Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42733071›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

A permeable protein nanocage enables facile cargo loading and cytosolic protein delivery.

Seokmu Kwon, Michael P Andreas, Jesse A Jones, Tobias W Giessen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Seokmu KwonDepartment of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0111-5219
Michael P AndreasDepartment of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Jesse A JonesDepartment of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8006-5661
Tobias W GiessenDepartment of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. tgiessen@umich.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6328-2031

Funding

ChimeraX -- Next Generation Visualization and Analysis Software for Multiscale ModelingR01GM129325 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI FERRIN, THOMAS E · 2018 to 2025
$5.2M
Protein Organelles In Human-Associated BacteriaR35GM133325 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI Tobias Wolfgang Giessen · 2019 to 2026
$3.8M
National Science Foundation (NSF) 2342136NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM129325NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM133325U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) R35GM133325
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The cytosolic delivery of therapeutic proteins remains one of the most persistent challenges in modern drug delivery. Here, we report the discovery and characterization of an encapsulin-based protein nanocage, QtEnc, with unexpected permeability properties and the ability to internalize cargo proteins in vitro, fundamentally departing from existing protein nanocage cargo loading paradigms. This permeability enables simple, rapid, and single-step post-assembly cargo loading, accommodating cargos as large as 482 kDa, and allowing multiplexed cargo co-encapsulation with tunable ratios. Leveraging this property, we develop a modular QtEnc-based NanoCarrier (QtEncNC) with a pH-responsive cargo detachment module and an endosomal escape module, enabling low pH-triggered cargo release from assembled shells and subsequent endosomal escape for cytosolic delivery. Using a cytotoxic protein, BLF1, as a proof-of-concept QtEncNC payload, we demonstrate efficient cytosolic protein delivery in HeLa cells. These findings establish QtEncNC as a versatile and modular platform for cytosolic protein delivery with broad biomedical potential.

Indexed as

CytosolDrug Delivery SystemsNanoparticlesEndosomesHeLa CellsHumansHydrogen-Ion ConcentrationPermeability

Identifiers

PMID42733071
PMCPMC13572399

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.