HEK293 Cells

Deliver more. Stress less.

HEK293 cells are a workhorse for drug discovery, expression biology, and assay development. They're also a common starting point for validating cargo classes that can't cross the membrane on their own: non-permeable PROTACs, labeled macrocyclic peptides, and intact biologics. For these molecules, the bottleneck isn't the biology. It's the membrane. Teams spend months optimizing permeability, before they confirm whether the molecule even engages its target inside a live cell.

Portal flips that order. Deliver the impermeable molecule directly into HEK293 cytosol, and only invest in permeability work once the molecule proves worth it.

Start delivering now. Experimentally proven delivery workflows for live-cell screening in HEKs.

Workflow	Example Cell Type	Cargo	What this Unlocks
Macrocycle delivery	HEK293	FITC-labeled macrocyclic peptides	Live-cell macrocycle screening
Impermeable degrader / molecular glue delivery	HEK293	PROTACs, molecular glues, degrader-conjugate payloads	On-target functional readout (target depletion, downstream signaling) without designing the molecule for cell permeability, de-risk the target early
mRNA expression	HEK293	GFP mRNA	Transient overexpression for assay development & reagent production
Antibody delivery	HEK293	Fluorescent Antibody	Intracellular target staining & functional Ab screening
Triple-cargo multiplex	HEK293	3 kDa dextran + Antibody + oligo	One-shot delivery of tracer + antibody + nucleic acid to the same cell

Highlighted Data and Applications

% FITC+ live HEK293 cells (left) and viability (right) after a single delivery step with FITC-labeled macrocyclic peptides. Controls show no detectable FITC signal; Portal-treated cells reach 50%+ FITC+ with viability preserved. UT = untreated; NB = no boost (cells incubated with cargo, never run through the booster).

Delivering Membrane-Impermeable Macrocyclic Peptides into HEK293

FITC-labeled macrocycles are often cell-impermeable, making intracellular delivery a persistent challenge. Portal-treated HEK293 cells reached 50%+ FITC+ live cells with viability preserved, while untreated controls showed no detectable FITC signal. Fluorescence microscopy confirmed uniform intracellular distribution across the population.

What this unlocks: live-cell screening of macrocycle libraries against intracellular targets, without re-engineering the chemistry for permeability.

%GFP+ live HEK293 cells 24 h after delivery of GFP mRNA, comparing two pore sizes (10 µm, 12 µm) at 6 PSI and 10 PSI. Controls are essentially negative; Portal-treated conditions reach 85%+ GFP+. Untreated = no manipulation; No Boost = cells incubated with mRNA but skipped the booster; No Cargo = cells run through the booster with no mRNA loaded.

Driving Transient GFP mRNA Expression in HEK293 Without Lipofection or Electroporation

GFP mRNA (100 µg/mL) was delivered into HEK's in a single step via Portal and read out 24 h later, reaching 85%+ GFP+ live cells with viability preserved. Untreated and no-cargo controls showed essentially no GFP signal.

What this unlocks: mRNA-driven transient overexpression for fluorescent tags, reporter constructs, or secreted protein production, without lipid nanoparticles, electroporation, or viral vectors

% Antibody+ live HEK293 cells across delivery formats and two pore sizes (10 µm, 11 µm). In-Tube and PreMix formats reach 60%+; post-mix wells reach 35%+; controls are negative. UT = untreated; NB = no boost; NC = no cargo (booster run without antibody). In Tube / PreMix = cargo combined with cells before the delivery step; post-mix = cargo added downstream of the delivery step.

Delivering Intact Antibodies into the HEK293 Cytosol

Fluorescently labeled IgG antibody (~150 kDa) was delivered into HEK293 cells with the same Portal workflow used for small molecules, reaching 60%+ antibody+ live cells by flow cytometry. Untreated and no-cargo controls showed no detectable signal.

What this unlocks: intracellular target staining in live cells, functional screening of neutralizers and degrader-conjugate antibodies, and antibody-based perturbations on the same cell line you already use.

% triple-positive (Ab+ Dex+ Oligo+) live HEK293 cells after a single delivery step with antibody, 3 kDa dextran, and an oligonucleotide together. In-Tube and PreMix reach 55%+ triple-positive; post-mix wells reach 30%+; controls are negative. UT = untreated; NB = no boost; NC = no cargo. In Tube / PreMix = cargo combined with cells before the delivery step; post-mix = cargo added downstream of the delivery step.

Co-Delivering an Antibody, a Dextran, and an Oligonucleotide in a Single Step

A 3 kDa dextran, a fluorescent IgG Ab, and a labeled oligonucleotide were combined and delivered to HEK293 cells in a single Portal step. All three cargo classes reached 60%+ delivery, with 55%+ of live cells triple-positive. Untreated and no-cargo controls were essentially negative across all channels.

What this unlocks: true multiplex intracellular delivery without serial transfections, re-optimization between cargo classes, or separate workflows for each modality.