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Protein-based drugs are notoriously difficult to deliver into their target cells. Chemists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have boosted the uptake of a protein by mammalian cells by attaching boronic acid groups to the protein.
Ronald Raines and his team homed in on a modified boronic acid, benzoxaborole, because it has a strong affinity for a sugar molecule abundant on cell surfaces.
The team attached the boronate groups to a protein, RNase A. This enzyme kills the cells that it enters, providing a visible measure of successful entry. Hamster cells internalized the boronated protein four to five times faster than the non-boronated version.
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Proteins' ticket into the cell. Nature 484, 9 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/484009e
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/484009e