Effects of dissolved gases and an echo contrast agent on ultrasound mediated in vitro gene transfection.

The effects of acoustic cavitation on in vitro transfection by ultrasound were investigated. HeLa cells were exposed to 1.0 MHz continuous ultrasound in culture media containing the luciferase gene. Transfection efficiency was elevated when an echo contrast agent, Levovist was added or air was dissolved in the medium. When cells were sonicated in medium saturated with Ar, N2 or N2O which have different gamma values (Cp/Cv), or were saturated with He, Ar or Ne with different thermal conductivities, the effectiveness for the dissolved gases in the ultrasound mediated transfection was Ar > N2 > N2O or Ar > Ne > He, respectively. When free radical formation in water by ultrasound was monitored as a measure of inertial cavitation, it was similarly affected by dissolved gases. These results indicate that the efficiency of ultrasound mediated transfection was significantly affected either by occurrence of or by modification of inertial cavitation due to various gases.

[1]  S. Russell,et al.  Gene transfer technologies for the gene therapy of cancer. , 1994, Gene therapy.

[2]  J F Greenleaf,et al.  Ultrasound-mediated transfection of mammalian cells. , 1996, Human gene therapy.

[3]  P van Gelderen,et al.  Invited. On the feasibility of MRI‐guided focused ultrasound for local induction of gene expression , 1998, Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI.

[4]  R. M. Thomas,et al.  Ultrasound contrast agents nucleate inertial cavitation in vitro. , 1995, Ultrasound in medicine & biology.

[5]  H. Iishi,et al.  In vivo electroporetic transfer of bcl‐2 antisense oligonucleotide inhibits the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in rats , 2000, International journal of cancer.

[6]  S. Epstein,et al.  Gene therapy for vascular disease , 1995, FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

[7]  P. Riesz,et al.  Free radical formation and cell lysis induced by ultrasound in the presence of different rare gases. , 1988, International journal of radiation biology.

[8]  J F Greenleaf,et al.  Artificial cavitation nuclei significantly enhance acoustically induced cell transfection. , 1998, Ultrasound in medicine & biology.

[9]  P. Riesz,et al.  Effect of shear stress and free radicals induced by ultrasound on erythrocytes. , 1989, Archives of biochemistry and biophysics.

[10]  J. Roth,et al.  Gene therapy for cancer: what have we done and where are we going? , 1997, Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

[11]  S. Zimmer,et al.  Transfection of mammalian cells with plasmid DNA by scrape loading and sonication loading. , 1987, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[12]  E. Unger,et al.  Ultrasound enhances gene expression of liposomal transfection. , 1997, Investigative radiology.

[13]  E. Kano,et al.  Effect of free radicals induced by ultrasonic cavitation on cell killing. , 1988, International journal of radiation biology.

[14]  T. Kondo,et al.  Influence of dissolved gases on chemical and biological effects of ultrasound. , 1986, Ultrasound in medicine & biology.

[15]  S. Umemura,et al.  Novel Therapeutic Applications of Ultrasound. Utilization of Thermal and Cavitational Effects. , 2000 .

[16]  M. Bednarski,et al.  In vivo target-specific delivery of macromolecular agents with MR-guided focused ultrasound. , 1997, Radiology.

[17]  P. Riesz,et al.  Effect of gas-containing microspheres and echo contrast agents on free radical formation by ultrasound. , 1998, Free radical biology & medicine.

[18]  P. Riesz,et al.  Free radical formation induced by ultrasound and its biological implications. , 1992, Free radical biology & medicine.

[19]  Douglas L. Miller,et al.  Ultrasonic enhancement of gene transfection in murine melanoma tumors. , 1999, Ultrasound in medicine & biology.

[20]  J. Mcateer,et al.  The effect of polypropylene vials on lithotripter shock waves. , 1997, Ultrasound in medicine & biology.

[21]  Douglas L. Miller,et al.  Transfection of a reporter plasmid into cultured cells by sonoporation in vitro. , 1997, Ultrasound in medicine & biology.

[22]  J. Morris,et al.  Sonoporation of cultured cells in the rotating tube exposure system. , 1999, Ultrasound in medicine & biology.

[23]  F Dunn,et al.  Selective clinical ultrasound signals mediate differential gene transfer and expression in two human prostate cancer cell lines: LnCap and PC-3. , 1997, Biochemical and biophysical research communications.

[24]  J. Kuratsu,et al.  High-efficiency in vivo gene transfer using intraarterial plasmid DNA injection following in vivo electroporation. , 1996, Cancer research.

[25]  J. Debus,et al.  A comparison of shock wave and sinusoidal-focused ultrasound-induced localized transfection of HeLa cells. , 1999, Ultrasound in medicine & biology.

[26]  D. Cumberland,et al.  Ultrasound enhances reporter gene expression after transfection of vascular cells in vitro. , 1999, Circulation.