Collagen-binding molecules that selectively home to tumor vasculature and methods of using same

1. An isolated peptide comprising the amino acid sequence CREKA (SEQ ID NO: 1), said peptide having a length of less than 100 residues, wherein said peptide selectively homes to tumor vasculature.

2. The isolated peptide of claim 1 , said peptide having a length of less than 50 residues.

3. The isolated peptide of claim 1 , said peptide having a length of less than 40 residues.

4. The isolated peptide of claim 1 , said peptide having a length of less than 35 residues.

5. The isolated peptide of claim 1 , said peptide having a length of less than 30 residues.

6. The isolated peptide of claim 1 , said peptide having a length of less than 25 residues.

7. The isolated peptide of claim 1 , said peptide having a length of less than 20 residues.

8. The isolated peptide of claim 1 , said peptide having a length of less than 15 residues.

9. The isolated peptide of claim 1 , said peptide having a length of less than 12 residues.

10. The isolated peptide of claim 1 , said peptide having a length of less than 10 residues.

11. The isolated peptide of claim 1 , said peptide having a length of less than 9 residues.

12. The isolated peptide of claim 1 , said peptide having a length of less than 8 residues.

13. The isolated peptide of claim 1 , said peptide having a length of less than 7 residues.

14. The isolated peptide of claim 1 , said peptide having a length of less than 6 residues.

15. An isolated peptide comprising the amino acid sequence CREKA (SEQ ID NO: 1), said peptide having a length of less than 100 residues, wherein said peptide selectively binds collagen.

16. The isolated peptide of claim 15 , said peptide having a length of less than 50 residues.

17. The isolated peptide of claim 15 , said peptide having a length of less than 40 residues.

18. The isolated peptide of claim 15 , said peptide having a length of less than 35 residues.

19. The isolated peptide of claim 15 , said peptide having a length of less than 30 residues.

20. The isolated peptide of claim 15 , said peptide having a length of less than 25 residues.

21. The isolated peptide of claim 15 , said peptide having a length of less than 20 residues.

22. The isolated peptide of claim 15 , said peptide having a length of less than 15 residues.

23. The isolated peptide of claim 15 , said peptide having a length of less than 12 residues.

24. The isolated peptide of claim 15 , said peptide having a length of less than 10 residues.

25. The isolated peptide of claim 15 , said peptide having a length of less than 9 residues.

26. The isolated peptide of claim 15 , said peptide having a length of less than 8 residues.

27. The isolated peptide of claim 15 , said peptide having a length of less than 7 residues.

28. The isolated peptide of claim 15 , said peptide having a length of less than 6 residues.

29. A conjugate comprising a moiety linked to a homing peptide comprising the amino acid sequence CREKA (SEQ ID NO: 1), wherein said homing peptide selectively homes to tumor vasculature.

30. The conjugate of claim 29 , wherein said homing meleeide peptide selectively homes to breast tumor vasculature.

31. The conjugate of claim 29 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 50 residues.

32. The conjugate of claim 29 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 40 residues.

33. The conjugate of claim 29 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 35 residues.

34. The conjugate of claim 29 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 30 residues.

35. The conjugate of claim 29 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 25 residues.

36. The conjugate of claim 29 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 20 residues.

37. The conjugate of claim 29 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 15 residues.

38. The conjugate of claim 29 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 12 residues.

39. The conjugate of claim 29 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 10 residues.

40. The conjugate of claim 29 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 9 residues.

41. The conjugate of claim 29 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 8 residues.

42. The conjugate of claim 29 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 7 residues.

43. The conjugate of claim 29 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 6 residues.

44. The conjugate of claim 29 , wherein said moiety is a therapeutic agent.

45. The conjugate of claim 44 , wherein said therapeutic agent is a cancer chemotherapeutic agent.

46. The conjugate of claim 44 , wherein said therapeutic agent is a cytotoxic agent.

47. The conjugate of claim 44 , wherein said therapeutic agent is an anti-angiogenic agent.

48. The conjugate of claim 44 , wherein said therapeutic agent is a polypeptide.

49. The conjugate of claim 29 , wherein said moiety is a small molecule.

50. The conjugate of claim 29 , wherein said moiety comprises a virus.

51. The conjugate of claim 50 , wherein said virus is a phage.

52. The conjugate of claim 29 , comprising at least two homing peptides that each selectively homes to tumor vasculature.

