However, a key issue is ‘ENDOSOMAL ESCAPE’ — once a drug is internalised by a cell, it is trapped in a compartment to be degraded or pumped back out of the cell. This drastically reduces the efficiency of drug release.
A protein polymer capable of extending like needles and puncturing the endosome to set drugs free.
We are engineering R bodies as modular endosomal escape vectors to which we can reversibly attach combinations of therapeutics.