Nano drug delivery system for tumor targeting is composed of drugs for tumor diagnosis or treatment and nanocarriers with targetability to tumor tissues by taking advantage of the physiological and pathological characteristics of tumor. Peptide-mediated nano drug delivery system is a relatively new research direction in the tumor targeted delivery field. In this review, we introduce four important development courses in the research direction: single functional targeted, dual functional targeted, tumor-penetrating and environment-sensitive targeted nano drug delivery system, and the corresponding design principles and typical examples. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of the peptide-mediated nano drug delivery system are discussed. Finally, in view of the current dilemma of active targeting drug delivery systems, we propose a novel tumor-targeted drug delivery strategy: the “systematic targeting” strategy. Temporally, the systematic targeting drug delivery system can stably penetrate through a series of barriers, and efficiently release the drug at the target site. Spatially, it not only kill the tumor cells, but also destroy the tumor microenvironment which is essential to the tumor growth. Ultimately, it can realize the systematic targeting therapy for tumors. With the development of related disciplines and multi-disciplinary subjects, peptide-mediated nano drug delivery system for tumor targeting will play a more important role in cancer therapy. Contents
1 Introduction
2 The physiological basis for tumor targeting
3 Peptide-mediated nano drug delivery system for tumor targeting
3.1 Single functional targeted nano drug delivery system
3.2 Dual functional targeted nano drug delivery system
3.3 Tumor penetrating nano drug delivery system
3.4 Environment-sensitive targeted nano drug delivery system
4 Strengths and weaknesses of peptide-mediated delivery system for tumor targeting
5 Summary and outlook