title: Tuning the anticancer activity of a novel pro-apoptotic peptide using gold nanoparticle platforms.
abstract: Pro-apoptotic peptides induce intrinsic apoptosis pathway in cancer cells. However, poor cellular penetration of the peptides is often associated with limited therapeutic efficacy. In this report, a series of peptide-gold nanoparticle platforms were developed to evaluate the anticancer activity of a novel alpha-lipoic acid-peptide conjugate, LA-WKRAKLAK, with respect to size and shape of nanoparticles. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were found to enhance cell internalization as well as anticancer activity of the peptide conjugates. The smaller nanospheres showed a higher cytotoxicity, morphological change and cellular uptake compared to larger nanospheres and nanorods, whereas nanorods showed more hemolytic activity compared to nanospheres. The findings suggested that the anticancer and biological effects of the peptides induced by intrinsic apoptotic pathway were tuned by peptide-functionalized gold nanoparticles (P-AuNPs) as a function of their size and shape.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Biomaterials and Medical Biomaterials Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akrami
authors.affiliation: Peptide Chemistry Research Center, K. N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Balalaie
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.|Department of Nanobiotechnology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Saman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hosseinkhani
authors.affiliation: Department of Nanobiotechnology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alipour
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Department of Biochemistry, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fahimeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Salehi
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bahador
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Biomaterials and Medical Biomaterials Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.|Department of Pharmaceutics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, PO. Box: 14155-6451, Iran.
authors.forename: Ismaeil
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Haririan
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001693:Biological Transport, Active; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005260:Female; D006046:Gold; D006461:Hemolysis / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010316:Particle Size; D008063:Thioctic Acid / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D009842:Oligopeptides; D008063:Thioctic Acid; D006046:Gold