Spiral Proteins Do The Twist

A group of University of Illinois researchers, led by professors Jianjun Cheng and Fei Wang, have demonstrated that short spiral-shaped proteins can efficiently deliver DNA segments to cells. The team published its work in the journal Angewandte Chemie."The main idea is these are new materials that could potentially be used for clinical gene therapy," said Cheng, a professor of materials science and engineering, of chemistry and of bioengineering.  Researchers have been exploring two main pathways for gene delivery: modified viruses and nonviral agents such as synthetic polymers or lipids. The challenge has been to address both toxicity and efficiency. Polypeptides, or short protein chains, are attractive materials because they are biocompatible, fine-tunable and small.