Gold nanoparticle coatings as efficient adenovirus carriers to non-infectable stem cells

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are adult pluripotent cells with the plasticity to be converted into different cell types. Their self-renewal capacity, relative ease of isolation, expansion and inherent migration to tumors, make them perfect candidates for cell therapy against cancer. However, MSCs are notoriously refractory to adenoviral infection, mainly because CAR (Coxsackie-Adenovirus Receptor) expression is absent or downregulated. Over the last years, nanoparticles have attracted a great deal of attention as potential vehicle candidates for gene delivery, but with limited effects on their own. Our data showed that the use of positively charged 14 nm gold nanoparticles either functionalized with arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGD) motif or not, increases the efficiency of adenovirus infection in comparison to commercial reagents without altering cell viability or cell phenotype. This system represents a simple, efficient and safe method for the transduction of MSCs, being attractive for cancer gene and cell therapies.