The use of (DOTAP:PC)-based lipid vector also can be extended to several neural and non-neural cell lines with appreciable transfection yield such as a glial cell line (GCL) derived from rat spinal cord (65%), HeLa S3 (60%), COS-7 (30%) and HEK 293 cells (20%).
The efficiency of DOTAP:PC (10:1) and Lipofectamine™ 2000 vectors in our surfection method are compared on standard HeLa S3 cell lines. Lipofectamine™ 2000 (72%) is slightly better than DOTAP:PC (10:1) (60%). However, the surfection method improved the efficiency of Lipofectamine™ 2000 itself (72%) as compared to the classical (62%) approach.
In summary we have developed an original standard surfection protocol for both MN primary cultures and cell lines, thus simplifying laboratory practice; moreover, Lipofectamine™ 2000 used in this surfection method is more efficient for the cell lines than the manufacturer-recommended method. We emphasize that our method particularly spares fragile cells like MNs from injure and therefore, might be applied to other fragile cell type in primary cultures.