In-cell NMR is a relatively new technique that can be used to examine the conformations of proteins in living cells at the atomic level. This method has been successfully used in bacteria and Xenopus laevis oocytes, but wider application of the technique to living eukaryote cells has been limited by the inefficient delivery of isotope-labeled proteins into eukaryote somatic cells. This study shows that it is possible to deliver suitably labelled proteins into the cytosol of human cells through the pyrenebutyrate-mediated action of cell-penetrating peptides that have been linked covalently to the proteins of interest.
- Kohsuke Inomata
- Ayako Ohno
- Masahiro Shirakawa
