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Loading capacity and drug leakage from vehicles during circulation in blood is a major concern when developing nanoparticle-based cell-targeted cytotoxics<\/a>. To circumvent this potential issue it would be convenient the engineering of drugs as self-delivered nanoscale entities, devoid of any heterologous carriers. In this context, we have here engineered potent protein toxins<\/a>, namely segments of the diphtheria toxin<\/a> and the Pseudomonas aeruginosa<\/em> exotoxin<\/a> as self-assembling, self-delivered therapeutic materials targeted to CXCR4+<\/sup> cancer stem cells<\/a>. The systemic administration<\/a> of both nanostructured drugs in a colorectal cancer xenograft mouse model promotes efficient and specific local destruction of target tumor tissues and a significant reduction of the tumor volume. This observation strongly supports the concept of intrinsically functional protein nanoparticles<\/a>, which having a dual role as drug and carrier, are designed to be administered without the assistance of heterologous vehicles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n