Peptide Coated Platinum Nanoparticles as Antitumor Agents

Project Information

PepPtNPAntiCan

Grant agreement ID: 705970

DOI

10.3030/705970

Project closed

EC signature date 24 February 2016

Start date 1 March 2016

End date 28 February 2018

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 187 419,60

EU contribution

€ 187 419,60

Coordinated by

EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH
Switzerland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PepPtNPAntiCan (Peptide Coated Platinum Nanoparticles as Antitumor Agents)

Reporting period: 2016-03-01 to 2018-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Cisplatin is an efficient chemotherapeutic drug, yet it suffers from two main disadvantages: evolving drug resistance and relatively high toxicity. There is therefore a need to develop successful candidates for anticancer treatments with reduced toxicity and improved activity. One of the latest approaches for dealing with these drawbacks has been the development of platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) as a source of Pt(II) ions. However, this solution is far from effective, mainly due to obstacles in cancer cell targeting and a lack of nuclear penetration.
The overall objectives of this project were to form PtNPs in a straight forward process that have high cytotoxicity and tumor selectivity.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

We have developed peptide-coated PtNPs that are stable for more than 12 months, both as a suspension in water and as a dry powder. The peptide was identified from a combinatorial screening of more than 3000 different sequences and further optimized to provide for high water solubility and long-time stability of the PtNPs. The PtNPs form in a single step and are small and monodisperse. In addition, they were formed in water at room temperature. They were also covalently functionalized with moieties that allow for monitoring and improving their cellular uptake, before and also after PtNP formation. This resulted in PtNPs that exhibit high cytotoxicity and specificity for certain types of carcinoma cells.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Based on the successful in vitro results, we are currently pursuing further in vivo investigation, if successful, we expect these PtNPs to be patented and be further investigated toward pharmaceutical application. In this case, the potential impact of such system can be enormous in the field of chemotherapeutics.

ptnps-peptide.jpg