DNA vaccination in skin enhanced by electroporation

DNA vaccines are a next generation branch of vaccines which offer major benefits over their conventional counterparts. However, to be effective in large mammals and humans, an enhancing delivery technology is required. Electroporation is a physical technique which results in improved delivery of large molecules through the cell membrane. In the case of plasmid DNA, electroporation enhances both the uptake and expression of the delivered DNA. The skin is an attractive tissue for DNA vaccination in a clinical setting due to the accessibility of the target, the ease of monitoring, and most importantly the immunocompetent nature of the dermis. Electroporation in the skin has the benefit of being minimally invasive and generally well tolerated. Previous studies have determined that optimized electroporation parameters (such as electrical field intensity, pulse length, pulse width, and plasmid formulation) majorly impact the efficiency of DNA delivery to the skin. We provide an overview of DNA vaccination in skin and muscle. In addition, we detail a protocol for the successful intradermal electroporation of plasmid DNA to guinea pig skin, an excellent dermatological animal model. The work detailed here suggests that the technique is safe and effective and could be highly applicable to a clinical setting.