How Peptides are Used in Cancer Research

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Maxim Peptide

Download/View the PDF
The clinical study of peptides has been long been
considered to be important and crucial research (Fields, et
al). aining a complete understanding of the operational
mechanics of peptides could lead to a wide range of
important scientific disco!eries. "ne of the most !ital
areas of in!estigation is how peptides can potentially inhibit
cancer proteins. (Thundimadathil, #.)
The Functionality of
Peptides and $ancer
Peptides are short chains of amino acid monomer molecules lin%ed through a co!alent chemical bond (&citable).
They are designed to start, promote, and prohibit se!eral cellular functions through chemical secretion'from
paracrine and endocrine signals to !arious growth factors and neurotransmitters. "perating at the cellular le!el,
peptides secrete elements that promote and regulate a wide !ariety of cellular systems. (Peptide uide).
(i%e peptides, cancer)s origins are also cellular based. *t is a disease characteri+ed by uncontrolled cellular
di!ision. Production of e,cess cells ha!e the ability to in!ade other cellular tissues. This in!asion results in the
formation of a tumor. *f this tumorous mass is left to grow, it de!elops !asculari+ation (the formation of blood
!essels) and e!entually metastasis (spreading of the disease throughout the organism). These latter two steps play
a ma-or role in transitioning a tumor from a benign into a malignant state. .hen a tumor reaches malignancy, it can
cause serious issues, including death of the organism.
$linical research has studied the nature of peptides to determine the role that they can play in pre!enting the
cancer from initiali+ing, as well as combating the cancer in the e!ent that it establishes itself inside of the organism
and starts to metastati+e (Thundimadathil, #.).
Peptides as an /ffecti!e 0lly
There are se!eral reasons why science is turning to peptides in the search for the control and eradication of cancer,
including1
&i+e 2 3ecause peptides are molecular in nature, can infiltrate and interact with the cancer4causing agents at
the cellular le!el.
/ase of synthesis and modification 2 The nature of peptides is such that they can easily replicate and change
beha!ioral patterns at a cellular le!el by affecting basic regulatory procedures such as inhibiting or promoting
secretions.
Tumor penetration 2 $linical studies of animal test sub-ects ha!e determined that peptides can infiltrate tumors
e,tremely efficiently, gi!ing them the ability to potentially disrupt cellular production within the tumor after its
formation. This would lessen the ris% of a tumor transforming from benign to that of a malignant state.
/,cellent biocompatibility 2 The term biocompatibility refers to the ability of a material or substance to perform
with an appropriate host response in a specific situation. The term describes how well a peptide interacts with a
host sub-ect. $linical studies on animal test sub-ects ha!e shown that peptides do interact efficiently with
cancer cells. (Thayer, pg. 56478)
These attributes indicate that peptides represent a potentially promising therapeutic agent in the fight against
cancer. (Thundimadathil, #)
Major Peptide Applications against Cancer
$linical research on animal test sub-ects, e,ploring the comple, interactions between peptides and cancer4causing
agents, has suggested se!eral different a!enues in which peptides may be applied to !arious cancer scenarios.
(Thundimadathil, #)
The most promising application is through peptides that target (9:9 (;iller, er al< 7654766). These particular
peptides act as an agonist, meaning that they bind to a cell in a way that regulates (9:9 receptors. The process
of inhibiting the cell receptors suggests that peptides could be beneficial in fighting prostate cancer.
0 second application being considered in!ol!es peptides
as radionuclide carriers (&trows%i and 3la%e, 5=>45?>). 0
pre!alent amount of neuroendocrine tumors are mar%ed by
an aggressi!e o!ere,pression of somatostatin receptors.
&omatostain is the peptide hormone secreted to regulate
the endocrine system. Their receptors also carry an impact
on neurotransmission and cell proliferation< hyperacti!ity of
these receptors may lead to an o!erabundance in cellular
production which may in turn cause tumors to form. The
introduction of a peptide that is a radionuclide, or a
radioacti!e nuclide, can help neutrali+e these
o!ere,pressed receptors. $linical studies on animal test
sub-ects ha!e determined that the neutrali+ation has to do
with the somatostatin receptors) inherent ma%eup. The somatostatin receptors found in tumor tissues are denser in
nature than non4tumor tissues. This difference in density creates a higher rate of attraction to radionuclide
peptides, and therefore is sub-ect to targeting by the peptides more readily than non4tumor tissue. 3ecause of its
lin% to the endocrine system, there is particular interest in this application to combat cancers produced by the
endocrine system. .hile this process does ha!e the potential to play a role in the field of nuclear medicine, it
should be noted that because of the peptide)s radioacti!e nature, there are many concerns about this approach.
