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Review
. 2021 Jul 20:9:701031.
doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2021.701031. eCollection 2021.

An Overview of Methods and Tools for Transfection of Eukaryotic Cells in vitro

Agnieszka Fus-Kujawa  1 , Pawel Prus  1   2 , Karolina Bajdak-Rusinek  3 , Paulina Teper  4 , Katarzyna Gawron  1 , Agnieszka Kowalczuk  4 , Aleksander L Sieron  1
Affiliations
Review

An Overview of Methods and Tools for Transfection of Eukaryotic Cells in vitro

Agnieszka Fus-Kujawa et al. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. .

Abstract

Transfection is a powerful analytical tool enabling studies of gene products and functions in eukaryotic cells. Successful delivery of genetic material into cells depends on DNA quantity and quality, incubation time and ratio of transfection reagent to DNA, the origin, type and the passage of transfected cells, and the presence or absence of serum in the cell culture. So far a number of transfection methods that use viruses, non-viral particles or physical factors as the nucleic acids carriers have been developed. Among non-viral carriers, the cationic polymers are proposed as the most attractive ones due to the possibility of their chemical structure modification, low toxicity and immunogenicity. In this review the delivery systems as well as physical, biological and chemical methods used for eukaryotic cells transfection are described and discussed.

Keywords: endosomal escape; eukaryotic cells; polymers; transfection; viral carriers.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The proposed mechanism of chemical transfection: (A) transfection reagent; (B) Nucleic acid sequence; (C) nucleic acid polyplexed with chemical transfection reagent; (D) cellular uptake of polyplex and expression of introduced nucleic acid’s fragment.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Examples of cationic polymers used in gene delivery systems.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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