Generation of transgenic fish cell line with α-lactalbumin nanocarriers co-delivering Tol2 transposase mRNA and...

Fish cells, such as grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) kidney (CIK) cells, are harder to transfect than mammalian cells. There is a need for an efficient gene delivery system for fish cells. Here, we used CIK cell line as a model to develop a strategy to enhance RNA and plasmid DNA transfection efficiency using a nanocarrier generated from α-lactalbumin (α-NC). α-NC absorbed nucleic acid cargo efficiently and exhibited low cytotoxicity. Plasmid transfection was more efficient with α-NC than with liposomal transfection reagents. We used α-NC to co-transfect Tol2 transposase mRNA and a plasmid containing Cas9 and GFP, generating a stable transgenic CIK cell line. Genome and RNA sequencing revealed that the Cas9 and GFP fragments were successfully inserted into the genome of CIK cells and efficiently transcribed. In this study, we established an efficient transfection system for fish cells using α-NC, simplifying the process of generating stable transgenic fish cell lines.