Targeting human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 by a cell-penetrating peptide-affibody bioconjugate.

Cell-penetrating peptide (CPP)-based delivery systems represent a strategy that facilitates DNA import efficiently and non-specifically into cells. To introduce specificity, we devised an approach that combines a cell-penetrating peptide, TAT-Mu (TM) and a targeting ligand, an HER2 antibody mimetic-affibody (AF), designated as TMAF to deliver nucleic acids into the cells. In this study, we synthesized TMAF protein and its truncated versions, i.