RetroNectin

Features & Benefits

• High-efficiency retrovirus or lentivirus-mediated gene transfer
• Enhances transduction of stem cells and other hard-to-transduce cell types
• No polybrene (potentially toxic) required

Description

RetroNectin from Takara is a recombinant polypeptide of human fibronectin fragments binding viruses and cell surface proteins. RetroNectin is composed of 3 functional domains: 1) an RGDS motif-containing cell adhesion domain that binds the cell surface integrin receptor VLA-5, 2) a heparin-binding domain, which binds many types of virus, and 3) a CS-1 sequence, binding to the VLA-4 cellular integrin receptor.

When coated on the surface of culture dishes, flasks or bags, RetroNectin from Takara significantly enhances retrovirus- or lentivirus-mediated gene transduction into mammalian cells.

Takara researchers have found that RetroNectin-based protocols support highly efficient transduction in a variety of different cell types. Examples:
90% of human CD34+ bone marrow cells
>70% of human and primate CD4+ T lymphocytes
>80% of cells from human T lymphocyte cell lines (K562, Jurkat etc.)
90% of HT1080 cells

RetroNectin-based protocols can be used to transduce human stem cells more efficiently than traditional methods that rely on either polybrene or protamine. For three different types of human stem cells, RetroNectin resulted in excellent transduction efficiencies in the range of 50–75%, where protamine or polybrene were much less effective.

This enhancement is hypothetically due to co-localization of retroviral or lentiviral particles and target cells on the molecules of Takara RetroNectin.