Gene Transfer in Normal and Ischemic Tibialis Anterior Muscle of Rat by In Vivo Electroporation

The purpose of this preliminary study is to improve the efficiency of gene transfer of nonviral plasmid DNA by in vivo electroporation in ischemic hindlimb muscle, tibialis anterior. Hindlimb ischemic model was aseptically made by excision of left femoral artery. Each $50\;{\mu}g$ of pEGFP-C1 and pGL3-control in $100\;{\mu}l$ 0.9% NaCl was injected in tibialis anterior muscle. In vivo electroporation was applied on the same site with 10 mm-distance 2 needle array electrodes and ECM830. In 3 groups of normal rat with different electric field strength 0, 200 and 800 V/cm, the expression of pEGFP-C1 was comparatively evaluated. In 8 groups of normal rats, the expression of pGL3-control was evaluated in 0, 40, 50, 80, 100, 150, 200 and 300 V/cm of electric field strength. In 5 groups of ischemic models, the expression of pGL3-control was analyzed on 0, 4, 7, 10 and 14 days elapsed after making ischemic models. In 9 groups of ischemic rats, the expression of pGL3-control was analyzed in the electric field strength 0, 60, 70, 80, 100, 150, 200, 250 and 300 V/cm. GFP expressions in normal tibialis anterior were high in the extent and degree in order of electric field strength of 200, 800 and 0 V/cm. Luciferase value was highest in $50{\sim}100\;V/cm$ electric field strength. In the case of ischemic models, luciferase expression was significantly increasing in the order elapsed time after making the model. The degree of luciferase expression was higher in cases of application of in vivo electroporation than in that of non-application and was highest in $100{\sim}150\;V/cm$. In conclusion, in vivo electroporation is effective in transfer and expression of plasmid DNA in normal and ischemic tibialis anterior of rat.