We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Intracellular delivery of nanoparticles and DNAs by IR9 cell-penetrating peptides.
- Authors
Liu, Betty R; Liou, Ji-Sing; Huang, Yue-Wern; Aronstam, Robert S; Lee, Han-Jung
- Abstract
Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) comprised of basic amino residues are able to cross cytoplasmic membranes and are able to deliver biologically active molecules inside cells. However, CPP/cargo entrapment in endosome limits biomedical utility as cargoes are destroyed in the acidic environment. In this study, we demonstrate protein transduction of a novel CPP comprised of an INF7 fusion peptide and nona-arginine (designated IR9). IR9 noncovalently interacts with quantum dots (QDs) and DNAs to form stable IR9/QD and IR9/DNA complexes which are capable of entering human A549 cells. Zeta-potentials were a better predictor of transduction efficiency than gel shift analysis, emphasizing the importance of electrostatic interactions of CPP/cargo complexes with plasma membranes. Mechanistic studies revealed that IR9, IR9/QD and IR9/DNA complexes may enter cells by endocytosis. Further, IR9, IR9/QD and IR9/DNA complexes were not cytotoxic at concentrations below 30, 5 and 20.1 µM, respectively. Without labor intensive production of fusion proteins from prokaryotes, these results indicate that IR9 could be a safe carrier of genes and drugs in biomedical applications.
- Publication
PloS one, 2013, Vol 8, Issue 5, pe64205
- ISSN
1932-6203
- Publication type
Journal Article
- DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0064205