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Zheng N, Liu S, Chen J, Xu Y, Cao W, Lin J, Lu G, Zhang G. SARS-CoV-2 NSP2 as a Potential Delivery Vehicle for Proteins. Mol Pharm 2024; 21:1149-1159. [PMID: 38288708 DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.3c00680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Abstract
The development of biomolecule delivery systems is essential for the treatment of various diseases such as cancer, immunological diseases, and metabolic disorders. For the first time, we found that SARS-CoV-2-encoded nonstructural protein 2 (NSP2) can be secreted from the cells, where it is synthesized. Brefeldin A and H89, inhibitors of ER/Golgi secretion pathways, did not inhibit NSP2 secretion. NSP2 is likely secreted via an unconventional secretory pathway. Moreover, both secreted and purified NSP2 proteins were able to traverse the plasma membrane barrier and enter both immortalized human umbilical vein endothelial cells and tumor cell lines. After entry, the NSP2 protein was localized in only the cytoplasm. Cytochalasin D, a potent inhibitor of actin polymerization, inhibited the entry of NSP2. NSP2 can carry other molecules into cells. Burkholderia lethal factor 1, a monomeric toxin from the intracellular pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei, has demonstrated antitumor activity by targeting host eukaryotic initiation translation factor 4A. An NSP2-BLF1 fusion protein was translocated across the cellular membranes of Huh7 cells and mediated cell killing. By using different approaches, including protein purification, chemical inhibition, and cell imaging, we confirm that NSP2 is able to deliver heterologous proteins into cells. NSP2 can act as a potential delivery vehicle for proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ningze Zheng
- Institute of Human Virology, Department of Pathogen Biology and Biosecurity, and Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control of Ministry of Education, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China
| | - Shurui Liu
- Institute of Human Virology, Department of Pathogen Biology and Biosecurity, and Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control of Ministry of Education, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China
| | - Jianheng Chen
- Institute of Human Virology, Department of Pathogen Biology and Biosecurity, and Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control of Ministry of Education, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China
| | - Yue Xu
- Institute of Human Virology, Department of Pathogen Biology and Biosecurity, and Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control of Ministry of Education, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China
| | - Wenyin Cao
- Institute of Human Virology, Department of Pathogen Biology and Biosecurity, and Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control of Ministry of Education, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China
| | - Jinyi Lin
- Department of Physiology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China
| | - Guang Lu
- Department of Physiology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China
| | - Guigen Zhang
- Institute of Human Virology, Department of Pathogen Biology and Biosecurity, and Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control of Ministry of Education, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China
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2
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Muhamad Ismail NAS, Yap SH, Mohamad Yussoff MA, Nor Muhammad NA, Firdaus-Raih M, Quay DHX. Modeling and computational characterization of a Xanthomonas sp. Hypothetical protein identifies a remote ortholog of Burkholderia lethal factor 1. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2022:1-13. [PMID: 35862639 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2022.2100827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Burkholderia Lethal Factor 1 (BLF1) is a deamidase first characterized in Burkholderia pseudomallei. This enzyme inhibits cellular protein synthesis by deamidating a glutamine residue to a glutamic acid in its target protein, the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4 A (eIF4A). In this work, we present the characterization of a hypothetical protein from Xanthomonas sp. Leaf131 as the first report of a BLF1 family ortholog outside of the Burkholderia genus. Although standard sequence similarity searches such as BLAST were not able to detect the homology between the Xanthomonas sp. Leaf131 hypothetical protein sequence and BLF1, our computed structure model for the Xanthomonas sp. hypothetical protein revealed structural similarities with an RMSD of 2.7 Å/164 Cα atoms and a TM-score of 0.72 when superposed. Structural comparisons of the Xanthomonas model structure against BLF1 and Escherichia coli cytotoxic necrotizing factor 1 (CNF1) revealed that the conserved signature LXGC motif and putative catalytic residues are structurally aligned thus signifying a level of functional or mechanistic similarity. Protein-protein docking analysis and molecular dynamics simulations also demonstrated that eIF4A could still be a possible target substrate for deamidation by XLF1 as it is for BLF1. We therefore propose that this Xanthomonas hypothetical protein be renamed as Xanthomonas Lethal Factor 1 (XLF1). Our work also provides further evidence of the utility of programs such as AlphaFold in bridging the computational function annotation transfer gap despite very low sequence identities of under 20%.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Su Hui Yap
