Cleaning And Sterilizing The Helios Gene Gun; Testing Cartridges For Microcarrier Penetration And Density (Optional) - BIO RAD Helios Gene Gun System Instruction Manual

Cleaning and Sterilizing the Helios Gene Gun

In situations where sterility is a concern, such as in vitro targeting, the spacer may be brought as close to
the target surface as possible without actually touching the surface. Alternatively, by wiping down the end
of the barrel liner with 70% alcohol or dilute bleach followed by a rinse with distilled water, the spacer may
touch the target surface.
It is possible to sterilize certain parts of the instrument by autoclaving. The following parts may be
autoclaved:
Barrel liner
■
Cartridge holder
■
Cartridge extractor tool
■
The following items should never be autoclaved or imersed in liquid:
Gene gun
■
Tubing Prep Station
■
Helium regulator
■
These parts, along with the tubing cutter, may be cleaned using a cloth and a mild soap solution. Do not
autoclave the tubing cutter.
Although GoldCoat Tubing may be autoclaved, this is not recommended since it may result in water
condensation inside the tubing, which will lead to poor-quality cartridges.

Testing Cartridges for Microcarrier Penetration and Density (Optional)

Either of these procedures may be used to roughly determine the quality of the cartridge preparation.
These procedures give only qualitative results and are therefore best when they can be compared against
cartridges that have been shown to produce positive results in a biological assay. The results are very
dependent on the size of the microcarriers and on the amount of PVP used in loading the microcarriers into
the GoldCoat Tubing.
Fig. 25. Representative bombardment showing penetration of 1.6 µm gold particles into Parafilm Laboratory Film at (left to right) 100, 200,
300, 400, 500, and 600 psi using the Helios Gene Gun.
Section 10 Appendices
Helios Gene Gun System | 47