Selection of highly transfectable variant from mouse mastocytoma P815

A tk- cell line derived from mouse mastocytoma P815 was transfected with a plasmid carrying a thymidine kinase gene. The tk+ cells were obtained at a frequency of 10(-6). From some of these tk+ transfectants it was possible to select tk- cells with BrdU so that these cells could be submitted again to transfection with the thymidine kinase gene. By repeating cycles of transfection and tk+ selection followed by reverse selection with BrdU, it was possible to obtain a stable variant having a 100-fold increase in transfection efficiency. This HTR (high transfection) variant shows a high efficiency of transfection (10(-4)) for the neomycin-resistance gene as well as for the thymidine kinase gene.