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Polymer chemistry

Proteins in a pill

Nature Chemistry volume 5, pages 557–558 (2013)Cite this article

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Protein drugs are important therapies for many different diseases, but very few can be administered orally. Now, a cationic dendronized polymer has been shown to stabilize a therapeutic protein for delivery to the gut.

Proteins are widely used as drugs — over 130 are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These therapeutics make up for deficiencies, supplement or boost existing pathways, and block deleterious agents1. Proteins are found in vaccines and other treatments for diseases that range from diabetes, osteoporosis and cancer. Most of these drugs must be given by injection, and this has associated difficulties including pain, discomfort and inconvenience for patients. Oral administration in the form of a pill would be a much better alternative, yet there are many challenges associated with this method of delivery.

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Figure 1: Studies in rats showed that covalently attaching a cationic dendronized polymer to an enzyme that breaks down gluten enables the enzyme to be protected from degradation in the harsh conditions of the stomach.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Heather D. Maynard is in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and the California Nanosystems Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1569, USA,

    Heather D. Maynard

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  1. Heather D. Maynard
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Correspondence to Heather D. Maynard.

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Maynard, H. Proteins in a pill. Nature Chem 5, 557–558 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1691

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