Self-assembled phenylisoxazole-peptide hybrid assemblies and their interactions with breast and ovarian tumor cells

A new self-assembled microscale biomaterial was developed by conjugating carboxyl functionalized phenylisoxazole with spermidine and attachment of the peptide sequence WSGPGVWGASVK (WSG). The chemotherapeutic drug topotecan was then entrapped into the assemblies. Release studies showed an initial burst release followed by a steady release. Furthermore the drug entrapped assemblies were potent against cell proliferation, mitigated cell migration and induced the loss of lamellopodia in breast MDA-MB-231 tumor cells and ovarian SK-OV-3. Higher efficacy was observed for MDA-MB-231 cells. Thus, a new phenylisoxazole-sperimidyl amide-WSG nanovehicle was developed for targeting MDA-MB-231 and SK-OV-3 cancer cells.