Cationic lipid transfection induces nuclear actin filaments

Cationic lipids are widely used for gene delivery. Here, we report the transient formation of nuclear actin filaments in mammalian cells transfected with commercially available transfection reagents regardless of the proteins transfected. Readily detectable with phalloidin, nuclear actin ranges from short filaments to a fully developed network. Nuclear actin filaments persist for hours, peak 20 h after transfection, and may be involved in DNA damage repair.