R3V6 Amphiphilic Peptide with High Mobility Group Box 1A Domain as an Efficient Carrier for Gene Delivery

The R3V6 peptide includes a hydrophilic arginine stretch and a hydrophobic valine stretch. In previous studies, the R3V6 peptide was evaluated as a gene carrier and was found to have low cytotoxicity. However, the transfection efficiency of R3V6 was lower than that of poly-L-lysine (PLL) in N2A neuroblastoma cells. In this study, the transfection efficiency of R3V6 was improved in combination with high mobility group box 1A domain (HMGA). HMGA is originated from the nuclear protein and has many positively-charged amino acids. Therefore, HMGA binds to DNA via charge interaction. In addition, HMGA has a nuclear localization signal peptide and may increase the delivery efficiency of DNA into the nucleus. The ternary complex with HMGA, R3V6, and DNA was prepared and evaluated as a gene carrier. First, the HMGA/DNA complex was prepared with a negative surface charge. Then, R3V6 was added to the complex to coat the negative charges of the HMGA/DNA complex, forming the ternary complex of HMGA, R3V6, and DNA. A physical characterization study showed that the ternary complex was more stable than the PLL/DNA complex. The HMGA/R3V6/DNA complex had a higher transfection efficiency than the PLL/DNA, HMGA/DNA, or R3V6/DNA complexes in N2A cells. Furthermore, the HMGA/R3V6/DNA complex was not toxic to cells. Therefore, the HMGA/R3V6/DNA complex may be a useful gene delivery carrier.