In Situ Growth of Self-Assembled Protein–Polymer Nanovesicles for Enhanced Intracellular Protein Delivery

We report a new and general method, in situ growth, for designing self-assembled protein-polymer nanovesicles for intracellular protein delivery.In situ polymerization of a water-soluble monomer from a protein attached with a polymerization initiator yields amphiphilic protein conjugates of a water-insoluble polymer. These conjugates can in situ self-assemble into nanostructures with tunable morphologies from spheres to vesicles. Interestingly, an exogenous protein can be in situ encapsulated inside protein-polymer nanovesicles for enhanced intracellular protein delivery. The in situ growth method may open up new opportunities for designing a variety of self-assembled protein-polymer nanostructures tailored to specific applications.