Abstract
Due to their capacity for inducing strong and sequence specific gene silencing in cells, small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are now recognized not only as powerful experimental tools for basic research in Molecular biology but with promising potentials in therapeutic development. Delivery is a bottleneck in many studies. There is a common opinion that full potential of siRNA as therapeutic agent will not be attained until better methodologies for its targeted intracellular delivery to cells and tissues are developed. Electropulsation (EP) is one of the physical methods successfully used to transfer siRNA into living cells in vitro and in vivo. This review will describe how siRNA electrotransfer obeys characterized biophysical processes (cell-size-dependent electropermeabilization, electrophoretic drag) with a strong control of a low loss of viability. Protocols can be easily adjusted by a proper setting of the electrical parameters and pulsing buffers. EP can be easily directly applied on animals. Preclinical studies showed that electropermeabilization brings a direct cytoplasmic distribution of siRNA and an efficient silencing of the targeted protein expression. EP appears as a promising tool for clinical applications of gene silencing. A panel of successful trials will be given.
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Acknowledgements
The authors want to thank their colleagues (Dr. S Chabot, M.P. Rols, E. Bellard, and S. Pelofy) in the group for many discussions.
The work was supported by grants from the EU (FP7 oncomirs #201102) and from the region Midi Pyrénées (# 11052700).
Research was conducted in the scope of the EBAM European Associated Laboratory (LEA) and of the COST Action TD1104 European network for development of electroporation-based technologies and treatments (EP4Bio2Med).
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Golzio, M., Teissie, J. (2014). siRNA Delivery via Electropulsation: A Review of the Basic Processes. In: Li, S., Cutrera, J., Heller, R., Teissie, J. (eds) Electroporation Protocols. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1121. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9632-8_7
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