NCN Maestro Project: Connecting Artificial Protein Cages
What is it about?
In this project we are interested in developing novel methods connecting together the proteins that make protein cages in the understanding that this in turn will affect the properties of the resulting cages in useful ways.
Why is it important?
Biological nano-materials, given their modifiable structures, can be engineered to harbour various drug molecules, immune moieties, and nucleic acids for targeted cellular delivery in the treatment of various cancers and metabolic and genetic disorders. The external surface of such structures can be altered to have specific affinities, while the cavity or region confined by the protein cages can be used to transport specific cargo making them smart drug delivery vehicles. Moreover, being biocompatible, such biological nano-vehicles are ideal for targeted therapeutic use. For use as agents for delivering therapeutics, we need to understand how the dynamism (opening and closing) of such cages can be controlled such that they can be made to open and release their cargoes only at the required site of action.
