Expression of recombinant plasmid pcDNA-IFN-λ3-EGFP in target organs transfered by intravenous hydrodynamics-based injection in mice

Objective To investigate the target organ for gene transfer by an intravenous injection of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressed plasmid DNA using hydrodynamics-based procedure. Methods BALB/c mice were selected and randomly divided into hydrodynamics-based injection group and plasmid control group. 2 mL GFP-expressed plasmid (100μg for each animal) was intravenously injected into the mice of hydrodynamics-based transfer group rapidly in 2 seconds; the control group was injected with 2 mL control plasmid saline solution in 5 seconds. The tissues were collected,the expression levels of GFP in liver,lung,kidney,heart,and brain were determined under fluorescent microscope by frozen sections. Results The hydrodynamics-based injection of naked GFP plasmid DNA into mice induced high expression level of GFP gene in liver. The fluorescent was strongest on 24 h after injection. It weakened significantly in 2 days and disappeared in 1 week. There are no fluorescent detected in other tissues and in the animals of control groups. Conclusion Hepatic delivery of foreign gene can be accomplished by hydrodynamics-based injection,and GFP is a reliable and convenient tracer agent in this procedure.