Abstract
A pH-responsive peptide fragment modelled on the influenza virus haemagglutinin (INF7-SGSC) can promote the transfectional activity of poly(L)-lysine (pLL)/DNA complexes against 293 cells. Chloroquine also promotes transfection, but the combination of INF7-SGSC and chloroquine gives an increased, synergistic, transfectional activity. This was unexpected since the supposed modes of action of these two agents are expected to be incompatible. Microinjection of pLL/DNA complexes into the cytoplasm of Xenopus oocytes produced greater gene expression than microinjection of free DNA, possibly reflecting nuclear-homing or protection from degra- dation by cytoplasmic nucleases. However, pretreatment of complexes with INF7-SGSC (but not chloroquine) before cytoplasmic microinjection promoted gene expression still further. When pLL/DNA complexes were injected directly into the nucleus, INF7-SGSC again increased gene expression. The mechanism of post-endosomal action of INF7-SGSC is unknown, but could reflect its polyanionic nature, possibly enhancing intranuclear dissociation of the complexes. Whatever the mechanism, it appears that INF7-SGSC mediates two effects – one probably endosomal and the second post-endosomal, the latter showing a synergistic transfection interaction with chloroquine.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wolfert, M., Seymour, L. Chloroquine and amphipathic peptide helices show synergistic transfection in vitro. Gene Ther 5, 409–414 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gt.3300606
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gt.3300606
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Peptide-Based and Polypeptide-Based Gene Delivery Systems
Topics in Current Chemistry (2017)
-
Transfection of large plasmids in primary human myoblasts
Gene Therapy (2001)
-
Enhancing transfection efficiency using polyethylene glycol grafted polyethylenimine and fusogenic peptide
Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering (2001)
-
Gene transfer facilitated by a cellular targeting molecule, reovirus protein σ1
Gene Therapy (2000)
-
A versatile system for receptor-mediated gene delivery permits increased entry of DNA into target cells, enhanced delivery to the nucleus and elevated rates of transgene expression
Gene Therapy (2000)