In Vitro and in Vivo Delivery of Therapeutic Proteins Using Cell Penetrating Peptides

The failure of proteins to penetrate mammalian cells or target tumor cells restricts their value as therapeutic tools in a variety of diseases such as cancers. Recently, protein transduction domains (PTDs) or cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) have been shown to promote the delivery of therapeutic proteins or peptides into live cells. The successful delivery of proteins mainly depends on their physicochemical properties. Although, linear cell penetrating peptides are one of the most effective delivery vehicles; but currently, cyclic CPPs has been developed to potently transport bioactive full-length proteins into cells. Up to now, several small protein transduction domains from viral proteins including Tat or VP22 could be fused to other peptides or proteins to entry them in various cell types at a dose-dependent approach. A major disadvantage of PTD-fusion proteins is primary uptake into endosomal vesicles leading to inefficient release of the fusion proteins into the cytosol. Recently, non-covalent complex formation (Chariot) between proteins and CPPs has attracted a special interest to overcome some delivery limitations (e.g., toxicity). Many preclinical and clinical trials of CPP-based delivery are currently under evaluation. Generally, development of more efficient protein transduction domains would significantly increase the potency of protein therapeutics. Moreover, the synergistic or combined effects of CPPs with other delivery systems for protein/peptide drug delivery would promote their therapeutic effects in cancer and other diseases. In this review, we will describe the functions and implications of CPPs for delivering the therapeutic proteins or peptides in preclinical and clinical studies.