A syringe electrode device for simultaneous injection of DNA and electrotransfer

Electroporation for gene delivery has attracted considerable attention recently, because of both the site-specific nature of the delivery and the high efficiency of the method. Electrotransfer of genes involves the application of an electric field to cells to enhance their permeability, facilitating exogenous polynucleotide transit across the cytoplasmic membrane. However, the relatively high electric field strength required for electroporation induces tissue damage, thus limiting its widespread application. We describe here a syringe electrode of our design, with which the same transfection efficiency can be achieved by using much lower electric field strength than that of conventional electrodes, such that the tissue damage is minimized.