PUNCTURE-MEDIATED GENE-TRANSFER TO THE SKIN

Simple and efficient gene transfer to the skin would facilitate many l ocal and systemic gene therapy applications. Here we report a novel ap proach that allows installation and expression of plasmid DNA without a particulate carrier into the skin for the purposes of gene therapy. A device with a constantly high-frequency oscillating bundle of fine m etal needles allows puncturing of the skin and leads to DNA transfer t o skin-associated cells and expression of reporter genes in mice, Furt hermore, puncture-mediated instillation of an expression vector coding for a single T cell epitope induces specific cellular immune response s, If this approach could be optimized, puncture-mediated gene transfe r might be useful for the treatment of large body areas with plasmid D NA for the purpose of somatic gene therapy.