- Bioinformatics Programme, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
| | | | - Nor Azlan Nor Muhammad
- Institute of Systems Biology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Mohd Firdaus-Raih
- Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.,Bioinformatics Programme, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.,Institute of Systems Biology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Doris Huai Xia Quay
- Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.,Bioinformatics Programme, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
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3
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Li J, Hu WW, Qu GX, Li XR, Xiang Y, Jiang P, Luo JQ, He WH, Jin YJ, Shi Q. Characterization of a Type VI Secretion System vgrG2 Gene in the Pathogenicity of Burkholderia thailandensis BPM. Front Microbiol 2022; 12:811343. [PMID: 35069514 PMCID: PMC8767068 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.811343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2021] [Accepted: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Burkholderia thailandensis is a clinically underestimated conditional pathogen in the genus Burkholderia, the pathogenicity of the infection caused by B. thailandensis remains poorly understood. According to previous studies, Type-VI secretion system (T6SS) is a protein secreting device widely existing in Gram-negative bacilli. Valine-glycine repeat protein G (VgrG) is not only an important component of T6SS, but also a virulence factor of many Gram-negative bacilli. In one of our previous studies, a unique T6SS vgrG gene (vgrG2 gene) was present in a virulent B. thailandensis strain BPM (BPM), but not in the relatively avirulent B. thailandensis strain E264 (E264). Meanwhile, transcriptome analysis of BPM and E264 showed that the vgrG2 gene was strongly expressed in BPM, but not in E264. Therefore, we identified the function of the vgrG2 gene by constructing the mutant and complemented strains in this study. In vitro, the vgrG2 gene was observed to be involved in the interactions with host cells. The animal model experiment showed that the deletion of vgrG2 gene significantly led to the decrease in the lethality of BPM and impaired its ability to trigger host immune response. In conclusion, our study provides a new perspective for studying the pathogenicity of B. thailandensis and lays the foundation for discovering the potential T6SS effectors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin Li
- M.O.E. Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine Diagnostics, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Wei-Wei Hu
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Guo-Xin Qu
- Department of Orthopedic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Hainan, China
| | - Xiao-Rong Li
- M.O.E. Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine Diagnostics, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Yi Xiang
- M.O.E. Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine Diagnostics, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Peng Jiang
- M.O.E. Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine Diagnostics, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Jiang-Qiao Luo
- M.O.E. Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine Diagnostics, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Wen-Huan He
- M.O.E. Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine Diagnostics, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Yu-Jia Jin
- M.O.E. Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine Diagnostics, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Qiong Shi
- M.O.E. Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine Diagnostics, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
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4
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Gerard L, Duvivier L, Gillet JP. Targeting tumor resistance mechanisms. Fac Rev 2021; 10:6. [PMID: 33659924 PMCID: PMC7894262 DOI: 10.12703/r/10-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer develops resistance to treatments through many mechanisms. Single-cell analyses reveal the intratumor heterogeneity and dynamic relationships between cancer cell subpopulations. These analyses also highlight that various mechanisms of resistance may coexist in a given tumor. Studies have unraveled how the microenvironment affects tumor response to treatments and how cancer cells may adapt to these treatments. Though challenging, individualized treatment based on the molecular characterization of the tumor should become the new standard of care. In the meantime, the success rate of clinical trials in oncology remains dramatically low. There is a need to do better and improve the predictability of preclinical models. This requires innovative changes in ex vivo models and the culture system currently being used. An