Biomimetic Peptides for the Treatment of Cancer

Abstract

Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, indicating that current cancer therapies are ineffective. Therefore, new treatments with high specificity and low toxicity are needed. Cancerous cells can be distinguished from normal cells based on expression of key proteins, namely surface proteins, scaffold proteins and signaling molecules. Moreover, cancer cells communicate with the tumor microenvironment consisting of a heterogenous population of cells, extracellular matrix components and soluble factors such as cytokines/chemokines and growth factors. Most therapeutic interventions have been designed to specifically target these proteins of interest. Biomimetic peptides (BPs) are artificially designed peptides that imitate the action of parent proteins or peptides. BPs can be classified into at least three types based on their target molecule: BPs that target (i) cell-surface molecules, (ii) intracellular molecules, and (iii) cancer cell-tumor microenvironment interactions. In this review, we analyze/discuss the current strategies for targeting tumors using BPs.

Keywords: Biomimetic peptides; anticancer peptides; cell-penetrating peptides; review.