Owing to their diverse functions and tunable physicochemical properties, peptides are promising alternatives to the conventional gene delivery tools that are available for plant systems. However, peptide-mediated gene delivery is limited by low transfection efficiency in plants because of the insufficient cytosolic translocation of DNA cargo. Here, we report a dual peptide-based gene delivery system for the efficient transfection of plant callus cells. This system is based on the combination of an artificial peptide composed of cationic cell-penetrating and hydrophobic endosomal escape domains with a gene carrier peptide composed of amphiphilic cell-penetrating and cationic DNA-binding domains. Cellular internalization and transfection studies revealed that this dual peptide-based system enables more efficient transfection of callus cells than does a carrier peptide alone by enhancing the endocytic uptake and subsequent cytosolic translocation of a carrier peptide/DNA complex. The present strategy will expand the utility of peptide-mediated plant gene delivery for a wide range of applications and basic research.

中文翻译：

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基于双肽的基因传递系统，用于植物愈伤组织细胞的高效转染。

由于其多样的功能和可调节的理化特性，肽是可用于植物系统的常规基因传递工具的有前途的替代品。然而，由于DNA货物的胞质转运不足，所以肽介导的基因递送受到植物中低转染效率的限制。在这里，我们报告了基于双肽的基因传递系统，用于植物愈伤组织细胞的有效转染。该系统基于由阳离子细胞穿透和疏水性内体逃逸域组成的人工肽与由两亲细胞穿透和阳离子DNA结合域组成的基因载体肽的组合。细胞内在化和转染研究表明，通过增强载体肽/ DNA复合物的内吞摄取和随后的胞质易位，这种基于双肽的系统比单独的载体肽能够更有效地转染愈伤组织细胞。本策略将扩大肽介导的植物基因传递的实用性，可用于广泛的应用和基础研究。