Elastin-like polypeptides and their applications in anticancer drug delivery systems: a review

Abstract

Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are large molecular weight biopolymers. They have been widely studied as macromolecular carriers for targeted delivery of drugs. The aim of the present article is to review the available information on ELPs (including our recent investigations), their properties, drug delivery applications to tumor sites and future perspectives. This review also provides information on the use of short synthetic ELPs for making ELP-drug conjugates, for targeted delivery of anticancer drugs. In the present review we also focus on the point that short ELPs can also be used for targeting anticancer drugs to tumor sites as they behave similar to long ELPs regarding their capacity to undergo inverse temperature transition (ITT) behavior.

Antibiotic free selection for the high level biosynthesis of a silk-elastin-like protein

“…Materials and biomaterials based on proteins have attracted much attention in recent years due to their unique mechanical and biological properties1234 which rival those of synthetic polymers and lend them to numerous applications in a wide range of areas567891011. These protein based polymers (PBPs) are expected to substitute synthetic polymers in many applications as they offer the advantages of being monodisperse, biodegradable, biocompatible and more environmentally friendly123.…”

“…Furthermore, the genetically encoded template-based synthesis of these polymers provides for precise control of their design and the fabrication of novel customised biopolymers tailored for a particular application. Some potential applications include drug delivery, tissue engineering and as constituents of implanted medical devices, as well as surgical applications such as soft tissue augmentation and bone repair567891011.…”

Protein based therapeutic delivery agents: Contemporary developments and challenges

“…gelatin [9], silk [75] and elastin [76]), caged proteins [77]) and antibodies [78]. While this list is not exhaustively complete, this review aims to highlight advancements in the design and engineering of proteins at-large (Table 1).…”

Targeting prostate cancer cells with genetically engineered polypeptide-based micelles displaying gastrin-releasing peptide

“…Recently, elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) micelles have emerged as potential carriers for anti-cancer compounds (Herrero-Vanrell et al, 2005;MacEwan and Chilkoti, 2014;MacKay et al, 2009;Saxena and Nanjan, 2015;Shi et al, 2013). These proteins consist of repetitive Val-Pro-Gly-X-Gly penta-peptides, where X represents the guest residue, which can be any amino acid except proline (Hassouneh et al, 2012;MacEwan and Chilkoti, 2010).…”