Abstract: Objective To explore the transgene efficiency and safety of combined vector of spermine-pullulan polymer (SP) and adenovirus vector (Adv) on rat bone marrow derived MSCs (MSCs). Methods To combine vectors, Adv was incubated with the SP at room temperature for 15 min to form SP-Adv, and the morphology was observed under a transmission electron microscope. Luciferase activity reflecting the transduction efficiency was determined by using a luciferase assay system, and cell viability was determined using an MTT assay system. The osteogenic differentiation was detected by alkaline-phosphatase staining, and adipogenic differentiation was detected by Oil-Red-O staining. Results We observed that Adv was coated with SP polymer and the size of SP-Adv was bigger than uncoated Adv. SP-Adv showed significantly higher transgene expression than uncoated Adv and did not affect cell viability of MSCs. SP-Advs did not impair the osteogenic nor adipogenic differentiation of MSCs. Conclusion SP-Adv can transduce mesenchymal stem cells efficiently, and their safety was demonstrated in cell level.

Key words: Keyword: Mesenchymal stem cells, Combined gene vector, Gene transduction