%0 Journal Article
%T Peptide-Guided Nanoparticle Drug Delivery for Cardiomyocytes.
%A Li D
%A Taylor A
%A Shi H
%A Zhou F
%A Li P
%A Joshi J
%A Zhu W
%A Wang S
%J Biology (Basel)
%V 13
%N 1
%D 2024 Jan 16
%M 38248477
%F 5.168
%R 10.3390/biology13010047
%X <B>BACKGROUND: </B>Nanoparticles (NPs) have been extensively utilized as a drug delivery system to control the release of therapeutic agents to treat cardiac injuries. However, despite the advantages of utilizing NP-based drug delivery for treating heart diseases, the current delivery system lacks specificity in targeting the cardiac tissue, thus limiting its application.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>We created three linear peptides, each consisting of 16-24 amino acids. These peptides were conjugated on the surface of NPs, resulting in the formation of cardiac targeting peptide (CTP)-NPs (designated as CTP-NP1, CTP-NP2, and CTP-NP3). To assess their effectiveness, we compared the binding efficiency of these three CTP-NPs to human and mouse cardiomyocytes. Additionally, we determined their distribution 24 h after injecting the CTP-NPs intravenously into adult C57BL/6J mice.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>When compared to control NPs without CTP (Con-NPs), all three CTP-NPs exhibited significantly increased binding affinity to both human and mouse cardiomyocytes in vitro and enhanced retention in mouse hearts in vivo. A thorough assessment of the heart sections demonstrated that the binding specificity of CTP-NP3 to cardiomyocytes in vivo was significantly greater than that of Con-NPs. None of the three CTP-NPs were proven to cause cardiomyocyte apoptosis.<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>Biocompatible and safe CTP-NP3 can target the heart via binding to cardiomyocytes. This approach of targeting specific molecules-coated NPs may help in delivering therapeutic compounds to cardiomyocytes for the treatment of heart diseases with high efficacy and low toxicity to other tissues.