Highly read on pubs.acs.org in February

Protein-based drugs are notoriously difficult to deliver into their target cells. Chemists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have boosted the uptake of a protein by mammalian cells by attaching boronic acid groups to the protein.

Ronald Raines and his team homed in on a modified boronic acid, benzoxaborole, because it has a strong affinity for a sugar molecule abundant on cell surfaces.

The team attached the boronate groups to a protein, RNase A. This enzyme kills the cells that it enters, providing a visible measure of successful entry. Hamster cells internalized the boronated protein four to five times faster than the non-boronated version.

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134, 3631–3634 (2012)