Objective: To determine whether an exogenous gene carried by lipofectin can be introduced into the primary human lens epithelial cells.
Methods: Plasmid DNA with beta-galactosidase gene carried by lipofectin was applied to primary cultured human lens epithelial cells. Gene expression was detected by enzymatic color reaction using X-gal as a substrate in the 2 and 6 days of expression after 12, 24, 36 hours of transfection respectively. The gene transfer positive rate of the lens epithelial cells was counted.
Results: The foreign gene could be transferred into primary human lens epithelial cells by lipofectin. In the expression of 2 days, transfer positive rate was up to 48% after 24 hours of transfection.
Conclusions: Efficient and stable transfer of the functional gene can be achieved by lipofectin into the lens epithelial cells. Lipofectin is an available and a promising vehicle for delivering aim gene and studying on the mechanism of physiology and pathology of lens epithelial cells.