Non-viral gene dleiveyr for angiogenic vascular endothelial growth factor in skeletal muscle

Abstract

Plasmid DNA (pDNA)-based gene transfer is studied for the treatment of numerous diseases such as tumor, cardiovascular and skeletal muscle related disorders. However, the clinical efficacy is limited by its low transgene expression efficiency. It is crucial to increase transgene expression to achieve a better therapeutic effect. Minicircle plasmid has been discorvered as a low immunogenic and efficient gene vector for several therapeutic proteins expression, for example, adiponectin and human facto IX. The targeted organs for these therapeutic proteins are the liver and lung. IN this study, we investigate the feasibility of using minicircle plasmid for the expression of angiogenic VEGF in skeletal muscle.