Delivery of proteins into cells may alter cellular functions as various proteins are involved in cellular signaling by activating or deactivating t
he corresponding pathways and, t
herefore, can be used in cancer t
herapy. In this study, we have demonstrated for t
he first time that PEGylated grap
hene oxide (GO) can be exploited as a nanovector for efficient delivery of proteins into cells. In this approach, GO was functionalized with amine-terminated 6-armed polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecules, t
hereby providing GO with proper physiological stability and biocompatibility. Proteins were t
hen loaded onto PEG-grafted GO (GO-PEG) with high payload via noncovalent interactions. GO-PEG could deliver proteins to cytoplasm efficiently, protecting t
hem from enzymatic hydrolysis. T
he protein delivered by GO-PEG reserves its biological activity that regulates t
he cell fate. As a result, delivery of ribonuclease A (RNase A) led to cell death and transport of protein kinase A (PKA) induced cell growth. Taken toget
her, this work demonstrated t
he feasibility of PEGlyated GO as a promising protein delivery vector with high biocompatibility, high payload capacity and, more importantly, capabilities of protecting proteins from enzymatic hydrolysis and retaining t
heir biological functions.
Keywords:
hene+oxide&qsSearchArea=searchText">graphene oxide; loading capacity; protein delivery; cellular uptake; enzymatic hydrolysis; regulation of cell function