Delivery of Nucleic Acids, Proteins, and Nanoparticles by Arginine-Rich Cell-Penetrating Peptides in Rotifers

Abstract

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are a group of short, membrane-permeable cationic peptides that represent a nonviral technology for delivering nanomaterials and macromolecules into live cells. In this study, two arginine-rich CPPs, HR9 and IR9, were found to be capable of entering rotifers. CPPs were able to efficiently deliver noncovalently associated with cargoes, including plasmid DNAs, red fluorescent proteins (RFPs), and semiconductor quantum dots, into rotifers. The functional reporter gene assay demonstrated that HR9-delivered plasmid DNAs containing the enhanced green fluorescent protein and RFP coding sequences could be actively expressed in rotifers. The 1-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-3,5-diphenylformazan assay further confirmed that CPP-mediated cargo delivery was not toxic to rotifers. Thus, these two CPPs hold a great potential for the delivery of exogenous genes, proteins, and nanoparticles in rotifers.

Department(s)

Biological Sciences

Keywords and Phrases

Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP); MTT Assays; Red Fluorescent Proteins (RFPs); Transgenesis; Arginine; Cells; Cytology; DNA; Fluorescence; Nanoparticles; Semiconductor Quantum Dots; Peptides; Bioassay; Gene; Plasmid; Rotifera; Cell-Penetrating Peptides (CPPs); Quantum Dots (QDs)

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1436-2228; 1436-2236

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2013 Springer Verlag, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Oct 2013

PubMed ID

23715807

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