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Ultrasound-assisted non-viral gene transfer to the salivary glands

Gene Therapy volume 17, pages 1318–1324 (2010)Cite this article

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A Corrigendum to this article was published on 07 April 2011

Abstract

We report a non-viral gene transfer method using ultrasound induced microbubble destruction to allow the uptake of plasmid gene transfer vectors to the cells of the mouse salivary gland. The Luciferase (Luc) reporter gene, driven by a cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter, was delivered unilaterally to the submandibular salivary gland via retroductal cannulation and Luc expression was monitored with in vivo imaging. The CMV-Luc plasmid was delivered to the salivary gland in a carrier solution containing microbubbles composed of lipid-encased perfluoropropane gas, with two different concentrations of microbubbles used (100 and 15% volume/volume). An Adenoviral (Ad) vector using an identical CMV-Luc expression cassette was used as a positive control at two different dosages. Whereas ultrasound-assisted gene transfer (UAGT) with 100% microbubbles was weak and rapidly extinguished, UAGT with the 15% microbubble solution was robust and stable for 28 days. UAGT seems to be a practicable and promising method for non-viral gene delivery to the salivary glands.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the National Institutes of Health (5R00DE018188-03 to MJP) and the Allegheny Heart Institute for financial support, VisualSonics Inc. for providing the SoniGene device and Dennis Trumble for technical assistance with ultrasonography.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Allegheny-Singer Research Institute, West-Penn Allegheny Health System, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    M J Passineau, L Zourelias, L Machen & R L Benza

  2. Division of Oral Pathology, Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, Medicine and Radiology, University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    P C Edwards

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  1. M J Passineau
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  2. L Zourelias
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Correspondence to M J Passineau.

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Passineau, M., Zourelias, L., Machen, L. et al. Ultrasound-assisted non-viral gene transfer to the salivary glands. Gene Ther 17, 1318–1324 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/gt.2010.86

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