Enhancing antitumor activity of silver nanoparticles by modification with cell-penetrating peptides

Abstract

Recently, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been used for cancer treatment. To achieve a successful anti-cancer activity, AgNP needs to be delivered sufficiently to the cells. Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are small cationic peptides that have ability to transport various cargos across cell membranes. In this study, a strategy was developed for cancer treatment, where AgNP modified with CPPs displayed dramatically antitumor activity in MCF-7 cell lines. Peptides-modified AgNPs showed significant enhancement in killing tumor cells by increasing the uptake of AgNP into cell lines and could be a new class of nano-drug for cancer treatment.