A Cationic Lipid for Rapid and Efficient Delivery of Plasmid DNA into Mammalian Cells

Cationic lipids are widely used for gene transfer into cultured eukaryotic cells. However, lipids with potent transfection activity are often associated with high levels of cytotoxicity, and also require serum-free conditions for optimal performance. These characteristics in many cases result in uns...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biochemical and biophysical research communications 1997-07, Vol.236 (1), p.126-129
Main Authors: Zhang, Guohong, Gurtu, Vanessa, Smith, Thomas H., Nelson, Paul, Kain, Steven R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
CHO Cells
Cricetinae
Lipids
Mammals
Plasmids - administration & dosage
Transfection
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Summary:Cationic lipids are widely used for gene transfer into cultured eukaryotic cells. However, lipids with potent transfection activity are often associated with high levels of cytotoxicity, and also require serum-free conditions for optimal performance. These characteristics in many cases result in unsatisfactory transfection efficiency. In this report, we describe a new cationic amphiphile, N-t-butyl-N′-tetradecyl-3-tetradecylaminopropionamidine (Amidine). Amidine requires only 1-2 hour incubation intervals to produce maximal transfection efficiency, and can transfect cells in the presence of serum. Such characteristics significantly minimize cytotoxicity, and also provide time flexibility for researchers. We routinely obtain over 80% transfection efficiency as evidenced by use of an enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) as the reporter. These studies demonstrate the utility of Amidine for rapid and efficient transfection of mammalian cells.
ISSN:0006-291X
1090-2104
DOI:10.1006/bbrc.1997.6857