Background: The poor permeability of the plasma and nuclear membranes to DNA plasmids are two major barriers for the development of these therapeutic molecules. Therefore, success in gene therapy approaches depends on the development of efficient and safe non-viral delivery systems. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the in vitro delivery of plasmid DNA encoding HPV16 E7 gene...

Cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) is a promising cargo for delivering bioactive molecules. In this study, the N terminus of VP1 from chicken anemia virus, designated as CVP1, was found to carry enriched arginine residues with α-helix. By confocal imaging, flow cytometry and MTT assay, we identified CVP1 as a novel, safe and efficient CPP. CVP1-FITC peptide could entry different types of cells test...

Regulation of biological processes through the use of genetic elements is a central part of biological research and also holds great promise for future therapeutic applications. Oligonucleotides comprise a class of versatile biomolecules capable of modulating gene regulation. Gene therapy, the concept of introducing genetic elements in order to treat disease, presents a promising therapeutic st...

A hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-activated cell-penetrating peptide was developed through incorporation of a boronic acid-containing cleavable linker between polycationic cell-penetrating peptide and polyanionic fragments. Fluorescence labeling of the two ends of the molecule enabled monitoring its reaction with H2O2 through release of the highly adhesive cell-penetrating peptide and disruption of fl...

Redesigning linear cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) into a multi-branched topology with short dipeptide branches gave cell penetrating peptide dendrimers (CPPDs) with higher cell penetration, lower toxicity and hemolysis and higher serum stability than linear CPPs. Their use is demonstrated by delivering a cytotoxic peptide and paclitaxel into cells.

The successful clinical application of nucleic acid-based therapeutic strategies has been limited by the poor delivery efficiency achieved by existing vectors. The development of alternative delivery systems for improved biological activity is, therefore, mandatory. Since the seminal observations two decades ago that the Tat protein, and derived peptides, can translocate across biological membr...

We investigated whether a cell-penetrating peptide linked via a disulfide bond to a fluorophore-labeled cargo peptide can be used to interrogate changes in cellular redox state. A fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) pair was constructed so that the cargo peptide was labeled with fluorescein amidite (FAM) and the cell-penetrating peptide was attached to a quencher. Incubation of cells ...

BACKGROUND Protein transduction is safer than viral vector-mediated transduction for the delivery of a therapeutic protein into a cell. Fusion proteins with an arginine-rich cell-penetrating peptide have been produced in E. coli, but the low solubility of the fusion protein expressed in E. coli impedes the large-scale production of fusion proteins from E. coli. RESULTS Expressed protein ligat...