Molecularly Stimuli-Responsive Self-Assembled Peptide Nanoparticles for Targeted Imaging and Therapy

Abstract

Self-assembly has emerged as an extensively used method for constructing biomaterials with sizes ranging from nanometers to micrometers. Peptides have been extensively investigated for self-assembly. They are widely applied owing to their desirable biocompatibility, biodegradability, and tunable architecture. The development of peptide-based nanoparticles often requires complex synthetic processes involving chemical modification and supramolecular self-assembly. Stimuli-responsive peptide nanoparticles, also termed "smart" nanoparticles, capable of conformational and chemical changes in response to stimuli, have emerged as a class of promising materials. These smart nanoparticles find a diverse range of biomedical applications, including drug delivery, diagnostics, and biosensors. Stimuli-responsive systems include external stimuli (such as light, temperature, ultrasound, and magnetic fields) and internal stimuli (such as pH, redox environment, salt concentration, and biomarkers), facilitating the generation of a library of self-assembled biomaterials for biomedical imaging and therapy. Thus, in this review, we mainly focus on peptide-based nanoparticles built by self-assembly strategy and systematically discuss their mechanisms in response to various stimuli. Furthermore, we summarize the diverse range of biomedical applications of peptide-based nanomaterials, including diagnosis and therapy, to demonstrate their potential for medical translation.

Reactive Oxygen Species-Responsive Sequentially Targeted AIE Fluorescent Probe for Precisely Identifying the Atherosclerotic Plaques

“…Clustering of lipid-loaded macrophages at the artery vessel wall usually led to early lesions of atherosclerotic plaques and gradually developed into a lipid core into the vascular lumen . Atherosclerosis was the major cause of myocardial infarction and stroke, which usually resulted from occlusion of arteries following atherosclerotic plaque rupture . Therefore, lipid accumulation was a key feature of the formation and progression of atherosclerotic plaques.…”

“…13 Atherosclerosis was the major cause of myocardial infarction and stroke, which usually resulted from occlusion of arteries following atherosclerotic plaque rupture. 34 Therefore, lipid accumulation was a key feature of the resulted in a weak red fluorescence signal around the aortic wall (Figure 4B). In high contrast, a significant red fluorescence signal was observed around the aortic wall from TPAMCF-treated ApoE −/− mice (Figure 4D).…”

“…A PS-specific peptide with an amino acid sequence of CLIKKPF (CF) has been demonstrated to bind to membranes containing externalized PS of apoptotic cells, which have high affinity and specificity for PS. 34 Additionally, the microenvironment of atherosclerotic plaques is rich in reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can be utilized as the trigger for controlling cargo release. 11 Based on the above biological targets and unique biopathological environment, various nanoagents have been engineered as multifunctional nanoprobes or stimuliresponsive nanoplatforms to achieve precise imaging or therapy of atherosclerotic plaques.…”

“…A viable alternative to large proteins is the use of smaller peptides to target PS with high affinity and specificity. A PS-specific peptide with an amino acid sequence of CLIKKPF (CF) has been demonstrated to bind to membranes containing externalized PS of apoptotic cells, which have high affinity and specificity for PS . Additionally, the microenvironment of atherosclerotic plaques is rich in reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can be utilized as the trigger for controlling cargo release .…”

Synergistic Induction of Solvent and Ligand-Substitution in Single-Crystal to Single-Crystal Transformations toward a MOF with Photocatalytic Dye Degradation

“…Smart materials, such as responsive peptide nanoparticles, controllable drug release agents, self-doped polymers, photochromic materials, are fascinating due to their ability to sense their environment and external-stimuli, such as pH, light, heat, chemical, with subsequent modification of their intrinsic chemical and physical properties . Within the list of those intelligent materials, the blueprintable materials such as coordination polymers (CPs) and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown their attractiveness because of their designable molecular architecture and/or tunable functionality that delivers a wide range of potential applications as catalyst, drug delivery, chemical sensor, capture, separation, as well as in polluted-water treatments that serves the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN). − Structural transformations in these CP and MOF materials can undergo through various pathways including single-crystal to single-crystal (SCSC) that the mosaicity and crystallinity of the transforming crystal preserved during the transformation. − Since the first SCSC transformation behavior in CPs was revealed, numbers of responsive CPs and MOFs have been explored and reported.…”