innovative ligand design is also urgently needed. The limited arsenal of medicinal chemistry reactions and the biases of scaffold selection favor structurally similar compounds with linear shapes at the expense of disc and spherical shapes, which leave a large chemical shape space untouched. In this regard, venoms have received increasing interest as a wellspring for drug candidates. Overall, the characterization of tumor heterogeneity has contributed to advancing our understanding of the mechanisms that underlie cancer resistance to treatments. Targeting these mechanisms will require setting key milestones to significantly improve the translatability of preclinical studies to the clinic with the hope of increasing the success rate of clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louise Gerard
- Laboratory of Molecular Cancer Biology, Molecular Physiology Research Unit (URPhyM), Namur Research Institute for Life Sciences (NARILIS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium
| | - Laurent Duvivier
- Laboratory of Molecular Cancer Biology, Molecular Physiology Research Unit (URPhyM), Namur Research Institute for Life Sciences (NARILIS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium
| | - Jean-Pierre Gillet
- Laboratory of Molecular Cancer Biology, Molecular Physiology Research Unit (URPhyM), Namur Research Institute for Life Sciences (NARILIS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium
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5
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Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 4AI: A Potential Novel Target in Neuroblastoma. Cells 2021; 10:cells10020301. [PMID: 33540613 PMCID: PMC7912938 DOI: 10.3390/cells10020301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2020] [Revised: 01/24/2021] [Accepted: 01/29/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common extracranial pediatric solid tumor. Children suffering from high-risk and/or metastatic NB often show no response to therapy, and new therapeutic approaches are urgently needed. Malignant tumor development has been shown to be driven by the dysregulation of eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs) at the translation initiation. Especially the activity of the heterotrimeric eIF4F complex is often altered in malignant cells, since it is the direct connection to key oncogenic signaling pathways such as the PI3K/AKT/mTOR-pathway. A large body of literature exists that demonstrates targeting the translational machinery as a promising anti-neoplastic approach. The objective of this study was to determine whether eIF4F complex members are aberrantly expressed in NB and whether targeting parts of the complex may be a therapeutic strategy against NB. We show that eIF4AI is overexpressed in NB patient tissue using immunohistochemistry, immunoblotting, and RT-qPCR. NB cell lines exhibit decreased viability, increased apoptosis rates as well as changes in cell cycle distribution when treated with the synthetic rocaglate CR-1-31-B, which clamps eIF4A and eIF4F onto mRNA, resulting in a translational block. Additionally, this study reveals that CR-1-31-B is effective against NB cell lines at low nanomolar doses (≤20 nM), which have been shown to not affect non-malignant cells in previous studies. Thus, our study provides information of the expression status on eIF4AI in NB and offers initial promising insight into targeting translation initiation as an anti-tumorigenic approach for NB.
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Baindara P, Mandal SM. Bacteria and bacterial anticancer agents as a promising alternative for cancer therapeutics. Biochimie 2020; 177:164-189. [PMID: 32827604 DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2020.07.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2020] [Revised: 06/04/2020] [Accepted: 07/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Cancer is the leading cause of deaths worldwide, though significant advances have occurred in its diagnosis and treatment. The development of resistance against chemotherapeutic agents, their side effects, and non-specific toxicity urge to screen for the novel anticancer agent. Hence, the development of novel anticancer agents with a new mechanism of action has become a major scientific challenge. Bacteria and bacterially produced bioactive compounds have recently emerged as a promising alternative for cancer therapeutics. Bacterial anticancer agents such as antibiotics, bacteriocins, non-ribosomal peptides, polyketides, toxins, etc. These are adopted different mechanisms of actions such as apoptosis, necrosis, reduced angiogenesis, inhibition of translation and splicing, and obstructing essential signaling pathways to kill cancer cells. Also, live tumor-targeting bacteria provided a unique therapeutic alternative for cancer treatment. This review summarizes the anticancer properties and mechanism of actions of the anticancer agents of bacterial origin and antitumor bacteria along with their possible future applications in cancer therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piyush Baindara
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65212, USA.
| | - Santi M Mandal
- Central Research Facility, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, 721302, WB, India.
