Engineering bacteriophage nanocarriers for targeted delivery of protein reagents to prostate cancer cells

Proteinaceous reagents, including antibodies and synthetic proteins, have become some of the most effective reagents for targeted treatment and diagnosis of disease. The unique catalytic activity of some proteins and ability to bind disease-relevant receptors that can evade small molecule discovery, make these reagents well suited for use as therapeutic and bioimaging reagents. However, the large size and charge distribution of most proteins greatly inhibits their intracellular delivery to diseased cells, limiting targets to those displayed on the cell surface. In response to this challenge, we have developed a bacteriophage nanocarrier to deliver large payloads of proteinaceous cargo to the interior of prostate cancer cells. This reagent employs two distinct components: a genetically defined prostate cancer cell-selective protein transduction domain, and a biotinylation site on an orthogonal coat protein, which allows for complexation with streptavidin fusion proteins. Collectively, this approach permits targeted intracellular delivery of ~20 exogenous proteins per phage to human prostate cancer cells. This multifunctional technology offers a cell-selective solution to the challenges associated with delivering protein cargo to the interior of diseased cells and may lead to an expansion in the use of protein reagents.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Chemistry

Grantor dc:publisher

Colorado State University. Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Authors dc:creator

• DePorter, Sandra M., author
• McNaughton, Brian, advisor
• Kennan, Alan, committee member
• Crans, Debbie, committee member
• Reynolds, Melissa, committee member
• Di Pietro, Santiago, committee member

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.

Language dc:language.iso

eng, English

Identifier URI

https://doi.org/10.25675/3.018752

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mountainscholar.org:10217/88422