Plasmid Vectors

Novel plasmids for controlled and sustained transgene expression

Plasmid based gene therapy approaches often lack long term transgene expression in vivo due to silencing or loss of the vector. One way to overcome these limitations is to combine non-silenced promoters with strong viral enhancers. Here we combine strong enhancer and promoter elements devoid of potentially immunostimulating CpG sequences for sustained long term expression in vivo. Tumor selective transgene expression is achieved utilizing tumor cell specific promoter elements. So far we could show high and long lasting transgene expression either in liver tissue after hydrodynamic delivery of plasmid or in tumors after systemic application of polyplexes. Luciferase transgene signal is monitored by bioluminescence in vivo imaging. Such optimized plasmids are then used in therapeutic studies.

References