Control of Aggregate Size of Polyethyleneimine-Coated Magnetic Nanoparticles for Magnetofection

摘要

Using magnetic nanoparticles to enhance gene transfection,a recently developed technique termed magnetofection,has been shown to be a powerful technology in gene delivery.The most widely used magnetic nanoparticles in this area are those coated with polyethyleneimine,which is a well known non-viral transfection agent.In this article,we report methods to control the aggregate size of polyethyleneimine-coated magnetite particles.These particles were then used to enhance transfection of green fluorescent protein(GFP)into NIH 3T3 cells in vitro.We find that the aggregate size of the particles has a great effect on their performance in magnetofection,with less aggregated magnetic particles being more effective in enhancing the gene transfection.