Peptide Nanofibers for Targeted Delivery of Anti-Cancer Therapeutic and Diagnostic Agents

Background & Unmet Need

• Nanocarriers are small particles that can carry and deliver other substance (e.g., proteins, antibodies)
• Nanocarriers have been used for the direct and selective delivery of drugs to cancerous cells, and to deliver imaging agents in surgical or radiation-based therapies
• However, available nanocarriers have significant drawbacks that impair drug or agent delivery, such as being easily inactivated by the body, an inability to penetrate tumors or the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and provoking negative immune responses
• Unmet Need: There is a need for more effective nanocarriers that offer better drug or agent delivery efficiency as well as improved tissue penetration and distribution

Technology Overview

• The Technology: Self-assembling peptide-based nanofiber (NFP) that provides a platform for targeted delivery of therapeutics and diagnostic agents
• The NFP can be functionalized with a variety of imaging and therapeutic agents for on-demand customization
• When functionalized with glutathione, GSH-NFP demonstrated enhanced tumoral uptake and tumor penetration, reduced clearance rate and off-target distribution at the infusion site, and a longer local retention time in mice bearing human breast cancer
• PoC Data: Compared to free aldoxorubicin (aldox), mice injected with aldox-loaded GSH-NFP had a smaller tumor size and a longer survival time (see Figure 2)
• Compared to free Emtansine (DM1), DM1-NFP dramatically slowed glioma growth and doubled the median survival in mice with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (see Figure 3)

Technology Applications

• Demonstrated utility for delivering cancer therapeutic and diagnostic agents
• Platform may also be useful for delivery of sensitive agents in other contexts (e.g., gene therapy, biomaterial delivery for tissue repair)

Technology Advantages

• Facile synthesis
• Delivery platform minimizes the premature clearance of the loaded agent by the body
• Improved tumor uptake and tumor penetration
• Nontoxic and nonimmunogenic
• NFP may be customized to delivery cargo of varied type and size