Dual secured nano-melittin for the safe and effective eradication of cancer cells

Abstract

The clinical application of natural and synthetic amphipathic peptides (e.g., melittin) for cancer therapy is hindered by their notorious side effect, lysing red blood cells. To safely deliver a therapeutic peptide to the tumor tissue and kill cancer cells, we developed an environment-sensitive peptide delivery system, dual secured nano-sting (DSNS), through the combination of a zwitterionic glycol chitosan and disulfide bonds. Melittin loaded DSNS could kill almost 100% of MCF-7, HCT-116, SKOV-3, and NCI/ADR-RES (multidrug resistant) cancer cells at the concentration of 5 μM, while not showing any hemolytic effect.