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7
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Gao J, Jung M, Mayoh C, Venkat P, Hannan KM, Fletcher JI, Kamili A, Gifford AJ, Kusnadi EP, Pearson RB, Hannan RD, Haber M, Norris MD, Somers K, Henderson MJ. Suppression of ABCE1-Mediated mRNA Translation Limits N-MYC-Driven Cancer Progression. Cancer Res 2020; 80:3706-3718. [PMID: 32651259 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-19-3914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2019] [Revised: 04/16/2020] [Accepted: 06/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The ability of the N-MYC transcription factor to drive cancer progression is well demonstrated in neuroblastoma, the most common extracranial pediatric solid tumor, where MYCN amplification heralds a poor prognosis, with only 11% of high-risk patients surviving past 5 years. However, decades of attempts of direct inhibition of N-MYC or its paralogues has led to the conclusion that this protein is "undruggable." Therefore, targeting pathways upregulated by N-MYC signaling presents an alternative therapeutic approach. Here, we show that MYCN-amplified neuroblastomas are characterized by elevated rates of protein synthesis and that high expression of ABCE1, a translation factor directly upregulated by N-MYC, is itself a strong predictor of poor clinical outcome. Despite the potent ability of N-MYC in heightening protein synthesis and malignant characteristics in cancer cells, suppression of ABCE1 alone selectively negated this effect, returning the rate of translation to baseline levels and significantly reducing the growth, motility, and invasiveness of MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma cells and patient-derived xenograft tumors in vivo. The growth of nonmalignant cells or MYCN-nonamplified neuroblastoma cells remained unaffected by reduced ABCE1, supporting a therapeutic window associated with targeting ABCE1. Neuroblastoma cells with c-MYC overexpression also required ABCE1 to maintain cell proliferation and translation. Taken together, ABCE1-mediated translation constitutes a critical process in the progression of N-MYC-driven and c-MYC-driven cancers that warrants investigations into methods of its therapeutic inhibition. SIGNIFICANCE: These findings demonstrate that N-MYC-driven cancers are reliant on elevated rates of protein synthesis driven by heightened expression of ABCE1, a vulnerability that can be exploited through suppression of ABCE1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jixuan Gao
- Children's Cancer Institute Australia for Medical Research, Lowy Cancer Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,School of Women's and Children's Health, University of New South Wales Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - MoonSun Jung
- Children's Cancer Institute Australia for Medical Research, Lowy Cancer Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,School of Women's and Children's Health, University of New South Wales Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Chelsea Mayoh
- Children's Cancer Institute Australia for Medical Research, Lowy Cancer Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Pooja Venkat
- Children's Cancer Institute Australia for Medical Research, Lowy Cancer Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Katherine M Hannan
- The John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra City.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Jamie I Fletcher
- Children's Cancer Institute Australia for Medical Research, Lowy Cancer Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,School of Women's and Children's Health, University of New South Wales Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Alvin Kamili
- Children's Cancer Institute Australia for Medical Research, Lowy Cancer Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,School of Women's and Children's Health, University of New South Wales Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Andrew J Gifford
- Children's Cancer Institute Australia for Medical Research, Lowy Cancer Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,School of Women's and Children's Health, University of New South Wales Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Department of Anatomical Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Eric P Kusnadi
- Division of Cancer Research, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Richard B Pearson
- Division of Cancer Research, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Ross D Hannan
- The John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra City.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.,Division of Cancer Research, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.,Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.,School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Michelle Haber
- Children's Cancer Institute Australia for Medical Research, Lowy Cancer Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,School of Women's and Children's Health, University of New South Wales Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Murray D Norris
- Children's Cancer Institute Australia for Medical Research, Lowy Cancer Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,UNSW Centre for Childhood Cancer Research, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Klaartje Somers
- Children's Cancer Institute Australia for Medical Research, Lowy Cancer Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,School of Women's and Children's Health, University of New South Wales Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Michelle J Henderson
- Children's Cancer Institute Australia for Medical Research, Lowy Cancer Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. .,School of Women's and Children's Health, University of New South Wales Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Effective Therapeutic Drug Delivery by GALA3, an Endosomal Escape Peptide with Reduced Hydrophobicity. J Membr Biol 2020; 253:139-152. [DOI: 10.1007/s00232-020-00109-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2019] [Accepted: 01/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
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Venom Toxins as Potential Targeted Therapies. Toxins (Basel) 2019; 11:toxins11060338. [PMID: 31200480 PMCID: PMC6628456 DOI: 10.3390/toxins11060338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2019] [Accepted: 06/10/2019] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Targeted therapy has been a very hot research topic in the last decade [...].
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