Experimental model of gene transfection in healthy canine myocardium. Perspectives of gene therapy for ischemic heart disease

• Autor(a) principal: Kalil, Renato Abdala Karam
• Data de Publicação: 2002
• Outros Autores: Teixeira, Leonardo Augusto Karam, Mastalir, Eduardo T., Moreno, Paulo Lavaniere de Azevedo, Fricke, Cecilia Helena, Nardi, Nance Beyer
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFRGS
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10183/19665
• topic: Terapia gênica : Cura : Doenças; Isquemia; Coração; Transferência genética; Gene therapy; Gene transfection; Ischemic heart disease

Objective - To assess the transfection of the gene that encodes green fluorescent protein (GFP) through direct intramyocardial injection. Methods - The pREGFP plasmid vector was used. The EGFP gene was inserted downstream from the constitutive promoter of the Rous sarcoma virus. Five male dogs were used (mean weight 13.5 kg), in which 0.5 mL of saline solution (n=1) or 0.5 mL of plasmid solution containing 0.5 μg of pREGFP/dog (n=4) were injected into the myocardium of the left ventricular lateral wall. The dogs were euthanized 1 week later, and cardiac biopsies were obtained. Results - Fluorescence microscopy showed differences between the cells transfected and not transfected with pREGFP plasmid. Mild fluorescence was observed in the cardiac fibers that received saline solution; however, the myocardial cells transfected with pREGFP had overt EGFP expression. Conclusion - Transfection with the EGFP gene in healthy canine myocardium was effective. The reproduction of this efficacy using vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) instead of EGFP aims at developing gene therapy for ischemic heart disease.