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Transduction peptides: from technology to physiology

Nature Cell Biology volume 6, pages 189–196 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

During the past fifteen years, a variety of peptides have been characterized for their ability to translocate into live cells. Most are efficient vectors that can internalize hydrophilic cargoes, and so provide a valuable biological (and potentially therapeutic) tool for targeting proteins into cells. Furthermore, translocation of cell-permeable peptides across the plasma membrane and their subsequent access to the cytosol, even when fused to large hydrophilic proteins, is challenging the perception of the plasma membrane as an impermeable barrier.

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Figure 1: The cell membrane: an impermeable barrier?
Figure 2: Penetratin Cre recombines floxed sites after internalization.
Figure 3: Internalized molecules can help in deciphering genetic pathways.
Figure 4: Penetratin peptides injected in the brain accumulate preferentially in neurons.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M.-L. Montesinos, E. Dupont and S. Dupas for having provided some pictures from their work. The studies from our laboratories were supported by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Ecole Normale Supérieure and grants from the Association Française de lutte contre les Myopathies (no. 7702), the Human Frontier Research Program (RGP26/2002) and the European Community (HPRN-CT-2001-00241).

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  1. the Homeoprotein Cell Biology Group, CNRS UMR 8542, Ecole Normale Supérieure, 46 rue d'Ulm, Paris, 75230, Cedex 05, France

    Alain Joliot

  2. the Development and Neuropharmacology Group, CNRS UMR 8542, Ecole Normale Supérieure, 46 rue d'Ulm, Paris, 75230, Cedex 05, France

    Alain Prochiantz

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Joliot, A., Prochiantz, A. Transduction peptides: from technology to physiology. Nat Cell Biol 6, 189–196 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb0304-189

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