Miniaturization of gene transfection assays in 384- and 1536-well microplates

The miniaturization of gene transfer assays to either 384- or 1536-well plates greatly economizes the expense and allows much higher throughput when transfecting immortalized and primary cells compared with more conventional 96-well assays. To validate the approach, luciferase and green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter gene transfer assays were developed to determine the influence of cell seeding number, transfection reagent to DNA ratios, transfection time, DNA dose, and luciferin dose on linearity and sensitivity. HepG2, CHO, and NIH 3T3 cells were transfected with polyethylenimine (PEI)–DNA in both 384- and 1536-well plates. The results established optimal transfection parameters in 384-well plates in a total assay volume of 35 μl and in 1536-well plates in a total assay volume of 8 μl. A luciferase assay performed in 384-well plates produced a Z′ score of 0.53, making it acceptable for high-throughput screening. Primary hepatocytes were harvested from mouse liver and transfected with PEI DNA and calcium phosphate DNA nanoparticles in 384-well plates. Optimal transfection of primary hepatocytes was achieved on as few as 250 cells per well in 384-well plates, with CaPO4 proving to be 10-fold more potent than PEI.