Fluorine-Specific Interactions for the Enhancement of Cellular Uptake of Proteins and Drug Conjugates into Living Cells (C09*)

• Subject Area: Biological and Biomimetic Chemistry
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 387284271

In project C9N|Hackenberger, new methods for the synthesis and application of fluorinated peptide and pro-tein building blocks will be developed, which guarantee the direct uptake of protein conjugates into living cells. Fluorinated amino acids and tags will be incorporated into cell surface-responsive CPP (cell-penetrating peptide) additives and into CPP cargoes to enhance both transient membrane interactions and the interaction between CPP additives and cargo molecules for enabling cellular transport. Fluorine-Specific interactions can be used to achieve cellular transport at the lowest possible CPP cargo concentration.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1349: Fluorine-Specific Interactions: Fundamentals and Functions
• Applicant Institution: Freie Universität Berlin
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Christian Hackenberger