Faruqu Farid N, Xu Lizhou, Al-Jamal Khuloud T
Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, King's College London.
Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, King's College London;
J Vis Exp. 2018 Dec 5(142). doi: 10.3791/58814.
Extracellular vesicles, in particular exosomes, have recently gained interest as novel drug delivery vectors due to their biological origin, abundance, and intrinsic capability in intercellular delivery of various biomolecules. This work establishes an isolation protocol to achieve high yield and high purity of exosomes for siRNA delivery. Human Embryonic Kidney cells (HEK-293 cells) are cultured in bioreactor flasks and the culture supernatant (hereon referred to as conditioned medium) is harvested on a weekly basis to allow for enrichment of HEK-293 exosomes. The conditioned medium (CM) is pre-cleared of dead cells and cellular debris by differential centrifugation and is subjected to ultracentrifugation onto a sucrose cushion followed by a washing step, to collect the exosomes. Isolated HEK-293 exosomes are characterized for yield, morphology and exosomal marker expression by nanoparticle tracking analysis, protein quantification, electron microscopy and flow cytometry, respectively. Small interfering RNA (siRNA), fluorescently labeled with Atto655, is loaded into exosomes by electroporation and excess siRNA is removed by gel filtration. Cell uptake in PANC-1 cancer cells, after 24 h incubation at 37 °C, is confirmed by flow cytometry. HEK-293 exosomes are 107.0 ± 8.2 nm in diameter. The exosome yield and particle-to-protein ratio (P:P) ratio are 6.99 ± 0.22 × 10 particle/mL and 8.3 ± 1.7 × 10 particle/µg, respectively. The encapsulation efficiency of siRNA in exosomes is ~ 10-20%. Forty percent of the cells show positive signals for Atto655 at 24 h post-incubation. In conclusion, exosome isolation by ultracentrifugation onto sucrose cushion offers a combination of good yield and purity. siRNA could be successfully loaded into exosomes by electroporation and subsequently delivered into cancer cells in vitro. This protocol offers a standard procedure for developing siRNA-loaded exosomes for efficient delivery to cancer cells.
细胞外囊泡,尤其是外泌体,由于其生物学来源、丰富性以及在细胞间传递各种生物分子的内在能力,最近作为新型药物递送载体受到关注。这项工作建立了一种分离方案,以实现用于递送小干扰RNA(siRNA)的外泌体的高产率和高纯度。人胚肾细胞(HEK - 293细胞)在生物反应器烧瓶中培养,每周收集培养上清液(以下称为条件培养基),以富集HEK - 293外泌体。通过差速离心对条件培养基(CM)进行预清除死细胞和细胞碎片处理,然后将其在蔗糖垫层上进行超速离心,随后进行洗涤步骤,以收集外泌体。分别通过纳米颗粒跟踪分析、蛋白质定量、电子显微镜和流式细胞术对分离得到的HEK - 293外泌体的产量、形态和外泌体标志物表达进行表征。用Atto655荧光标记的小干扰RNA(siRNA)通过电穿孔加载到外泌体中,并通过凝胶过滤去除多余的siRNA。在37℃孵育24小时后,通过流式细胞术确认PANC - 1癌细胞的细胞摄取情况。HEK - 293外泌体的直径为107.0±8.2nm。外泌体产量和颗粒与蛋白质比率(P:P)分别为6.99±0.22×10颗粒/毫升和8.3±1.7×10颗粒/微克。siRNA在外泌体中的包封效率约为10 - 20%。孵育24小时后,40%的细胞显示Atto655阳性信号。总之,在蔗糖垫层上进行超速离心分离外泌体可实现高产率和高纯度。siRNA可通过电穿孔成功加载到外泌体中,并随后在体外递送至癌细胞。该方案为开发用于有效递送至癌细胞的负载siRNA的外泌体提供了标准程序。