Quantum Nufect™
Buffer components for effective gene delivery and maintained cell viability
Gene-modified cell therapies require introduction of nucleic acids into cells, and success of a therapy is highly dependent on the efficiency of cell engineering and the quantity of engineered cells. Therapeutic genes can be delivered to a cell nucleus using virus or virus-free gene delivery vectors. Although virus-free vectors have several advantages over viral vectors, challenges related to gene delivery must be overcome.
Electroporation is one of the most efficient methods for gene delivery and is commonly used for virus-free gene therapy. However, the viability and expansion capacity of cells are typically reduced after the exposure. To mitigate these effects, GenomeFrontier developed Quantum Nufect™ to promote more effective, gentler electroporation.
Quantum Nufect™ is a highly efficient and cost-effective universal electroporation buffer system for use in conjunction with an electroporator (including, but not limited to Lonza's Nucleofector). The buffer system can be used to efficiently introduce DNAs, RNAs, or proteins into a wide variety of cell types with minimal reduction in cell viability and limited effects on cell proliferation capacity. Most importantly, Quantum Nufect™ facilitates highly efficient vector delivery into several hard-to-transfect cell types, including human primary T cells.
Figure 1. Quantum Nufect™ facilitates effective transfection of different primary cells and cell lines.
Quantum Nufect™ can be utilized for efficient transfection of pBRIGHT-GFP-encoding plasmids into various cell types, including human primary (A) mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) and granule neurons. The buffer system also facilitates the transfection of cell lines, including (B) HEK293 cells and hard-to-transfect C17.2 cells. In A and B, transfected cell percentages are annotated on phase-contrast images. Quantum Nufect™ was directly compared with Lonza’s Human T Cell Nucleofector (HTCN) transfection buffer system using a Lonza Nucleofector 2B instrument (C). Quantum Nufect™ yielded a markedly higher live cell transfection efficiency and better viability (96% PI⁻ cells) compared with Lonza’s HTCN transfection buffer system (41% PI⁻ cells). Viability is expressed as % PI⁻ cells (gated in purple, R2), and transfection efficiency is expressed as % GFP⁺ PI⁻ cells (gated in green), with respect to the total cell population.
When applied during CAR T cell production, Quantum Nufect™ not only preserves the viability of engineered T cells but also enhances cell expansion following electroporation, leading to a significantly higher final yield of CAR⁺ T cells.
