PolyJet DNA In Vitro Transfection Reagent from SignaGen Laboratories

PolyJet™ DNA In Vitro Transfection Reagent from Signagen worked equally well in our lab as Lipofectamine from Life Technologies, with little evidence of cell death on HEK293 after transfection. PolyJet worked very well for me in, especially HEK293T cells. I got approximately 99% efficiency (consistently across multiple experiments) with GFP plasmid by following the conditions suggested in the protocol.

Another benefit of using PolyJet is saving time. It just takes 15 min to make the DNA-transfection reagent complex and the mixture can be directly added to the cells for transfection. Due to the low toxicity, I could perform an overnight incubation with the DNA-transfection reagent complex in the HEK293T cells; this enhanced the transfection efficiency.  In addition, PolyJet is much less expensive than Lipofectamine2000 or Lipofectamine Plus. The same efficiency at a lower price makes people happy, especially my PI.

One critical point when using this reagent is that the protocol must be followed exactly. Most transfection reagents require Opti-MEM media, but PolyJet requires DMEM media. In this aspect, you could save some money. When you use PolyJet, you can use same media (DMEM) for the cell culture. You don’t need to order additional media such as Opti-MEM for the transfection.

Another critical and important step is making the PolyJet-DNA complex. When you mix the DNA and transfection reagent, the order for the mixing is different than with lipofectamine. You should add the diluted PolyJet reagent immediately to the diluted DNA solution. Do not mix the solutions in the reverse order (as you do when using Lipofectamine). In addition, transfected cells do not require serum- or antibiotic-free conditions with PolyJet, so cells for the transfection can be handled in the same conditions as needed for their culture.