Skin protein-derived peptide-conjugated vesicular nanocargos for selected skin cell targeting and consequent activation?

Journal of Materials Chemistry B Pub Date: 2021-06-02 DOI: 10.1039/D1TB00935D

Abstract

Several studies have reported that a drug nanocarrier conjugated with ligands having cell binding ability improves drug delivery performance, but multiple cell-targeting and the resultant activation in designated cells has not been investigated yet. This study reports a skin cell multi-targeting vesicular nanocargo system. We selectively conjugated several skin protein-derived cell-targeting peptides (CTPs), including KTTKS, NAP-amide, and Lam332, to amphiphilic polymer-reinforced lipid nanovesicles (PLNVs) to specifically target fibroblasts, melanocytes, and keratinocytes, respectively, through effective association with the corresponding cell membrane receptors. We then showed that CTP-conjugated PLNVs specifically bind to the designated skin cells, even in a mixture of different types of skin cells, eventually leading to skin cell multi-targeting and consequent activation. These results highlight that this CTP-conjugated PLNV system has significant potential for developing an intelligent cellular drug delivery technology for dermatological applications.

Graphical abstract: Skin protein-derived peptide-conjugated vesicular nanocargos for selected skin cell targeting and consequent activation
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