Magselectofection: An integrated method of nanomagnetic separation and genetic modification of target cells

Research applications and cell therapies involving genetically modified cells require reliable, standardized, and cost-effective methods for cell manipulation. We report a novel nanomagnetic method for integrated cell separation and gene delivery. Gene vectors associated with magnetic nanoparticles are used to transfect/transduce target cells while being passaged and separated through a high gradient magnetic field cell separation column. The integrated method yields excellent target cell purity and recovery. Nonviral and lentiviral magselectofection is efficient and highly specific for the target cell population as demonstrated with a K562/Jurkat T-cell mixture. Both mouse and human enriched hematopoietic stem cell pools were effectively transduced by lentiviral magselectofection, which did not affect the hematopoietic progenitor cell number determined by in vitro colony assays. Highly effective reconstitution of T and B lymphocytes was achieved by magselectofected murine wild-type lineage-negative Sca-1⁺ cells transplanted into Il2rg-/- mice, stably expressing GFP in erythroid, myeloid, T-, and B-cell lineages. Furthermore, nonviral, lentiviral, and adenoviral magselectofection yielded high transfection/transduction efficiency in human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells and was fully compatible with their differentiation potential. Upscaling to a clinically approved automated cell separation device was feasible. Hence, once optimized, validated, and approved, the method may greatly facilitate the generation of genetically engineered cells for cell therapies.