Electroporation-Mediated Gene Transfer Directly to the Swine Heart

In vivo gene transfer to the ischemic heart via electroporation holds promise as a potential therapeutic approach for the treatment of heart disease. In the current study, we investigated the use of in vivo electroporation for gene transfer using 3 different penetrating electrodes and one non-penetrating electrode. The hearts of adult male swine were exposed through a sternotomy. Eight electric pulses synchronized to the rising phase of the R wave of the ECG were administered at varying pulse widths and field strengths following an injection of either a plasmid encoding luciferase or one encoding green fluorescent protein. Four sites on the anterior wall of the left ventricle were treated. Animals were euthanized 48 hours after injection and electroporation and gene expression was determined. Results were compared to sites in the heart that received plasmid injection but no electric pulses or were not treated. Gene expression was higher in all electroporated sites when compared to injection only sites demonstrating the robustness of this approach. Our results provide evidence that in vivo electroporation can be a safe and effective non-viral method for delivering genes to the heart, in vivo.