H. Melkonyan et al., ELECTROPORATION EFFICIENCY IN MAMMALIAN-CELLS IS INCREASED BY DIMETHYL-SULFOXIDE (DMSO), Nucleic acids research, 24(21), 1996, pp. 4356-4357
Electroporation is one of the most common methods used transform mamma
lian cells with plasmids. This method is versatile and can be adapted
to meet the requirements of many cell lines. However, sometimes the ef
ficiency of this method is low. We demonstrate that dimethyl sulfoxide
(DMSO) facilitated a better DNA uptake in four different cell lines (
HL60, TR146, Cos-7 and L132). The cells were electroporated with a bet
a-Gal expression plasmid in a medium containing DMSO (1.25%) during, a
nd for 24 h after the pulse. In all these cells a dramatic (up to 8-fo
ld) increase in transfection efficiency occurred after this treatment.
This method opens up the possibility of using electroporation even in
cells which are difficult to transfect.