The use of mobile microrobots offers a promising solution for targeted medical theranostic applications at normally inaccessible regions of the human body. Namely, the circulatory system is an ideal region for said applications, but blood flow can complicate both navigation inside the body and preservation of the microrobots.

Researchers have designed microrollers able to be controlled via magnetic propulsion and steering, able to maneuver against physiologically relevant blood flow effectively. The rollers are composed of a magnetically responsive half-side and a silica half-side for cargo loading and biochemical functionalities. Once navigated to cancerous cell monolayers, the rollers utilize surface-functionalized cell-specific antibodies as well as photocleavable linkers to release doxorubicin (DOX), and anticancer drug molecule, onto the target area.

Both the azide-DOX and o-nitrobenzyl photocleavable linker used by the team were provided by LifeTein, allowing the mircorollers to release the drug on demand via UV light exposure. This method of on demand delivery of the drug molecules combined with maneuverability of the microrollers designed by the researchers opens the door for development of next-generation microrobots for controlled navigation and cargo delivery in the circulatory system.

Reference: Alapan et al., Sci. Robot. 5, eaba5726 (2020) 20 May 2020

Phosphorylation plays a vital role in the regulation of cellular processes. Each phosphorylation pattern leads to different interactions and could result in distinct biological outcomes.

Single phosphorylated peptides are frequently used for research. However, multi-site phosphorylations play a more important role in protein-protein interaction, nuclear import and export, and many other functions.

The monophosphorylated peptides are much easier to synthesize than multiphosphorylated peptides using traditional methods. There are many reasons for the difficulties. First of all, the steric hindrance of the protected phosphorylated amino acids would decrease the coupling yield. In addition, the protecting group and cleavage conditions are very harsh for conventional methods.

LifeTein adapted the microwave-assisted heating technology for multiphosphorylated peptide synthesis. Our method increases the coupling efficiency with good yields. In our study, we utilized the optimized conditions for synthesizing peptides containing six phosphorylated amino acids.

LifeTein’s Innovative Synthetic Wasabi Receptor Toxin and Its Variants Propel Breakthrough in Chronic Pain Research

LifeTein’s groundbreaking work in synthetic peptides, including the Wasabi Receptor Toxin, its mutants, Biotinylated, and AlexaFluor-488 conjugated variants, has played a pivotal role in advancing our understanding of chronic pain mechanisms. This research supported the efforts of David Julius, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine this year for his contributions.

Julius, along with his team at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), made a significant discovery involving a scorpion toxin that specifically targets the “wasabi receptor.” This receptor is an ion channel protein that triggers the intense sensations, such as the sinus-clearing effect of wasabi or the eye-watering pain from cutting onions.

The team’s research highlighted that the scorpion toxin, referred to as WaTx, activates the TRPA1 wasabi receptor, inducing a pain response to various irritants. Remarkably, WaTx is a novel type of cell-penetrating peptide that can enter cells directly across the plasma membrane without the need for channel proteins.

The implications of this discovery are vast, with potential applications in studying and treating chronic pain and inflammation. The unique properties of WaTx suggest it could be instrumental in developing new, non-opioid pain management therapies, as it induces pain and hypersensitivity without causing neurogenic inflammation.

David Julius’s research, particularly his exploration of receptors that detect temperature, has been recognized with the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021, underscoring the impact of his work on the medical and scientific community.

This research was documented in a study published by Lin King, J. V., Emrick, J. J., Kelly, M. J. S., Herzig, V., King, G. F., Medzihradszky, K. F., & Julius, D. (2019) in the journal Cell, where they discuss the mode-specific modulation of TRPA1 and its implications for pain management.