions, were effectively taken up by tumor cells, and underwent morphological transformation induced by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) to prolong the retention time of the drugs. After intravenous injection, PD/Pep1 can target tumors and inhibit tumor metastasis. Thus, this small molecule peptide nanoformulation provides a simple strategy for efficient drug delivery and shows promise as a novel cancer therapy platform.

Theranostic Lipid Nanoparticles for Renal Cell Carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a common urological malignancy and represents a leading threat to healthcare. Recent years have seen a series of progresses in the early diagnosis and management of RCC. Theranostic lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are increasingly becoming one of the focuses in this field, because of their suitability for tumor targeting and multimodal therapy. LNPs can be precisely fabricated with desirable chemical compositions and biomedical properties, which closely match the physiological characteristics and clinical needs of RCC. Herein, a comprehensive review of theranostic LNPs is presented, emphasizing the generic tool nature of LNPs in developing advanced micro-nano biomaterials. It begins with a brief overview of the compositions and formation mechanism of LNPs, followed with an introduction to kidney-targeting approaches, such as passive, active, and stimulus responsive targeting. With examples provided, a series of modification strategies for enhancing the tumor targeting and functionality of LNPs are discussed. Thereafter, research advances on applications of these LNPs for RCC including bioimaging, liquid biopsy, drug delivery, physical therapy, and gene therapy are summarized and discussed from an interdisciplinary perspective. The final part highlights the milestone achievements of translation medicine, current challenges as well as future development directions of LNPs for the diagnosis and treatment of RCC.

Exosomal circRNA: emerging insights into cancer progression and clinical application potential

Exosomal circRNA serves a novel genetic information molecule, facilitating communication between tumor cells and microenvironmental cells, such as immune cells, fibroblasts, and other components, thereby regulating critical aspects of cancer progression including immune escape, tumor angiogenesis, metabolism, drug resistance, proliferation and metastasis. Interestingly, microenvironment cells have new findings in influencing tumor progression and immune escape mediated by the release of exosomal circRNA. Given the intrinsic stability, abundance, and broad distribution of exosomal circRNAs, they represent excellent diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for liquid biopsy. Moreover, artificially synthesized circRNAs may open up new possibilities for cancer therapy, potentially bolstered by nanoparticles or plant exosome delivery strategies. In this review, we summarize the functions and underlying mechanisms of tumor cell and non-tumor cell-derived exosomal circRNAs in cancer progression, with a special focus on their roles in tumor immunity and metabolism. Finally, we examine the potential application of exosomal circRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets, highlighting their promise for clinical use.