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Combination of a new generation of PNAs with a peptide-based carrier enables efficient targeting of cell cycle progression

Gene Therapy volume 11, pages 757–764 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

The design of potent systems for the delivery of charged and noncharged molecules that target genes of interest remains a challenge. We describe a novel technology that combines a new generation of peptide nucleic acids (PNAs), or HypNA-pPNAs, with a new noncovalent peptide-based delivery system, Pep-2, which promotes efficient delivery of PNAs into several cell lines. We have validated the potential of this technology by showing that Pep2-mediated delivery of an antisense HypNA-pPNA chimera directed specifically against cyclin B1 induces rapid and robust downregulation of its protein levels and efficiently blocks cell cycle progression of several cell lines, as well as proliferation of cells derived from a breast cancer. Pep-2-based delivery system was shown to be 100-fold more efficient in delivering HypNA-pPNAs than classical cationic lipid-based methods. Whereas Pep-2 is essential for improving the bioavailability of PNAs and HypNA-pPNAs, the latter contribute significantly to the efficiency and specificity of the biological response. We have found that Pep-2/HypNA-pPNA strategy promotes potent antisense effects, which are approximately 25-fold greater than with classical antisense oligonucleotide directed specifically against the same cyclin B1 target. Taken together, these data demonstrate that peptide-mediated delivery of HypNA-pPNAs constitutes a very promising technology for therapeutic applications.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and by grants from the Agence Nationale de Recherche sur le SIDA (ANRS) European community (aLK2-cT-2001-01451) and the Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer to MCM (ARC-4326) and to GD (ARC-5271). The Pep-1/Chariot project was supported by a grant from Active Motif (Carlsbad, CA, USA). We also thank M Dorée for continuous support and helpful discussions and P Travo for technical advice on microscopy.

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  1. Department of Biophysics, Centre de Recherches de Biochimie Macromoléculaire, UPR-1086 CNRS, Montpellier, France

    M C Morris, L Chaloin, F Heitz & G Divita

  2. Active Motif, Carlsbad, CA, USA

    M Choob & J Archdeacon

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  1. M C Morris
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Morris, M., Chaloin, L., Choob, M. et al. Combination of a new generation of PNAs with a peptide-based carrier enables efficient targeting of cell cycle progression. Gene Ther 11, 757–764 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gt.3302235

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