Hybrid peptides as platform for synchronized combination therapy

Combination therapy, where two or more therapeutic agents are combined to target different cellular pathways, is an effective tool in cancer treatment but often difficult to execute. Here we present the collagen peptide-based platform that allows for synchronous and colocalized cellular delivery of three different agents. The peptide is a hybrid between collagen and cell penetrating peptide (CPP) that assembles into a heterotrimer helix and forms fully organic, high aspect ratio nanoparticles. The validity of the approach was tested with three chemically different agents (Paclitaxel, Doxorubicin, and 5-Fluorouracil; a combination used in clinical treatment of (ER)-positive and (PR)-positive breast cancer) conjugated to N-terminus of the peptide. The design of this peptide-based drug delivery system provides several advantages: it avoids drug loading problems; removes the need for orthogonal synthesis; and allows for colocalized delivery of up to three drugs (which leads to the same biodistribution for each drug). In addition, hybrid collagen/CPP peptides are known to enhance cellular uptake and improve solubility of drugs. The synergistic effect, in terms of enhanced efficacy, of the Paclitaxel-Doxorubicin-5-Fluorouracil combination was also calculated. We envision self-assembling peptides as a platform for drug codelivery that can be expanded into a library of personalized combinations that may also include other functionalities like targeting or imaging.