Cationic lipid-mediated intracellular delivery of antibodies into live cells

The ability to introduce antibodiesto live cells opens new insights to a wide range of applications, such as protein intracellular trafficking studies, protein interference studies with blocking antibodies, and live immunolabelingor protein phosphorylationstates studies. Apart from single-chain format variable (scFv) antibodies, DNA transfection of eukaryotic cells is rarely used to produce antibodiesin situ, mainly due to inappropriate folding of the antibodyin the cytoplasm. Thus, the development of dedicated carriers is needed since antibodies, which are large, are unable to cross the plasma membrane by passive transport. As a result, intracellular delivery of antibodiesrepresents a novel approach for cell biologists. For efficient antibodydelivery, major hurdles such as crossing the plasma membrane and effective release of the antibodyin the cytoplasm need to be overcome. We studied these two crucial steps using a dedicated delivery reagent in live cells and compared the results with immunocyt...