What is it about?
Cancer-fighting antibody drugs are designed to enter tumour cells and release a lethal payload inside, but too often, they never reach that critical point. A new study demonstrates that payload release can be significantly improved by exploiting the natural calcium differences between the outside and inside of cells. This paper presents a novel strategy: a calcium-activated delivery system with a built-in molecular “switch.” This targeting protein detects the reduced calcium levels inside the endosome, triggering its release. Once freed, it is transported to the lysosome, where the protein carrier is degraded and the cytotoxic payload is finally unleashed to kill the cancer cell.
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Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
Why is it important?
In addition to the selective targeting provided by binding to a cancer biomarker, the system also enables more effective cancer treatment through improved internalization and thereby a significantly better therapeutic window.
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Engineered calcium-regulated affinity protein for efficient internalization and lysosomal toxin delivery, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, November 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2509081122.
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