Efficient delivery of drugs to living cells is still a major challenge. Currently, most methods rely on the endocytotic pathway resulting in low delivery efficiency due to limited endosomal escape and/or degradation in lysosomes. Here, we report a new method for direct drug delivery into the cytosol of live cells in vitro and in vivo utilizing targeted membrane fusion between liposomes and live cells. A pair of complementary coiled-coil lipopeptides was embedded in the lipid bilayer of liposomes and cell membranes respectively, resulting in targeted membrane fusion with concomitant release of liposome encapsulated cargo including fluorescent dyes and the cytotoxic drug doxorubicin. Using a wide spectrum of endocytosis inhibitors and endosome trackers, we demonstrate that the major site of cargo release is at the plasma membrane. This method thus allows for the quick and efficient delivery of drugs and is expected to have many in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo applications.

3′ untranslated regions of alfamo‐ and ilar‐virus RNAs fold into a series of stem–loop structures to which the coat protein binds with high affinity. This binding plays a role in initiation of infection (‘genome activation’) and has been thought to substitute for a tRNA‐like structure that is found at the 3′ termini of related plant viruses. We propose the existence of an alternative conformation of the 3′ ends of alfamo‐ and ilar‐virus RNAs, including a pseudoknot. Based on (i) phylogenetic comparisons, (ii) in vivo and in vitro functional analyses of mutants in which the pseudoknot has been disrupted or restored by compensatory mutations, (iii) competition experiments between coat protein and viral replicase, and (iv) investigation of the effect of magnesium, we demonstrate that this pseudoknot is required for replication of alfalfa mosaic virus. This conformation resembles the tRNA‐like structure of the related bromo‐ and cucumo‐viruses. A low but specific interaction with yeast CCA‐adding enzyme was found. The existence of two mutually exclusive conformations for the 3′ termini of alfamo‐ and ilar‐virus RNAs could enable the virus to switch from translation to replication and vice versa. The role of coat protein in this modulation and in genome activation is discussed.

The complementary coiled coil forming peptides E [(EIAALEK)4] and K [(KIAALKE)4] are known to trigger liposomal membrane fusion when tethered to lipid vesicles in the form of lipopeptides. In this study, we examined whether these coiled coil forming peptides can be used for drug delivery applications. First we prepared E4 peptide modified liposomes containing the far-red fluorescent dye TO-PRO-3 iodide (E4-Lipo-TP3), and confirmed that E4-liposomes could deliver TP3 into HeLa cells expressing K4 peptide on the membrane (HeLa-K) under cell culture conditions in a selective manner. Next, we prepared doxorubicin-containing E4-liposomes (E4-Lipo-DOX), and confirmed that E4-liposomes could also deliver DOX into HeLa-K cells. Moreover, E4-Lipo-DOX showed enhanced cytotoxicity towards HeLa-K cells compared to free doxorubicin. To prove the suitability of E4/K4 coiled coil formation for in vivo drug delivery, we injected E4-Lipo-TP3 or E4-Lipo-DOX to zebrafish xenografts of HeLa-K. As a result, E4-Liposomes delivered TP3 to the implanted HeLa-K cells, and E4-Lipo-DOX could suppress cancer proliferation in the xenograft when compared to non-targeted conditions (i.e. zebrafish xenograft with free DOX injection). These data demonstrate that coiled coil formation enables drug selectivity and efficacy in vivo. It is envisaged that these findings are a step forward towards biorthogonal targeting systems as a tool for clinical drug delivery.

Guanine-rich sequences can fold into four-stranded structures of stacked guanine-tetrads, so-called G-quadruplexes (G4). These unique motifs have been extensively studied on the DNA level; however, exploration of the biological roles of G4s at the RNA level is just emerging. Here we show that G4 RNA when introduced within coding regions are capable of stimulating −1 ribosomal frameshifting (−1 FS) in vitro and in cultured cells. Systematic manipulation of the loop length between each G-tract revealed that the −1 FS efficiency positively correlates with G4 stability. Addition of a G4-stabilizing ligand, PhenDC3, resulted in higher −1 FS. Further, we demonstrated that the G4s can stimulate +1 FS and stop codon readthrough as well. These results suggest a potentially novel translational gene regulation mechanism mediated by G4 RNA.

On entering a host cell, positive-strand RNA virus genomes have to serve as messenger for the translation of viral proteins. Efficient translation of cellular messengers requires interactions between initiation factors bound to the 5′-cap structure and the poly(A) binding protein bound to the 3′-poly(A) tail. Initiation of infection with the tripartite RNA genomes of alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) and viruses from the genus Ilarvirus requires binding of a few molecules of coat protein (CP) to the 3′ end of the nonpolyadenylated viral RNAs. Moreover, infection with the genomic RNAs can be initiated by addition of the subgenomic messenger for CP, RNA 4. We report here that extension of the AMV RNAs with a poly(A) tail of 40 to 80 A-residues permitted initiation of infection independently of CP or RNA 4 in the inoculum. Specifically, polyadenylation of RNA 1 relieved an apparent bottleneck in the translation of the viral RNAs. Translation of RNA 4 in plant protoplasts was autocatalytically stimulated by its encoded CP. Mutations that interfered with CP binding to the 3′ end of viral RNAs reduced translation of RNA 4 to undetectable levels. Possibly, CP of AMV and ilarviruses stimulates translation of viral RNAs by acting as a functional analogue of poly(A) binding protein or other cellular proteins.