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Novel electric power-driven hydrodynamic injection system for gene delivery: safety and efficacy of human factor IX delivery in rats

Gene Therapy volume 20, pages 816–823 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

The development of a safe and reproducible gene delivery system is an essential step toward the clinical application of the hydrodynamic gene delivery (HGD) method. For this purpose, we have developed a novel electric power-driven injection system called the HydroJector-EM, which can replicate various time–pressure curves preloaded into the computer program before injection. The assessment of the reproducibility and safety of gene delivery system in vitro and in vivo demonstrated the precise replication of intravascular time–pressure curves and the reproducibility of gene delivery efficiency. The highest level of luciferase expression (272 pg luciferase per mg of proteins) was achieved safely using the time–pressure curve, which reaches 30 mm Hg in 10 s among various curves tested. Using this curve, the sustained expression of a therapeutic level of human factor IX protein (>500 ng ml−1) was maintained for 2 months after the HGD of the pBS-HCRHP-FIXIA plasmid. Other than a transient increase in liver enzymes that recovered in a few days, no adverse events were seen in rats. These results confirm the effectiveness of the HydroJector-EM for reproducible gene delivery and demonstrate that long-term therapeutic gene expression can be achieved by automatic computer-controlled hydrodynamic injection that can be performed by anyone.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by JSPS Grants 22890064, 23790595, The Sumitomo Foundation Grant 100033 and Takeda Science Foundation Grant to KK. The authors acknowledge Takao Tsuchida, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Niigata University, for his excellent assistance for histological stainings. The authors would like to thank Nobuyoshi Fujisawa, Minoru Tanaka and all staff members in Division of Laboratory Animal Resources in Niigata University for the excellent assistance for animal care. We thank Enago for the English language review.

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Author notes

  1. T Yokoo and K Kamimura: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University, Niigata, Niigata, Japan

    T Yokoo, K Kamimura, T Suda, T Kanefuji & Y Aoyagi

  2. Institute for Research Collaboration and Promotion, Niigata University, Niigata, Niigata, Japan

    M Oda

  3. Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    G Zhang & D Liu

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  1. T Yokoo
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  2. K Kamimura
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Correspondence to K Kamimura.

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Yokoo, T., Kamimura, K., Suda, T. et al. Novel electric power-driven hydrodynamic injection system for gene delivery: safety and efficacy of human factor IX delivery in rats. Gene Ther 20, 816–823 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/gt.2013.2

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