Under normal conditions, mammalian cells take up and express externally applied DNA with very low efficiency. This is mostly due to the lipid bilayer of the eukaryotic cell membrane, which poses a significant barrier to the entry of charged molecules into a cell. Several transfection methods have been developed to overcome this problem.With these methods, the study of gene expression in cultured cells using DNA or RNA transfection has become routine.Briefly, transfection is the delivery of DNA, RNA,proteins, and macromolecules into eukaryotic cells.Goals for transfection include the study of gene regulation as well as protein expression and function.
There exist several different well-established methods for the delivery of molecules, particularly nucleic acids, into eukaryotic cells. These transfection methods arebased on three different strategies. (For details, see www.roche-applied-science.com/transfection)
