Revisiting the role of pulsed electric fields in overcoming the barriers to in vivo gene electrotransfer

Sachdev, Shaurya (author), Potočnik, Tjaša (author), Rems, Lea (author), Miklavčič, Damijan (author)

Gene therapies are revolutionizing medicine by providing a way to cure hitherto incurable diseases. The scientific and technological advances have enabled the first gene therapies to become clinically approved. In addition, with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we are witnessing record speeds in the development and distribution of gene-based vaccines. For gene therapy to take effect, the therapeutic nucleic acids (RNA or DNA) need to overcome several barriers before they can execute their function of producing a protein or silencing a defective or overexpressing gene. This includes the barriers of the interstitium, the cell membrane, the cytoplasmic barriers and (in case of DNA) the nuclear envelope. Gene electrotransfer (GET), i.e., transfection by means of pulsed electric fields, is a non-viral technique that can overcome these barriers in a safe and effective manner. GET has reached the clinical stage of investigations where it is currently being evaluated for its therapeutic benefits across a wide variety of indications. In this review, we formalize our current understanding of GET from a biophysical perspective and critically discuss the mechanisms by which electric field can aid in overcoming the barriers. We also identify the gaps in knowledge that are hindering optimization of GET in vivo.

• Language: English
• Keywords: electroporation, gene medicine, gene transfection
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.02 - Review Article
• Organization: FE - Faculty of Electrical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2022
• Number of pages: 26 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 144, art. 107994
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-138855
• UDC: 602.621
• ISSN on article: 1567-5394
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bioelechem.2021.107994
• COBISS.SI-ID: 95378435
• Publication date in RUL: 23.08.2022

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Bioelectrochemistry
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 1567-5394
• COBISS.SI-ID: 2502484

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: elektroporacija, genska terapija, genska transfekcija