Targeted Gene Delivery Through

Magnetofection: The New Face of Medicine ¹⁷

Jagmohan Singh, Ipsita Mohanty, R. C. Sobti, and Satish Rattan

Abstract

Lesser effective gene delivery by viral and nonviral vector techniques is one of

the most daunting challenges faced by researchers. Overcoming these fundamen-

tal challenges, magnetofection has emerged as a cutting-edge technology. The

scientific premise is that DNA, RNA, biomolecules, or simply the drugs are either

linked to, or encapsulated within, magnetic nanoparticle. The whole therapeutic

agent—magnetic nanoparticle (magnetofectin) complex—is then administered

in vitro or in vivo under the influence of a high gradient magnetic field. The

superior high-grade magnetic field generated forces the magnetofectin complexes

to sediment near in vitro cell lineage or localize around the targeted region of the

body, thus increasing the uptake of the therapeutic agent and preventing leaching

of the complex to surrounding areas. This technology has shown a lot of potential

and is gathering attention of the scientists for the diagnostics and theragnostics of

the diseases. The current chapter discusses in brief the principles of the

magnetofection, designing of the magnetofectin complex, its usage both in vitro

J. Singh

Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Thomas Jefferson University,

Philadelphia, PA, USA

e-mail: Jagmohan.Singh@jefferson.edu

I. Mohanty (*)

Departments of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute, Philadelphia, PA,

USA

e-mail: mohantyipsita8@gmail.com

R. C. Sobti

Department of Biotech, Punjab University, Chandigarh, India

S. Rattan

Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Thomas Jefferson

University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

# The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte

Ltd. 2022

R. C. Sobti, N. S. Dhalla (eds.), Biomedical Translational Research,

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9232-1_17

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