In this study, we combined a cell-penetrating gamma-peptide, PEG-1, with antimicrobial undecapeptides in order to provide compounds with anticancer properties against MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. We demonstrated that the conjugates were more cytotoxic than Ac-PEG-1 and the parent undecapeptides. We also evaluated the toxicity of the conjugates against non-malignant cells. The peptide conjugate with the best biological profile was BP77-PEG-1, which, at 10 mu M, showed a 71% growth inhibition in MDA-MB-231 cells and only a 17% inhibition in non-malignant cells. Therefore, this study suggests that PEG-1 mediated the undecapeptide delivery into cancer cells and that these conjugates are the proof-of-concept of this strategy to generate improved anticancer drugs based on peptides. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Identification of BP16 as a non-toxic cell-penetrating peptide with highly efficient drug delivery properties
BP16is a non-toxic cell-penetrating peptide with high cellular uptakein vitro. This peptide is an efficient vector for the delivery of therapeutic agents into cells, as has been shown for the anticancer drug chlorambucil.