Protection against collagen-induced arthritis by electrotransfer of an expression plasmid for the interleukin-4.
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.
Ho
Seong-Hyun
SH
ViroMed Co. Ltd., 1510, 1510-8 BongCheon-dong, KwanAk-gu, Seoul 151-818, Republic of Korea.
Hahn
Woong
W
Lee
Hwang-Jae
HJ
Kim
Dong-Sik
DS
Jeong
Jae-Gyun
JG
Kim
Sujeong
S
Yu
Seung Shin
SS
Jeon
Eun-Seok
ES
Kim
Sunyoung
S
Kim
Jong-Mook
JM
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
D015847:Interleukin-4