Recombinant mussel adhesive protein as a gene delivery material

Efficient target gene delivery into eukaryotic cells is important for biotechnological research and gene therapy. Gene delivery based on proteins, including histones, has recently emerged as a powerful non‐viral DNA transfer technique. Here, we investigated the potential use of a recombinant mussel adhesive protein, hybrid fp‐151, as a gene delivery material, in view of its similar basic amino acid composition to histone proteins, and cost‐effective and high‐level production in Escherichia coli . After confirming DNA binding affinity, we transfected mammalian cells (human 293T and mouse NIH/3T3) with foreign genes using hybrid fp‐151 as the gene delivery carrier. Hybrid fp‐151 displayed comparable transfection efficiency in both mammalian cell lines, compared to the widely used transfection agent, Lipofectamine™ 2000. Our results indicate that this mussel adhesive protein may be used as a potential protein‐based gene‐transfer mediator. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009;102: 616–623. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.