title: Protection against collagen-induced arthritis by electrotransfer of an expression plasmid for the interleukin-4.
abstract: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory joint disease, leading to cartilage and bone destruction. We investigated whether the electrotransfer of IL-4 DNA could regulate the disease progress of murine collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). The maximum serum level of mIL-4 was measured by 340 pg/ml on day 1 following DNA transfer. The onset of severe CIA and the degree of synovitis and cartilage erosion were significantly reduced in mice treated with IL-4 DNA (P<0.05). The beneficial effect of IL-4 gene transfer lasted for at least 17 days subsequent to treatment. The expression of IL-1beta was considerably decreased in the paws by IL-4 DNA transfer (P<0.01). On the contrary, the ratio of TIMP2 to MMP2 significantly increased in the IL-4 DNA-treated group (P<0.01). These data demonstrated that electroporation-mediated gene transfer could provide a new approach as an IL-4 therapy for autoimmune arthritis.
authors.affiliation: ViroMed Co. Ltd., 1510, 1510-8 BongCheon-dong, KwanAk-gu, Seoul 151-818, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Seong-Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Woong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.forename: Hwang-Jae
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Dong-Sik
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jae-Gyun
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Sujeong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seung Shin
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Eun-Seok
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: Sunyoung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jong-Mook
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001169:Arthritis, Experimental / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D001483:Base Sequence; D018274:Electroporation; D015870:Gene Expression; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D015847:Interleukin-4