Efficient lipofection with cisplatin-resistant human tumor cells

Seven of seven different cisplatin-resistant human tumor cell lines showed elevated lipofection activity as compared with their sensitive parent cells, although the degree of enhancement was not quantitatively correlated with the degree of cisplatin resistance. Enhanced transfection was seen by using the same reporter gene driven by three different promoter/enhancer sequencer or by using different reporter genes driven by the same promoter/enhancer. Cells resistant to actinomycin D, bleomycin, and nitrogen mustards were not more transfectable than the sensitive parent cells. Although the mechanism of enhanced transfection in cisplatin-resistant cells is not known, data indicated that enhanced transcription, multidrug-resistant phenotype, and methallothionein overexpression do not play a role.