A DFX-based iron nanochelator for cancer therapy.

Iron as an essential element, is involved in various cellular functions and maintaining cell viability, cancer cell is more dependent on iron than normal cell due to its chief characteristic of hyper-proliferation. Despite that some of the iron chelators exhibited potent and broad antitumor activity, severe systemic toxicities have limited their clinical application. Polyaminoacids, as both drug-delivery platform and therapeutic agents, have attracted great interests owing to their different medical applications and biocompatibility.