direct transfection vs. retroviral transfection - (Jan/23/2006 )

Hi all

I'm new in rnai...
and I am wondering what is the different if we transfect the rnai-vector directly to the target cells vs. transfect rnai-vector to 293T cells then use the lentiviral supernatants to infect the target cells (jurkat)??

which one is better?

I'm really confused

thx in advance....

The retrovirus will stably integrate into the DNA of the cell, so expression will be more stable than by transfection
Also,helps for cells that are difficult to transfect.

(1) The efficiency of lentivirus infection will be much higher than plasmid DNA transfection e.g. the number of your target gene that every cell uptake;
(2) also, the integration efficiency into host chromosome (by lentiviral LTR) will be higher;
(3) Broader cell types - lentivirus can be apply to mitotic as well as post-mitotic cells with high gene expression while some hard-to-transfect cell lines will be resistant to conventional DNA transfection method.