Gene transfection in lung cells:

Gene therapy for lung illnesses, particularly cystic fibrosis, might benefit from using non-viral vectors as a potentially risk-free alternative to adenovirus (CF). It has been shown that cationic lipids may heal the CF deficit either in-vivo or in-vitro; nevertheless, more effective vectors are necessary to boost the present ineffective gene transfer. It is illustrated that the catalytic polymer ExGen 500, which is a derivative of linear polyethyleneimine, is superior to cationic lipids in terms of the efficiency with which it transfers to lung epithelial cells in vitro using reporter genes. This finding was made possible by using a cell culture system designed specifically for this purpose. While the rabbits were still in vivo, gene transfer was effectively facilitated by ExGen 500 into the lungs of both newborn and adult rabbits with similar success. The greatest transfection levels were accomplished by the use of neutral complexes, which resulted in the desired results. In these conditions, luciferase activity with a value of around 103 RLU/10 s/mg of protein was produced in a repeatable manner in all newborn and adult rabbits’ four lobes of the lung 2 days after transfection. This was the case in both of the rabbits’ lungs. The existence of transfected cells in close proximity to the lumen of both the large and the small bronchi was established using a reporter gene known as NLS lacZ. The direct histological investigation did not reveal any signs of acute toxicity in any of the samples (such as inflammation or cellular infiltration, for example). After being injected, the transgene’s expression was reduced by two orders of magnitude in only one week’s time.