Structure-Based Programming of Supramolecular Assemblies in Living Cells for Selective Cancer Cell Inhibition

Here we report on the design, synthesis, and assembly of an enzymatic programmable peptide system inspired by endocytic processes to induce molecular assemblies formation spatiotemporally in living cancer cells, resulting in glioblastoma cell death mainly in necroptosis. Our results indicate the stability and glycosylation of molecules play an essential role in determining the final bioactivity. Detailed mechanistic studies by CLSM, Flow cytometry, western blot, and Bio-EM suggest the site-specific formation of assemblies, which could induce the LMP and activate the downstream cell death pathway. Moreover, we also demonstrate that our strategy can boost the activity of commercial chemotherapy drug by escaping lysosome sequestration. We expected this work would be expanded towards artificial intelligent biomaterials for cancer therapy and imaging precisely.

Automated summary

By designing, synthesizing, and assembling an enzymatic programmable peptide system, we induced molecular assemblies formation spatiotemporally in living cancer cells, resulting in mainly necroptosis of glioblastoma cells. The stability and glycosylation of molecules play a crucial role in determining the bioactivity, as evidenced by detailed mechanistic studies showing site-specific formation of assemblies capable of activating the downstream cell death pathway.