An artificially designed pore-forming protein with anti-tumor effects.
Protein engineering is an emerging area that has expanded our understanding of protein folding and laid the groundwork for the creation of unprecedented structures with unique functions. We previously designed the first native-like pore-forming protein, small globular protein (SGP). We show here that this artificially engineered protein has membrane-disrupting properties and anti-tumor activity in several cancer animal models. We propose and validate a mechanism for the selectivity of SGP toward cell membranes in tumors. SGP is the prototype for a new class of artificial proteins designed for therapeutic applications.
Program on Cancer and Aging, The Buck Institute, Novato, California 94945, USA. mellerby@buckinstitute.org
H Michael
HM
Ellerby
Sannamu
S
Lee
Lisa M
LM
Ellerby
Sylvia
S
Chen
Taira
T
Kiyota
Gabriel
G
del Rio
Gohsuke
G
Sugihara
Yan
Y
Sun
Dale E
DE
Bredesen
Wadih
W
Arap
Renata
R
Pasqualini
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D015195:Drug Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017510:Protein Folding; D011506:Proteins / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D011506:Proteins