Development of a membrane fusible drug carrier from erythrocytes by the spontaneous transfer of viral fusion protein from influenza virus-infected cells.

In order to develop a membrane fusible drug carrier from human erythrocytes, we attempted the reconstitution of influenza virus fusion protein hemagglutinin (HA) to an erythrocyte membrane. In this study, we succeeded in the preparation of HA-reconstituted erythrocytes (HA-erythrocytes) by the incubation of erythrocytes with influenza virus-infected CV-1 cells, and confirmed the ability of HA-erythrocytes to fuse with the cell membrane. Furthermore, by using an HA-reconstituted ghost (HA-ghost), which entrapped fluorescent-labeled ovalbumin, 25% of the protein was incorporated into cells through the fusion of the HA-ghost with the cell membrane.