Wang Ying-Li, Zhang Yang-Pei, Ji Shou-Ping
Institute of Transfusion Medicine, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100850, China.
Zhongguo Shi Yan Xue Ye Xue Za Zhi. 2007 Dec;15(6):1266-9.
The study was aimed to investigate the possibility of enhancing transfection efficiency of branched polyethylenimine (BPEI) in HeLa cells by hydrophobic tail of bee venom peptide (melittin). Hydrophobic tail of melittin was synthesized and its membrane permeable activity was evaluated by hemolysis test. The peptide was mixed with BPEI and the transfection efficiency was determined in HeLa cells by using green fluorescent protein gene (GFP) as a reporter gene. The cytotoxicity of the mixture was analyzed by MTT assay at 24 hours after transfection. The results indicated that the synthesized peptide had permeable activity leading to hemolysis in both neutral and acidic solution. At optimal condition, the peptide could significantly improve the transfection efficiency of BPEI and the cytotoxicity of the mixture was lower than BPEI itself. It is concluded that hydrophobic tail of melittin may be a potential enhancer to improve transfection efficiency mediated by cationic polymers in difficult to transfect cells.
本研究旨在探讨蜂毒肽（蜂毒素）的疏水尾增强分支聚乙烯亚胺（BPEI）在HeLa细胞中转染效率的可能性。合成了蜂毒素的疏水尾，并通过溶血试验评估其膜渗透活性。将该肽与BPEI混合，并以绿色荧光蛋白基因（GFP）作为报告基因在HeLa细胞中测定转染效率。转染后24小时通过MTT法分析混合物的细胞毒性。结果表明，合成的肽在中性和酸性溶液中均具有导致溶血的渗透活性。在最佳条件下，该肽可显著提高BPEI的转染效率，且混合物的细胞毒性低于BPEI本身。结论是，蜂毒素的疏水尾可能是一种潜在的增强剂，可提高阳离子聚合物在难转染细胞中介导的转染效率。
