Direct protein delivery into intact plant cells using polyhistidine peptides.

Polyhistidine peptides (PHPs), sequences comprising only histidine residues (>His8), are effective cell-penetrating peptides for plant cells. Using PHP-fusion proteins, we aimed to deliver proteins into cultured plant cells from Nicotiana tabacum, Oryza sativa, and Cryptomeria japonica. Co-cultivation of cultured cells with fusion proteins combining maltose-binding protein (MBP), red fluorescent protein (RFP), and various PHPs (MBP-RFP-His8-His20) in one polypeptide showed the cellular uptake of fusion proteins in all plant cell lines. Maximum intracellular fluorescence was shown in MBP-RFP-His20. Further, adenylate cyclase (CyaA), a synthase of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) activated by cytosolic calmodulin, was used as a reporter for protein delivery in living cells. A fusion protein combining MBP, RFP, CyaA, and His20 (MBP-RFP-CyaA-His20) was delivered into plant cells and increased intracellular fluorescence and cAMP production in all cell lines. The present study demonstrates that PHPs are effective carriers of proteins into the intracellular space of various cultured plant cells.