53. The conjugate of claim 52 , wherein said at least two homing peptides each independently comprises the amino acid sequence CREKA (SEQ ID NO: 1).

54. The conjugate of claim 29 , comprising at least ten homing peptides that each selectively homes to tumor vasculature.

55. The conjugate of claim 54 , wherein said at least ten homing peptides each independently comprises the amino acid sequence CREKA (SEQ ID NO: 1).

56. The conjugate of claim 29 , comprising at least 100 homing peptides that each selectively homes to tumor vasculature.

57. The conjugate of claim 56 , wherein said at least 100 homing peptides each independently comprises the amino acid sequence CREKA (SEQ ID NO: 1).

58. The conjugate of claim 56 , wherein said moiety comprises a virus.

59. The conjugate of claim 58 , wherein said virus is a phage.

60. A conjugate comprising a moiety linked to a homing peptide comprising the amino acid sequence CREKA (SEQ ID NO: 1), wherein said homing peptide selectively binds collagen.

61. The conjugate of claim 60 , wherein said homing peptide selectively binds non-helical collagen.

62. The conjugate of claim 60 , wherein said homing peptide selectively binds collagen IV.

63. The conjugate of claim 62 , wherein said homing peptide selectively binds denatured collagen IV in preference to native collagen IV.

64. The conjugate of claim 62 , wherein said homing peptide selectively binds the alpha 2 chain of collagen IV.

65. The conjugate of claim 60 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 50 residues.

66. The conjugate of claim 60 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 40 residues.

67. The conjugate of claim 60 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 35 residues.

68. The conjugate of claim 60 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 30 residues.

69. The conjugate of claim 60 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 25 residues.

70. The conjugate of claim 60 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 20 residues.

71. The conjugate of claim 60 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 15 residues.

72. The conjugate of claim 60 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 12 residues.

73. The conjugate of claim 60 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 10 residues.

74. The conjugate of claim 60 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 9 residues.

75. The conjugate of claim 60 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 8 residues.

76. The conjugate of claim 60 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 7 residues.

77. The conjugate of claim 60 , wherein the peptide portion of said conjugate has a length of less than 6 residues.

78. The conjugate of claim 60 , wherein said moiety is a therapeutic agent.

79. The conjugate of claim 78 , wherein said therapeutic agent is a cancer chemotherapeutic agent.

80. The conjugate of claim 78 , wherein said therapeutic agent is a cytotoxic agent.

81. The conjugate of claim 78 , wherein said therapeutic agent is an anti-angiogenic agent.

82. The conjugate of claim 78 , wherein said therapeutic agent is a polypeptide.

83. The conjugate of claim 60 , wherein said moiety is a small molecule.

84. The conjugate of claim 60 , wherein said moiety comprises a virus.

85. The conjugate of claim 84 , wherein said virus is a phage.

86. The conjugate of claim 60 , comprising at least two homing peptides that each selectively binds collagen.

87. The conjugate of claim 86 , wherein said at least two homing peptides each independently comprises the amino acid sequence CREKA (SEQ ID NO: 1).

88. The conjugate of claim 60 , comprising at least ten homing peptides that each selectively binds collagen.

89. The conjugate of claim 88 , wherein said at least ten homing peptides each independently comprises the amino acid sequence CREKA (SEQ ID NO: 1).

90. The conjugate of claim 60 , comprising at least 100 homing peptides that each selectively binds collagen.

91. The conjugate of claim 90 , wherein said at least 100 homing peptides each independently comprises the amino acid sequence CREKA (SEQ ID NO: 1).

92. The conjugate of claim 90 , wherein said moiety comprises a virus.

93. The conjugate of claim 92 , wherein said virus is a phage.