Drugs have one significant disadvantage – when we swallow a pill, the small molecules inside it are not specific to specific cells, so they often give unwanted side effects. Larger molecules, such as proteins, could help here, but they cannot cross the cell membrane and enter the cell.
The way out of the situation was Photorhabdus bacteria, which produce cylindrical structures that forcibly introduce their contents into the cells. Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found them similar to syringes, and decided to adapt these structures to human cells. To do this, the team used the AlphaFold program to change a specific section of the nanosyringes and make it bind to a human protein called EGFR.
Photorhabdus nanosyringes under an electron microscope. © MIT
After that, scientists uploaded into edited toxin nanosyringes and allowed them to kill cells containing the EGFR protein while leaving other cells untouched. This proved that these structures are highly targeted and can be targeted and selectively programmed to kill viruses and even cancer.
The researchers also showed how another nanosyringe was able to deliver proteins to neurons inside the brains of mice. Particularly pleasing is the fact that each nanosyringe can contain about 10 proteins, which means that they can carry a wide variety of drugs within them. By adding tiny proteins to the barrel of the nanosyringes, the scientists were able to mask them from the immune system. However, the team has yet to conduct tests to find out how their invention will be perceived by the human body.
