posted on 2020-03-06, 09:30authored byJ. Johannes Eksteen, Dominik Ausbacher, Terje Vasskog, Øystein Rekdal, John S. M. Svendsen
Short histidine-rich peptides could
serve as novel activatable
vectors for delivering cytotoxic payloads to tumor and neovasculature
cells. This explorative study reports preliminary results showing
that zinc ions, which are found in elevated levels at neovasculature
sites, can trigger the intracellular delivery of a short antimicrobial
peptide when conjugated to a histidine-rich peptide through a disulfide
bond. The importance of exofacial thiols in the mode of action of
these disulfide-linked conjugates is also shown.