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Article summary:
1. A synthetic polymer nanoparticle (NP) has been engineered to have many of the functions of a protein affinity reagent.
2. The NP has nM affinity to a key vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF165), and can inhibit binding of the signalling protein to its receptor VEGFR-2, preventing receptor phosphorylation and downstream VEGF165-dependent endothelial cell migration and invasion into the extracellular matrix.
3. The non-toxic NPs were not found to exhibit off-target activity, suggesting that synthetic polymers offer a new paradigm in the search for abiotic protein affinity reagents by providing many of the functions of their protein counterparts.
Article analysis:
The article is generally reliable and trustworthy, as it is published in Nature Chemistry, a reputable journal with high standards for research quality. The authors are well qualified in their respective fields, which adds credibility to their findings. Furthermore, the article provides detailed information about the methods used in the study, as well as results from experiments conducted both in vitro and in vivo.
However, there are some potential biases that should be noted. For example, while the authors do mention possible risks associated with using synthetic polymers as protein affinity reagents, they do not provide any evidence or data to support this claim. Additionally, while they discuss potential applications for these NPs in clinical settings, they do not explore any counterarguments or potential drawbacks associated with such use. Finally, there is no discussion of alternative approaches or technologies that could be used instead of synthetic polymers for this purpose.