Influence of designer self‐assembling nanofiber scaffolds containing anti‐cancer peptide motif on hepatoma carcinoma cells

Nanotechnology provides a novel scope for cancer therapeutics. Nanoscale platforms could influence the survival, adhesion, and migration of cancer cells through altering the tumor microenvironments. We report here the development of an anti-tumor material designed specifically for cancer therapy. We synthesized a 48-amino acid peptide RADA-KLA, which could self-assemble into nanostructures with antitumor activities. We tested the microstructure of RADA-KLA nanofiber scaffold using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and accessed rheological properties of the material. Then, we demonstrated the effects of RADA-KLA nanofibers on hepatoma carcinoma cells. We found that RADA-KLA self-assembling peptide scaffold could induce cell death, and inhibit adhesion and migration of hepatoma carcinoma cells. Our results indicate that the designer peptide scaffold has anti-tumor activities and could be used for cancer therapy. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 2329-2334, 2017.