Self-assembling peptides for anticancer drug delivery

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Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the developed countries only after heart disease, causing over 70,000 fatalities each year in Canada alone. Presently about 50% cancer patients can be cured, with chemotherapy contributing to cure in 10-15% of the patients. All clinical use of the anticancer drugs involves weighing of benefits against unwanted side-effects. To overcome this bottleneck, targeted drug delivery has been heavily pursued. A new and effective delivery strategy has recently emerged when peptides (small proteins) are used in the design of drug delivery systems. In this application, we propose to develop effective therapeutic delivery technologies using a newly-discovered class of peptides--ionic-complementary, amphiphilic, self-assembling peptides. These peptides not only possess specific drug targeting functions but also derive surfactant-like characteristics, and hence self-assembly capability, from their unique molecular