Molecular freight: Synthetic nanoscale transport system modeled on nature

December 22, 2009 | Source: PhysOrg.com

Japanese researchers have developed a synthetic molecular transport system using a polysaccharide-based container that moves on cellular actin filaments.*

It could form the basis for the development of a method for transporting therapeutic genes into cell nuclei.

*Actin filaments are strong strands of protein that form a cytoskeletal network inside a cell, using myosin molecules that move along the strands to deliver cellular cargo.