Biotinylation of antisense oligonucleotides does not alter lipofectin enhanced cellular uptake in prostate cancer cell lines

Biotinylation is a common modification made to pharmaceuticals, including antisense oligonucleotides (oligos), to enhance their specific delivery. Such agents hind to targets that have been previously labeled with conjugated avidin, or alternatively, heteroconjugate monoclonal antibodies that have dual biotin and tumor-specific antigen specificities may be employed. However, for a drug to be efficacious it must also be taken up by the targeted cells. This is frequently difficult for large molecular weight compounds and cationic lipids, like lipofectin, are often employed. However, the effect of biotinylation on oligo uptake has not been examined in the presence of lipofectin, particularly in prostate cancer cells. Oligos conjugated with biotin and FITC were incubated in vitro with LNCaP and PC-3 cells in the presence of a previously determined effective concentration of lipofectin. Fluorescent uptake and distribution was compared to similar oligos that were not biotinylated. The results demonstrate that biotinylation does not alter the uptake of oligos in LNCaP or PC-3 prostate cancer cells, nor does it alter their retention or cytoplasmic distribution in PC-3 cells when used with lipofectin. (C) 2001 Prous Science, All rights reserved.