0 third application currently being evaluated is peptide !accines (9enderson, et al, 76@>476=7). This method of
acti!e immuni+ation is deri!ed from the concept of introducing immune cells or molecules into the animal test
sub-ect. The basis for this potential type of cancer treatment depends on !accines containing peptides deri!ed from
a protein seAuence of antigens produced by the cells of a corresponding tumor. These antigens, which are also
%nown as tumor4associated antigens or T00s, are typically identified as in!aders by the animal test sub-ects)
immune system. :eintroducing these antigens !ia a !accination can potentially induce a systematic immune
response by the animal test sub-ect that could result in the destruction of cancers throughout the organism. "n a
larger scale, this type of treatment may lead to the regression of a tumor. .hile this approach does show
potential, its flaw, according to current research, is that the !accines tend to ha!e a wea% immunogenicity'e.g. the
peptides do not pro!o%e a strong enough immune response.
0 fourth application that is currently being scrutini+ed !ia clinical research is using peptides that contain the
property of cytoto,icity (&chally and Bagy, pg. 545C)'the property of being to,ic to cells. These peptides can be
designed to form bonds with specific receptors that are %nown to o!ere,press the cells that can form tumors, such
as somatostatin. This design enables the peptide to target a cell e,pressing the desired receptor and therefore %ill
the resultant cancerous cells. These particular peptides are sometimes referred to as homing peptides because
they are specifically designed to hone in and neutrali+e or eliminate diseased tissue within the organism..
The final ma-or application that is currently undergoing clinical analysis is the deployment of what are %nown as
anticancer peptides (:osca, et al, pg. 55854555=). These peptideswor% by pre!enting angiogenesis , en+ymes,
signal transduction pathways, proteins, gene e,pression, or protein4to4protein interactions from occurring. These
pre!entions can disrupt the process of tumor growth and neutrali+e the cancer)s growth.
The Importance of Clinical Research
.hile !arious forms of clinical research performed on animal test sub-ects ha!e determined se!eral potential
positi!e a!enues in which peptides may be utili+ed to treat cancer, it should be noted that there is still a host of
research that is left to be done on this sub-ect. There is still a significant amount of in!estigation reAuired before the
cancer4battling attributes e,hibited by peptides can be considered definiti!e. Bonetheless, results that clinical
studies ha!e produced are encouraging, as these methodologies ad!ance into the future.
&ources
Fields, regg 3< 0lberico, F.< .ade, #.D.< D*nternational #ournal of Peptide :esearch and TheraputicsE
&citable, DPeptide DefinitionE, www.nature.com/scitable/definition/peptide465?
Thundimadathil, #yothi< D$ancer Treatment Fsing Peptides1 $urrent Therapies and Future ProspectsE< #ournal of
0mino 0cids, Volume 7857
Peptide uide, www.peptideguide.com
Thayer, 0.;.< D*mpro!ing Peptides,E $hemical and /ngineering Bews, Vol. G>, pg. 56478, 7855
;iller, ..:.< &cott, ..B.< and ;orris, :< Drowth of 9uman 3reast $ancer $ells *nhibited by a (uteni+ing 9ormone4
:eleasing 9ormone 0gonist,E Bature, !ol. 656, no. @>>>< pg. 7654766, 5>G@
&trows%i, ;.H< and 3la%e< 0.D.< DFunction and /,pression of &omatostatin :eceptors of the /ndocrine Pancreas<E
;olecular and $ellular /ndocrinology, !ol. 7G=, no 547< pg. 5=>45?>, 788G
:. 0. 9enderson, &. ;ossman, B. Bairn, and ;. 0. $hee!er, D$ancer Vaccines and *mmunotherapies1 /merging
Perspecti!es,E Vaccine, !ol. 76, pp. 76@>276=7, 788@
0. V. &chally and 0. Bagy, D$ancer $hemotherapy 3ased on Targeting of $ytoto,ic Peptide $on-ugates to their
:eceptors on Tumors,E /uropean #ournal of /ndocrinology, !ol. 5C5, no. 5, pp. 525C, 5>>>
/. V. :osca, #. /. Ios%ima%i, $. . :i!era, B. 3. Pandey, 0. P. Tami+, and 0. &. Popel, D0nti4angiogenic Peptides
for $ancer Therapeutics,E $urrent Pharmaceutical 3iotechnology, !ol. 57, no. G, pp. 55852555=, 7855