Design of tumor-homing and pH-responsive polypeptide-doxorubicin nanoparticles with enhanced anticancer efficacy and reduced side effects.

Tumor-homing and pH-responsive polypeptide-drug nanoparticles for targeted cancer therapy are precisely designed by site-specific drug conjugation to a bioactive and well-defined elastin-like polypeptide through an acid-labile linker. In a murine cancer model, these nanoparticles show significantly better anti-tumor efficacy and less systemic toxicity than not only free drugs, but also polypeptide-drug nanoparticles without the tumor-homing function.