Ultrastructural Analysis of DNA Complexes During Transfection and Intracellular TransportRégis Cartiera, Maria Velinovaa, Cathleen Lehmana, Bettina Erdmanna, and Regina Reszkaaa Max-Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany Correspondence to: Regina Reszka, AG Drug Targeting, Max-Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Robert-Rössle-Str. 10, 12092 Berlin, Germany. E-mail: reszka@mdc-berlin.de We present a simple method based on transmission electron microscopy that allows investigation of the early steps of polyplex-mediated transfection without the use of labeled DNA. The ultrastructural analysis showed internalization of 0.21-µm aggregates composed of 3050-nm subunits. In addition, new details of the internalization process were revealed, suggesting an unspecific cell entry mechanism of large DNA aggregates. (J Histochem Cytochem 51:12371240, 2003) Key Words: gene transfer, polyplexes, transfection mechanism, NLS
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