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Updated: May 4, 2026

Biotinylated Cell-penetrating Peptides to Study Intracellular Protein-protein Interactions
Published on: December 20, 2017
Cell-penetrating peptides meditated encapsulation of protein therapeutics into intact red blood cells and its
Huining He1,2, Junxiao Ye3, Yinsong Wang1
1Tianjin Key Laboratory on Technologies Enabling Development of Clinical Therapeutics and Diagnostics (Theranostics), School of Pharmacy, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300072, P.R. China.
Abstract:
Red blood cells (RBCs) based drug carrier appears to be the most appealing for protein drugs due to their unmatched biocompatability, biodegradability, and long lifespan in the circulation. Numerous methods for encapsulating protein drugs into RBCs were developed, however, most of them induce partial disruption of the cell membrane, resulting in irreversible alterations in both physical and chemical properties of RBCs. Herein, we introduce a novel method for encapsulating proteins into intact RBCs, which was meditated by a cell penetrating peptide (CPP) developed in our lab-low molecular weight protamine (LMWP). l-asparaginase, one of the primary drugs used in treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), was chosen as a model protein to illustrate the encapsulation into erythrocytes mediated by CPPs. In addition current treatment of ALL using different l-asparaginase delivery and encapsulation methods as well as their associated problems were also reviewed.

