Abstract

PEPTIDE DRUG CONJUGATES IN CANCER THERAPY

Devi Nidana S.S.*, Neethu Shaji, Silpa Saji S., Akhila S., Elham Nazeer, Bravin D. Emmanuel and Prabha B.

ABSTRACT

Cancer therapy is always challenging as all currently used chemotherapeutics are in their majority highly toxic, causing severe side effects. Thus, with the aim to enhance their narrow therapeutic index, a wide variety of strategies have been explored. One of the typical biological consequences of cancer is the over expression or unique expression of certain cell surface receptors. These ―biomarkers‖ are often receptors whose activation can lead to enhanced proliferation, migration and invasion of cancer cells and tumor angiogenesis, which are all essential for tumor progression. Selective targeting of these receptors by high affinity biomolecular carriers can mitigate the selectivity problems of chemotherapy Selective drug delivery via special carriers represents a viable approach to deal with tumors with higher efficacy while using lower doses of the anticancer agent. Specifically, peptide–drug conjugates (PDCs) operate as potent drug delivery carriers and thus have attracted considerable attention over the last decades. Several types of ligands have been tested as potential drug carriers, the most celebrated of which are antibodies. However, there remain a number of pitfalls to their use. In this review, we summarize the strategies, biological activity, challenges and future perspectives of peptide drug conjugates (PDCs) in the targeted treatment of cancer.

Keywords: Peptide drug conjugates (PDCs), Antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), Integrin.