Sonoporation Enhances Liposome Mediated EcTRAF4 siRNA Delivery in SaB-1 Cells

Abstract

Sonoporation, which is the perforation of cell membranes using ultrasound and microbubble, has been shown to facilitate the liposome-mediated delivery of nucleotides in mammalian cells. The effect has not yet been tested in non-vertebrate species such as fish. Since adenoviral vector delivery is associated with tumorigenicity and electroporation is affected by the ions content in culture water, sonoporation may be an ideal means of enhancing the transfection efficiency in aquaculture. Hence, in this study, sonoporation was used to enhance the transfection efficiency of siEcTRAF4 lipoplexes, which inhibits Viral Haemorrhagic Septicaemia Virus (VHSV) infection, in SaB-1 cells. However, the effect of sonoporation parameters on transfection efficiency must be elucidated, so the effect of acoustical pressures and bubble-to-cell distance on membrane permeabilization of SaB-1 cells was analyzed. Sonoporation was found to assist the delivery of siEcTRAF4 lipoplexes into SaB-1 cells and to reduce viral replication after the VHSV challenge. These results imply that a prognostic technique against VHSV infection that combines sonoporation and siEcTRAF4 lipoplexes may be applicable in aquaculture in the future.