A small-molecule carrier for the intracellular delivery of a membrane-impermeable protein with retained bioactivity.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39436658.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1073/pnas.2407515121 and PMC identifier 11536097.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Intracellular protein delivery has the potential to revolutionize cell-biological research and medicinal therapy, with broad applications in bioimaging, disease treatment, and genome editing. Herein, we demonstrate successful delivery of a functional protein, cytochrome c (CYC), by using a boron cluster anion as molecular carrier of the superchaotropic anion type (B<sub>12</sub>Br<sub>11</sub>OPr<sup>2-</sup>). CYC was delivered into lipid bilayer vesicles as well as living cells, with a cellular uptake ratio approaching 90%. Mechanistic studies showed that CYC was internalized into cells through a permeation pathway directly into the cytoplasm, bypassing endosomal entrapment. Upon carrier-assisted internalization, CYC retained its bioactivity, as reflected by an induced cell apoptosis rate of 25% at low dose (1 µM). This study furbishes a direct protein delivery method by a molecular carrier with high efficiency, confirming the potential of inorganic cluster ions as protein transport vehicles with an extensive range of future cell-biological or biomedical applications.
Medical subject headings
- Cytochromes c