title: A protein delivery system using 30Kc19 cell-penetrating protein originating from silkworm.
abstract: Cell-penetrating protein and its protein transduction domain have been used to deliver drugs and proteins into the cells via receptor-independent endocytosis. A number of cell-penetrating proteins including TAT derived from HIV-1 virus, VP22 from herpes simplex virus and Antennapedia from drosophila have been discovered. Here, we report a cell-penetrating protein, 30Kc19, originating from the hemolymph of silkworm, Bombyx mori. The 30Kc19 is the first cell-penetrating protein that has been found in insect hemolymph. When the 30Kc19 protein produced from recombinant Escherichia coli was supplemented into the medium for mammalian cell culture, 30Kc19 efficiently penetrated into various types of cells and localized at subcellular compartments including mitochondria and cytoplasm. 30Kc19 also delivered cargo proteins such as green fluorescence protein into the cells even though cargo proteins are not able to penetrate into cells by themselves. In addition to the in vitro system, 30Kc19 exhibited the protein transduction property in vivo. When 30Kc19 was intraperitoneally injected into mice, 30Kc19 delivered cargo proteins into various organ tissues of model animals without producing toxicity. Therefore, 30Kc19 has a great potential as a cell-penetrating protein that can be used as a medicinal tool to deliver cargo molecules including proteins into the target organ tissues in the body.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Bio-MAX Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ju Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Ju Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hee Ho
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Won Jong
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Rhee
authors.forename: Shin Sik
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Tai Hyun
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D012831:Bombyx; D057846:Cell-Penetrating Peptides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry*; D004705:Endocytosis / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006458:Hemolymph / Q000737:chemistry; D015151:Immunoblotting; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D007668:Kidney / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence
chemical_list: D057846:Cell-Penetrating Peptides; D004337:Drug Carriers; D019476:Insect Proteins