title: Recombinant viral capsids as an efficient vehicle of oligonucleotide delivery into cells.
abstract: Delivery of oligonucleotides (ON) into cells is a technical challenge. In this study, we utilized the capsid of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) to meet this goal. A single and short open reading frame of the virus programs efficient capsid production in bacteria. We show that these capsids can encapsulate ON in vitro and then mediate their delivery into cells with extreme efficiency. This process is cell type non-specific, rendering the recombinant HBV capsid a potentially valuable vehicle for ON delivery into a wide range of cultured cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Arik
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Yosef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shaul
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002213:Capsid / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000235:genetics*; D015202:Protein Engineering
chemical_list: D036022:Capsid Proteins; D009841:Oligonucleotides