Gene delivery to Jurkat T cells using non-viral vectors associated with magnetic nanoparticles

This paper describes core-shell-type magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and magnetic lipoplexes, comprising these particles, formulated to efficiently transfect suspended human Jurkat leukaemia T cells upon application of a gradient magnetic field for magnetofection. Magnetofection of the Jurkat T cells using selected vector formulations resulted in a significant (up to 4.5-fold) enhancement in both luciferase reporter gene expression and the percentage of cells expressing eGFP, as compared to lipofection. Up to 27% of the Jurkat T cells were eGFP-positive as detected by fluorescence-activated cell sorting with correction for weak fluorescence of the lipid enhancer. The increased efficiency of magnetofection, as compared to lipofection, was shown to be at least partially attributable to increased cellular internalisation of the magnetic vectors upon magnetic field application, as compared to non-magnetic lipoplexes. The metabolic activity of the cells post-magnetofection was comparable to that of untreated cells, suggesting non-toxicity of the vector 48 h post-magnetofection.