Glycosylated and non-glycosylated quantum dot-displayed peptides trafficked indiscriminately inside lung cancer cells but discriminately sorted in normal lung cells: An indispensable part in nanoparticle-based intracellular drug delivery.

Difference in sub-cellular trafficking of glycosylated and naked peptides, between normal and lung cancer cells, was established. Normal lung tissue discriminately sorted glycosylated from non-glycosylated peptides by allowing golgi localization of the glycosylated peptides while restricting golgi entry of the naked peptides. This mechanism was surprisingly not observed in its cancer cell counterpart.