PEPTIDE-COATED POLYMER CARRIERS

摘要

The invention provides a gelatin particles comprising a gelatin core, one or more drugs or diagnostic agents impregnated into the gelatin core, and a layer of peptides conjugated to the surface of the gelatin core. The peptides can be targeting peptides that include about 4 to about 100 amino acid residues including a sequence of amino acids cleavable by an enzyme overexpressed in cancer cells. The targeting peptides can also include a fluorophore at one terminus of the peptide, a quencher molecule at a separate portion or terminus of the peptide. The layer of targeting peptides can inhibit or prevent the release of the drugs or diagnostic agents from the gelatin core. In the presence of enzymes overexpressed in cancer cells, the conjugated peptides can be cleaved and the drugs or diagnostic agents are thereby released from the gelatin particles.