Sapofectosid – an isolated triterpenoid saponin from Saponaria officinalis L. ensures non-toxic and universal gene delivery

To this day, a variety of transfection methods are available on the market, promising a highly effective gene delivery into eukaryotes. As well as the enhancement of transfection efficiency, the toxicity of the reagents play a crucial role in the biochemical research. Particularly with regard to conducting in-vivo studies or even gene therapies, the transfection agents must preferably cause no self-toxicity. In the recent past, a number of studies were conducted, implying the great potential of triterpenoid bisdesmosidic saponins of Caryophyllaceae species for being a valuable non-toxic transfection enhancer. By disturbing the integrity of late endosomes and lysosomes during the endocytosis, these saponins are able to release the applied gene carriers into the cytosol before being degraded by lysosomal enzymes. In this study, we try to illustrate potential of the isolated triterpenoid saponin (molecular weight: 1862 Da) from Saponaria officinalis L. “sapofectosid” as the first agent of a new transfection method – sapofection. For this purpose, the herbal extract of S. officinalis L. underwent several purification steps as well as the chemical clarification in order to isolate the active compound. The isolated sapofectosid was tested on a number of transfection methods to underline the universal applicability as a non-toxic transfection enhancer for future gene therapies.