Gene transfer device utilizing micron-spiked electrodes produced by the self-organization phenomenon of Fe-alloy.
In the diffusional phase transformation of two-phase alloys, the new phase precipitates form the matrix phase at specific temperatures, followed by the formation of a mixed microstructure comprising the precipitate and the matrix. It has been found that by specific chemical-etching treatment, the precipitate in Fe-25Cr-6Ni alloy projects substantially and clusters at the surface. The configuration of the precipitate has an extremely high aspect ratio: it is several microns in width and several tens of microns in length (known as micron-spiked). This study targets the development of a gene transfer device with a micro-spike produced based on the self-organization phenomenon of the Fe-25Cr-6Ni alloy. With this spike-projected device, we tried to efficiently transfer plasmid DNA into adherent cells by electric pulse-triggered gene transfer using a plasmid-loaded electrode (electroporation-based reverse transfection). The spiked structure was applied to a substrate of the device to allow efficient gene transfer into adherent cells, although the general substrate was flat and had a smooth surface. The results suggest that this unique spike-projected device has potential applications in gene transfer devices for the analysis of the human genome in the post-genome period.
Miyano
Naoki
N
Department of Microengineering, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan. miyano@me.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Inoue
Yuuki
Y
Teramura
Yuji
Y
Fujii
Keisuke
K
Tsumori
Fujio
F
Iwata
Hiroo
H
Kotera
Hidetoshi
H
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002460:Cell Line; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D011232:Chemical Precipitation; D004566:Electrodes; D018274:Electroporation; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000737:chemistry*; D012666:Semiconductors; D013696:Temperature; D014162:Transfection
C109365:fecralloy; D007501:Iron