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Research

Femtosecond laser treatment enhances DNA transfection efficiency in vivo

Shaw-Wei D Tsen^1* , Chao-Yi Wu^1* , Avedis Meneshian⁵ , Sara I Pai⁶ , Chien-Fu Hung^1,2 and T-C Wu^1,2,3,4

¹  Department of Pathology, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA

²  Department of Oncology, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA

³  Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA

⁴  Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA

⁵  Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA

⁶  Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA

author email corresponding author email* Contributed equally

Journal of Biomedical Science 2009, 16:36doi:10.1186/1423-0127-16-36

Published:	1 April 2009

Abstract

Background

Gene therapy with plasmid DNA is emerging as a promising strategy for the treatment of many diseases. One of the major obstacles to such therapy is the poor transfection efficiency of DNA in vivo.

Methods

In this report, we employed a very low power, near-infrared femtosecond laser technique to enhance the transfection efficiency of intradermally and intratumorally administered DNA plasmid.

Results

We found that femtosecond laser treatment can significantly enhance the delivery of DNA into the skin and into established tumors in mice. In addition, we found that both laser power density as well as duration of laser treatment are critical parameters for augmenting DNA transfection efficiency. The femtosecond laser technique employs a relatively unfocused laser beam that maximizes the transfected area, minimizes damage to tissue and simplifies its implementation.

Conclusion

This femtosecond new laser technology represents a safe and innovative technology for enhancing DNA gene transfer in vivo.