Magnetofection of green fluorescent protein encoding DNA-bearing polyethyleneimine-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles to human breast cancer cells

Abstract

Gene therapy is a developing method for the treatment of various diseases. For this purpose, the search for nonviral methods has recently accelerated to avoid toxic effects. A strong alternative method is magnetofection, which involves the use of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) with a proper organic coating and external magnetic field to enhance the localization of SPIONs at the target site. In this study, a new magnetic actuation system consisting of four rare-earth magnets on a rotary table was designed and manufactured to obtain improved magnetofection. As a model, green fluorescent protein DNA-bearing polyethyleneimine-coated SPIONs were used. Magnetofection was tested on MCF7 cells. The system reduced the transfection time (down to 1 h) of the standard polyethyleneimine transfection protocol. As a result, we showed that the system could be effectively used for gene transfer.