Experiments on gene transferring to primary hematopoietic cells by liposome

Liposomes have showed many advantages in mediating exogenous gene into many cell types in vitro and in vivo. But few data are available concerning gene transfer into hematopoietic cells. In this report, we described two-marker genes (Neo R and Lac Z) co-transferred into hematopoietic cells of human and mouse by using liposome in vitro. The efficiency of gene transfer was tested by X-gal staining and observation of colony formation. The X-gal blue staining rate of transduced cells was about (13.33 +/- 2.68)% in human and about (16.28 +/- 2.95)% in mouse without G418 selection. After G418 selection, the blue cell rate was (46.06 +/- 3.47)% in human and (43.45 +/- 4.1)% in mouse, which were markedly higher than those before selection, suggesting that high-efficiency gene transfer and expression could be attained in primary hematopoietic cells using this easy and harmless transduction protocol. At the same time, this protocol provided experimental data for clinicians to investigate the biology of marrow reconstitution and trace the origin of relapse after autologous bone marrow transplantation for the patients with leukemia.