Figure 4.

(A) Preparation of self-assembled peptide-derived prodrug nanoparticles capable of releasing DOX in the presence of cathepsin B. (B) The size of the self-assembled nanoparticles was confirmed by DLS and TEM with an average size of 157.4 ± 12.1 nm, while no particle formation was observed in the presence of cathepsin B. (C) CRT expression was observed as DAMPs due to the specific release of DOX in 4T1 cancer cells. (D) Enhanced tumor-targeting efficiency of nanoparticles via the EPR effect in the 4T1 tumor xenograft model at 150–200 mm³ volume. (E) Improved tumor suppression due to the release of DOX and PD-L1 blockade peptide with a dosage of 3 mg DOX/kg. (F) Immune analysis (CD8⁺ cytotoxic T cell, regulatory T cell) of excised tumor tissue following tumor suppression evaluation. Reproduced with permission [61]. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey-Kramer posthoc test was applied for statistical significance (** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.005). Copyright: Ivyspring international Publisher, 2022.