Scientists set up the technology of efficient delivery of intracellular protein

On May 16, research papers by song Haiyun research group of Shanghai Institute of life sciences of Chinese Academy of Sciences (population health field) and fan Chunhai group of Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics were published online in ACS Applied Materials & interfaces In this study, functional nanodiamonds (NDS) were used to achieve efficient protein loading, cross cell barrier and play intracellular functions Furthermore, oral NDS protein complex was used to activate stem cells and remodel intestine in Drosophila The abnormality of protein function is closely related to the occurrence of various diseases Compared with the methods of using compound molecules and gene therapy to correct protein dysfunction, the way of transporting functional protein directly has better specificity and safety However, there are several difficulties in the transport of intracellular proteins: 1) it is difficult for most proteins to directly cross the tissue and cell barriers; 2) most protein carriers will enter the endocytosis lysosome pathway in the cell, leading to protein degradation; 3) the proteins entering the cell are not easy to separate from the carriers, affecting their functions Therefore, relevant research, especially in vivo research, is still in the preliminary stage However, the active peptide, the decomposition product of protein, has overcome these three difficulties The active peptide can directly enter the cell, play its physiological activity and participate in human life activities The space gem in the infinite gem of Marvel world can transfer objects to any space In real life, there is a kind of material called nano diamond (NDS), which has strong surface adsorption capacity and is often used to carry small drug molecules So, can NDS also carry functional proteins? In this work, researchers found that NDS not only can efficiently load various proteins, but also can prevent the integration of NDS into cells with early endosomes, so as to prevent protein degradation Although previous studies have also found that some nanomaterials can escape from endocytosomes or lysosomes, the phenomenon of non fusion with endocytosomes has been observed for the first time However, the researchers also observed that the protein of the progeny entering the cell was still firmly localized on NDS and could not be released effectively In order to overcome this problem, the researchers got inspiration from the costume of fairy flying in Dunhuang frescoes, wrapped polylysine on the surface of NDS, which greatly promoted the release process of protein in cells As an example of in vivo application, NDS protein complex in Drosophila food can effectively load proteins into intestinal cells and trigger stem cell activation The research was supported by the Ministry of science and technology, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.