9015-73-0

DEAE-Dextran offers a wide range of chemical and biological properties. The following properties are well documented:
① Adjuvant in vaccines
② Agent for transfection
③ Stabilizer of proteins
④ Agent for reduction of cholesterol count
⑤ Enhancer of viral infectivity

DEAE-Dextran is used in the development of sustained release protein delivery and nucleic acid transfection systems. The use of DEAE-Dextran as an efficient adjuvant in vaccine production is well established. For instance, DEAE-Dextran has been used for immunization of guinea pigs and swine with inactivated foot-and-mouth disease and rhesus monkeys with inactivated Venezulean equine encephalomyelitis virus, IVEE. The mechanism of action of DEAE-Dextran is not clear. The effect on the humoral response of rhesus monkeys to IVEE vaccine results in a typical IgM-IgG response. It has been speculated that DEAE-Dextran may cause a stimulation of the helper T-cell function in antibody synthesis.

1. DEAE-Dextran 70 is a DEAE-derivative of dextran with an average molecular weight of 70000. It is supplied as white powder which is readily soluble in water.
2. DEAE-Dextran 500, a polycationic stabilizing molecule and transfection reagent, is used in the development of sustained release protein delivery and nucleic acid transfection systems. DEAE-Dextran 500 may be used for cell immobilization in biosensors.
3. DEAE-Dextran, being a polycation, offers many applications, such as a component/adjuvant in vaccines, for transfection and gene therapy, cholesterol/weight modulation, a stabiliser of proteins, in drug delivery and as a flocculant.
4. Used as a support for ion-exchange chromatography.
5. Diethylaminoethyl (DEAE)-dextran is a polycationic derivative of the carbohydrate polymer dextran, and it is one of the first chemical reagents used to transfer nucleic acids into cultured mammalian cells (Vaheri and Pagano, 1965). The cationic DEAE?dextran molecule tightly associates with the negatively charged backbone of the nucleic acid, and the net positive charge of the resulting nucleic acid-DEAE?dextran complex allows it to adhere to the cell membrane and enter into the cytoplasm via endocytosis or osmotic shock induced by DMSO or glycerol. The advantages of DEAE-dextran method are its relative simplicity, reproducibility, and low cost, while its disadvantages include cytotoxicity and low transfection efficiency for a range of cell types (typically less than 10% in primary cells), as well as the requirement for reduced serum media during the transfection procedure. In addition, this method is limited to transient transfections, and is not suitable for generating stable cell lines.
6. DEAE-Dextran is used for transfection in mammalian cell culture. The method is suitable for transient expression of cloned genes, but not for stable transformation of cells. Some cell types like BSC-1 cannot be exposed to calcium phosphate because of its toxicity. But DEAE-Dextran is as well toxic for cells and therefore this transfection method can only be used for certain cell types, e.g. CV-1 and COS cells. Another advantage of DEAE-Dextran transfection is the necessary lower DNA amount compared to calcium phosphate.