The objective of this work was to examine the effects of magnet distance (and by proxy, field strength) on nanomagnetic transfection efficiency.
Methods: non-viral magnetic nanoparticle-based transfection was evaluated using both static and oscillating magnet arrays.
Results: Fluorescence intensity (firefly luciferase) of transfected H292 cells showed no increase using a 96-well NdFeB magnet array when the magnets were 5 mm from the cell culture plate or nearer. At 6 mm and higher, fluorescence intensity decreased systematically.
Conclusion: In all cases, fluorescence intensity was higher when using an oscillating array compared to a static array. For distances closer than 5 mm, the oscillating system also outperformed Lipofectamine 2000™.
Keywords: magnetic field; magnetic nanoparticle-based gene transfection; magnetic nanoparticles; non-viral gene delivery.