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Enhanced retroviral gene delivery in ultrasonic standing wave fields

Gene Therapy volume 12, pages 625–633 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

Enhancement of retroviral transduction efficiency has been achieved by several physical and chemical approaches. However, the application of those methods is hampered by not easily scalable configurations. In this study, instead of looking into the effect of sonoporation, the potential of ultrasonic standing wave fields (USWF) to facilitate retroviral transduction rate was explored. We reasoned that, driven by the primary acoustic radiation force, suspended cells moved to the pressure nodal planes first and formed cell bands. Nanometer-sized retroviruses, circulated between nodal planes by acoustic microstreaming, then used the preformed cell bands as the nucleating sites to attach on. As a result, the encounter opportunity between retroviruses and cells was increased and further facilitated the gene delivery efficiency. Our results showed that mega-Hertz USWF brought K562 erythroleukemia cells (106 cells/ml) and vesicular stomatitis virus G-protein (VSV-G) pseudotyped retroviruses (titer of 5 × 106 CFU/ml) into close contact at the pressure nodal planes, yielding a four-fold increment of enhanced green fluorescent protein transgene expression after 5-min USWF exposure in the presence of Polybrene. Furthermore, with a fixed titer of retrovirus, the transduction rate was augmented with the increase of cell concentration. In summary, USWF offer a feasible means to enhance retroviral transduction efficiency in large-scale settings.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr K Ohsaka for helpful suggestions. Funding for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation Grant BES-0304657 (C.A.P.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Y-H Lee & C-A Peng

  2. Department of Materials Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    C-A Peng

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  1. Y-H Lee
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  2. C-A Peng
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Lee, YH., Peng, CA. Enhanced retroviral gene delivery in ultrasonic standing wave fields. Gene Ther 12, 625–633 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gt.3302444

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