title: Elastin-like polypeptide for improved drug delivery for anticancer therapy: preclinical studies and future applications.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite their poor specificity, small molecule drugs are considered more powerful and effective than other current chemotherapies. A promising method for targeting these anticancer drugs to tumors, elastin-like polypeptides (ELP), has recently emerged. When an anticancer drug that has been conjugated to an ELP is administered, and focal hyperthermia applied, the thermoresponsive properties and enhanced permeability and retention effects of the ELP facilitate drug aggregation within tumor tissues. By incorporating a cell penetrating peptide onto this ELP-chemotherapeutic construct, even greater drug uptake into tumor cells can be achieved.
  
  
  METHODS
  The review explores the preclinical study progress of ELP-based drug delivery technology and discusses its potential in cancer therapy. Recent experimental work has shown that a delivery construct consisting of an ELP-therapeutic peptide (e.g., the c-Myc-inhibitory peptide, or the p21(WAF1/CIP1)-derived peptide), as well as ELP-small molecule drugs (e.g., doxorubicin, paclitaxel), can be thermally targeted to accumulate in tumors and diminish their growth.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ELP drug delivery technology is complementary and synergistic to current drug delivery modalities and based on existing hyperthermia technology. By using this technology to achieve chemotherapeutic targeting, efficacy can be improved and side effects reduced in comparison with current regimens, providing treatment alternatives and/or augmenting current therapies for cancer treatment.
authors.affiliation: University of Mississippi Medical Center, Department of Biochemistry , 2500 North State Street, Jackson, MS 39216 , USA +1 601 984 1510 ; +1 601 984 1501 ; draucher@umc.edu.
authors.forename: Jung Su
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.forename: Drazen
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raucher
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D004549:Elastin / Q000737:chemistry; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry; D010539:Permeability
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D010455:Peptides; D004317:Doxorubicin; D004549:Elastin; D017239:Paclitaxel
keywords: anticancer therapy; drug delivery; lastin-like polypeptide; thermally targeting