Cost efficient and effective gene transfer into the human natural killer cell line, NK92

Introducing genes into cells is a crucial step in many fields of basic research, as well as for the development of new drugs and therapies. Many cell types are resistant to normal methods of gene delivery, such as lipid based transfection and electroporation. Delivery to resistant cell lines can be costly or inefficient. Natural killer (NK) cells are highly resistant to transfection. We have developed a novel method to deliver exogenous genes in the NK cell line, NK92. Using a combination of electroporation and a defined buffer, we were able to obtain an electroporation efficiency of 40% in NK92 cells. Using RNAi, we show significant reduction of an endogenous protein (ETS1) using this optimized buffer and electroporation conditions. Taken together, the results show a functional and cost effective method for the expression of exogenous genes in NK cells.