Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois60208, United States.
International Institute for Nanotechnology, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois60208, United States.
Bioconjug Chem. 2022 Oct 19;33(10):1803-1810. doi: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.2c00389. Epub 2022 Oct 4.
The systemic delivery of exogenous proteins to cells within the brain and central nervous system (CNS) is challenging due to the selective impermeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Herein, we hypothesized that protein delivery to the brain could be improved via functionalization with DNA aptamers designed to bind transferrin (TfR) receptors present on the endothelial cells that line the BBB. Using β-galactosidase (β-Gal) as a model protein, we synthesized protein spherical nucleic acids (ProSNAs) comprised of β-Gal decorated with TfR aptamers (Transferrin-ProSNAs). The TfR aptamer motif significantly increases the accumulation of β-Gal in brain tissue following intravenous injection over both the native protein and ProSNAs containing nontargeting DNA sequences. Furthermore, the widespread distribution of β-Gal throughout the brain is only observed for Transferrin-ProSNAs. Together, this work shows that the SNA architecture can be used to selectively deliver protein cargo to the brain and CNS if the appropriate aptamer sequence is employed as the DNA shell. Moreover, this highlights the importance of DNA sequence design and provides a potential new avenue for designing highly targeted protein delivery systems by combining the power of DNA aptamers together with the SNA platform.
将外源性蛋白质递送到大脑和中枢神经系统(CNS)内的细胞中是具有挑战性的,这是由于血脑屏障(BBB)的选择性不可渗透性所致。在此,我们假设通过与设计用于结合 BBB 内皮细胞上存在的转铁蛋白(TfR)受体的 DNA 适体功能化,可以改善蛋白质向大脑的递送。使用β-半乳糖苷酶(β-Gal)作为模型蛋白,我们合成了由β-Gal 修饰的 TfR 适体(Transferrin-ProSNAs)的蛋白球形核酸(ProSNAs)。TfR 适体基序显著增加了静脉内注射后β-Gal 在脑组织中的积累,超过了天然蛋白和包含非靶向 DNA 序列的 ProSNAs。此外,β-Gal 在大脑中的广泛分布仅在转铁蛋白-ProSNAs 中观察到。总之,这项工作表明,如果适当的适体序列用作 DNA 壳,则 SNA 结构可用于选择性地将蛋白质货物递送到大脑和中枢神经系统。此外,这突出了 DNA 序列设计的重要性,并通过将 DNA 适体的强大功能与 SNA 平台相结合,为设计高度靶向的蛋白质递送系统提供了新的途径。
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