Biological Properties of Arginine-rich Peptides and their Application in Cargo Delivery to Cancer

Minghai Ma; Ruizhao Zhao; Xing Li; Minxuan Jing; Rundong Song; Jinhai Fan

doi:10.2174/1567201820666230417083350

Biological Properties of Arginine-rich Peptides and their Application in Cargo Delivery to Cancer

Curr Drug Deliv. 2023 Apr 17. doi: 10.2174/1567201820666230417083350. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Minghai Ma¹, Ruizhao Zhao^{2

3}, Xing Li¹, Minxuan Jing¹, Rundong Song¹, Jinhai Fan¹

Affiliations

¹ First Affiliated Hospital of Xi\'an Jiaotong University Department of Urology Xi\'an China.
² Xi\'an Medical University Clinical medical school Xi\'an China.
³ Clinical Medical School, Xi\'an Medical University, Xi\'an 710061, China.

PMID: 37073158
DOI: 10.2174/1567201820666230417083350

Abstract

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) comprise short peptides of fewer than 30 amino acids, which are rich in arginine (Arg) or lysine (Lys). CPPs have attracted interest in the delivery of various cargos, such as drugs, nucleic acids, and other macromolecules over the last 30 years. Among all types of CPPs, arginine-rich CPPs exhibit higher transmembrane efficiency due to bidentate bonding between their guanidinium groups and negatively charged cellular components. Besides, endosome escape can be induced by arginine-rich CPPs to protect cargo from lysosome-dependent degradation. Here we summarize the function, design principles, and penetrating mechanisms of arginine-rich CPPs, and outline their biomedical applications in drug delivery and biosensing in tumors.

Keywords: Arginine-rich CPPs; biomedical applications; penetration; tumor targeting.