INTRODUCTION OF POLIOVIRUS RNA INTO CELLS VIA LIPID VESICLES (LIPOSOMES)

Large unilamellar vesicles (LUV) composed of phosphatidylserine are capable of encapsulating poliovirus ribonucleic acid (RNA) and delivering it efficiently to cells in an infectious form. The biological activity of vesicle-entrapped poliovirus RNA was 1-2 × 104 plaque forming units/nanogram (pfu/ng) and appeared to be enhanced by ribonuclease treatment of the vesicle preparations (infectivity = 1-2 × 105 pfu/ng). Vesicle-mediated RNA infection produced equivalent titers in primate and nonprimate cells. Moreover, the data strongly suggest that the ratio of molecules per infectious unit is close to one when the RNA is properly delivered to the cell. A comparative study of LUV and multilamellar vesicles (MLV) indicates that LUV deliver their contents to the cell cytoplasm much more efficiently than MLV. LUV-entrapped poliovirus RNA produced infectious titers 10-100 fold higher than comparable RNA preparations delivered to cells by other techniques. © 1979.