Magnetofection has been tested on a broad range of cell lines, hard-to-transfect and primary cells. Several optimized and efficient magnetic nanoparticle formulations have been specifically developed for several types of applications such as DNA, siRNA, and primary neuron transfection as well as viral applications.
Magnetofection research is currently in the preclinical stage. This technique has primarily been tested in vivo using plasmid DNA in mouse, rat, and rabbit models for applications in the hippocampus, subcutaneous tumors, lungs, spinal cord, and muscle.
Some applications include:
* Delivery of GFP gene into primary neural stem cells, which are typically difficult to transfect, with 18% efficacy with a static magnetic field and 32% efficacy with an oscillating field.
* Delivery of oligodesoxynucleotides (ODN) into human umbilical vein endothelial cells with 84% efficiency.
* Delivery of siRNA to HeLa cells to knock down luciferase reporter gene.
* Delivery of adenoviral vectors to primary human peripheral blood lymphocytes.