DBCO-PEG13-DBCO, a PEG-based linker for PROTACs, connects two essential ligands crucial for forming PROTAC molecules, enabling selective protein degradation by leveraging the ubiquitin-proteasome system within cells.

PROTACs are bifunctional molecules comprising two distinct ligands joined by a linker: one ligand targets an E3 ubiquitin ligase, while the other binds to the target protein. They utilize the intracellular ubiquitin-proteasome system to selectively degrade target proteins [1].