Avidin-biotin interaction mediated peptide assemblies as efficient gene delivery vectors for cancer therapy

Gene therapy offers a bright future for the treatment of cancers. One of the research highlights focuses on smart gene delivery vectors with good biocompatibility and tumor-targeting ability. Here, a novel gene vector self-assembled through avidin-biotin interaction with optimized targeting functionality, biotinylated tumor-targeting peptide/avidin/biotinylated cell-penetrating peptide (TAC), was designed and prepared to mediate the in vitro and in vivo delivery of p53 gene. TAC exhibited efficient DNA-binding ability and low cytotoxicity. In in vitro transfection assay, TAC/p53 complexes showed higher transfection efficiency and expression amount of p53 protein in MCF-7 cells as compared with 293T and HeLa cells, primarily due to the specific recognition between tumor-targeting peptides and receptors on MCF-7 cells. Additionally, by in situ administration of TAC/p53 complexes into tumor-bearing mice, the expression of p53 gene was obviously upregulated in tumor cells, and the tumor growth was significantly suppressed. This study provides an alternative and unique strategy to assemble functionalized peptides, and the novel self-assembled vector TAC developed is a promising gene vector for cancer therapy.