Electroporation-mediated delivery of nucleolar targeting sequences from Semliki Forest virus nucleocapsid protein.

Electroporation was used as a powerful and simple method to probe to the intracellular distribution and trafficking of signal sequences. By coupling synthetic peptides to carrier reporter groups, specific amino acid sequences responsible for nucleolar targeting of Semliki Forest virus (SFV) Core (C) protein were found out. In the N-terminal part of the C protein the sequences 66KPKKKKTTKPKPKTQPKK83 and 92KKKDKQADKKKKP105 are able to situate BSA or KLH as reporter proteins in the nucleolus, suggesting that SFV C protein contains at least two independent nucleolar targeting sequences.