Current Gene Therapy - Volume 10, Issue 4, 2010

Delivery of genetic materials into target cells and tissues has been steadily improving over the years and is starting to fulfil its long awaited promises. Safety concerns are now answered by various non-viral approaches among them being the method of electrotransfer. This physical approach, referred as electroporation or electropermeabilization, relies on the application of electric pulses that transiently and locally p Read More

We discuss experimental observations of DNA uptake induced by electropermeabilisation. First we describe how experiments on giant unilamellar vesicles can be used to understand the effect of electric fields on lipid membranes and the associated transfer of DNA across the plasma membrane. We then discuss how DNA interacts with electropermeabilised cells in culture and how gene expression is correlated to obse Read More

Nucleic acids transfer has been steadily improving over the years and is slowly starting to fulfill its long awaited promises. In the beginning, viral approaches raised strong safety concerns that are now answered by various nonviral techniques. Among the physical approaches developed, nucleic acids electrotransfer is probably the one with the highest momentum. Here we review the present knowledge on the mechanisti Read More

Vaccination is historically one of the most important methods for preventing infectious diseases in humans and animals. Due to recent advances in understanding the biology of the immune system, a more rational design of vaccines and vaccination strategies such as those based on gene transfer has been proposed. In particular, naked DNA vaccination is emerging as a promising approach for introducing foreign antigens i Read More

Gene electrotransfer, which designates the combination of gene transfer and electroporation, is a non-viral means for transfecting genes into cells and tissues. It is a safe and efficient method and reports regarding the use of this technique in a variety of animal models and organs have been published in the literature. We find that gene electrotransfer to skin is of particular interest; not only due to the easy accessibility of this Read More

Electrogene therapy combines administration of plasmid DNA into tissue followed by local application of electric pulses. In electrogene therapy with interleukin-12 (IL-12), different routes of administration, different doses of plasmid DNA and different protocols for delivery of electric pulses were evaluated in numerous preclinical studies. Antitumor effectiveness was tested in different types of primary tumors, distantly growing tu Read More

In vivo electroporation (EP) is a versatile delivery method for gene transfer which can be applied to any accessible tissue. Delivery of plasmid DNA encoding therapeutic genes or cDNAs with in vivo EP has been tested extensively in preclinical melanoma models. Direct delivery to the tumor has been shown to generate a direct antitumor effect. Delivery to alternative sites may generate additional therapeutic options, for example Read More