Hydrodynamic tail vein injection as a simple tool for yielding extended transgene expression in solid tumors

Abstract

Hydrodynamic tail vein injection was considered an in vivo transfection method that yields a higher level of gene expression mainly in the liver. This method has been applied to cancer gene therapy targeting both hepatic and non-hepatic cancers. However, intratumor transgene expression in non-hepatic tumors has not been well studied. In this study, we showed an extended transgene expression of β-galactosidase (LacZ), a nonsecretory protein, in a subcutaneously implanted murine solid tumor following the hydrodynamic injection of plasmid DNA (LacZ pDNA). Our result may indicate that the hydrodynamic injection method is a powerful tool that can be used to gain transgene expression not only in the liver but also in solid tumors.