Title: Reactive Self-Assembly of Polymers and Proteins for Therapeutic Applications
By. Prof. S. Thayumanavan
Department of Chemistry, Department of Biomedical Engineering, and the Center for Bioactive Delivery at the Institute for Applied Life Sciences University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 thai@umass.edu
Abstract
Direct use of proteins, to address a specific deficiency, has the promise to mitigate the off-target effects of typical drug molecules. The show-stopper here is that these therapeutic proteins are not accessible for on-target delivery. Most current approaches are restricted to delivery of extracellular proteins (e.g. insulin). This leaves behind a rather large number of pathologically important intracellular proteins. We report a novel self-assembly protein shrink-wrapping strategy that addresses key shortcomings of prior approaches. Here, the protein itself acts as the template for the polymer to self-assemble around it. Because the protein is the central component in the self-assembly, protein loading is high. Moreover, the polymer is designed such that the assembly is non-toxic, not prone proteolytic degradation in serum conditions, but releases the protein cargo in the cytosol with complete retention of their structure and function. Complementary approaches taken in this regard will also be discussed.
