Scientists have discovered a new protein they believe could help develop much more effective medicines.
The protein, SP-1, was isolated from the poplar tree, but can also be produced using bacteria in the lab.
It is stable and can survive extreme conditions, including attacks by enzymes that break down other proteins.
Researchers at Jerusalem's Hebrew University believe it could be used to develop nanocapsules to deliver drugs to fight diseases such as cancer.
They found the protein was able to remain intact following exposure to extreme conditions such as boiling, excessive acidity, salinity or being mixed with detergent solutions.
Because the protein is unusually tough, the researchers believe it is an ideal candidate for use in nanobiotechnology.
The procedure aims to harness the properties of tiny biological compounds to develop new medicines and industrial and chemical processes.
Porous vessels
The researchers hope that SP-1 nanocapsules will be capable of delivering cell-destroying drugs specifically to certain types of solid cancer tumours.
The protein's tiny structure should enable the nanocapsule to penetrate into tumours without harming healthy tissue - thus enhancing the effectiveness of chemotherapy.
This selective penetration is based on the fact that the blood vessels which feed tumours are considerably more porous than those reaching healthy cells.
Therefore the units of SP-1 carrying the drug would invade only the tumour-feeding blood vessels and not normal ones.
In poplars, the protein plays a role in ensuring other proteins within the plant's cells assume their correct shape, and function properly.
Many questions
Dr Eric Perouzel, an expert in gene and drug delivery systems working for IC-Vec Ltd, told the BBC News website the idea sounded promising in principle, but there remained many unanswered questions.
It was not clear how the drug would be loaded onto the protein, or whether it would provoke an immune response.
Also the protein was so small there was a chance it would be expelled from the body by the kidneys so rapidly that it never reached its intended target.
"It's a very good idea, but I'm puzzled by the high level of their ambition related to the absence of data," he said.
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