A Novel Peptide Delivers Plasmids across Blood-Brain Barrier into Neuronal Cells as a Single-Component Transfer Vector

There is no data up to now to show that peptide can deliver plasmid into brain as a single-component transfer vector. Here we show that a novel peptide, RDP (consisted of 39 amino acids), can be exploited as an efficient plasmid vector for brain-targeting delivery. The plasmids containing Lac Z reporter gene (pVAX-Lac Z) and BDNF gene (pVAX-BDNF) are complexed with RDP and intravenously injected into mice. The results of gel retardation assay show that RDP enables to bind DNA in a dose-dependent manner, and the X-Gal staining identity that Lac Z is specifically expressed in the brain. Also, the results of Western blot and immunofluorescence staining of BDNF indicate that pVAX-BDNF complexed with RDP can be delivered into brain, and show neuroprotective properties in experimental Parkinson's disease (PD) model. The results demonstrate that RDP enables to bind and deliver DNA into the brain, resulting in specific gene expression in the neuronal cells. This strategy provides a novel, simple and effective approach for non-viral gene therapy of brain diseases.