Cathepsin B-Responsive Nanocarriers: Silica and Liposomes for Precision Cancer Therapy

Enzyme-responsive nanocarriers hold great promises for precision delivery of therapeutics. Silica nanocarriers and liposomes functionalized with protease-cleavable peptide linkers (e.g., cathepsin B-cleavable peptide) have emerged as powerful platforms for selectively releasing therapeutic payloads within tumor microenvironments. This review presents recent advances in cathepsin B-responsive systems, emphasizing design principles such as peptide-linker selection, nanoparticle engineering, and incorporation into antibody-drug conjugates. We also address persisting challenges in clinical translation, including enzyme expression variability and linker stability in order to discuss strategies to overcome these barriers through advanced bioengineering approaches.