Library screening of cell-penetrating peptide for BY-2 cells, leaves of Arabidopsis, tobacco, tomato, poplar, and rice callus

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are used for various applications, especially in the biomedical field. Recently, CPPs have been used as a part of carrier to deliver proteins and/or genes into plant cells and tissues; hence, these peptides are attractive tools for plant biotechnological and agricultural applications, but require more efficient delivery rates and optimization by species before wide-scale use can be achieved. Here, we developed a library containing 55 CPPs to determine the optimal CPP characteristics for penetration of BY-2 cells and leaves of Nicotiana benthamiana, Arabidopsis thaliana, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), poplar (hybrid aspen Populus tremula × tremuloides line T89), and rice (Oryza sativa). By investigating the cell penetration efficiency of CPPs in the library, we identified several efficient CPPs for all the plants studied except rice leaf. In the case of rice, several CPPs showed efficient penetration into rice callus. Furthermore, we examined the relationship between cell penetration efficiency and CPP secondary structural characteristics. The cell penetration efficiency of Lys-containing CPPs was relatively greater in plant than in animal cells, which could be due to differences in lipid composition and surface charge of the cell membranes. The variation in optimal CPPs across the plants studied here suggests that CPPs must be optimized for each plant species and target tissues of interest.