A Non-Viral DNA Delivery System Consisting of Multifunctional Chimaeric Peptide Fused with Zinc Finger Protein

Non-viral gene delivery systems have received sustained attention as a promising alternative to viral vectors for disease treatment and prevention in recent years. Numerous methods have been developed to enhance gene uptake and delivery in the cytoplasm, however, due to technical difficulties and delivery efficiency, these systems still face challenges in a range of biological applications, especially in vivo. To alleviate this challenge, we devised a novel system for gene delivery based on a recombinant protein eTAT-ZF9-NLS, which consisted of a multifunctional chimaeric peptide and a zinc finger protein with sequence-specific DNA-binding activity. High transfection efficiency was observed in several mammalian cells after intracellular delivery of plasmid containing ZF9-binding sites mediated by eTAT-ZF9-NLS. Our new approach provides a novel transfection strategy and the transfection efficiency was confirmed both in vitro and in vivo, making it a preferential transfection reagent for possible gene therapy.