Human superoxide dismutase cDNA transfection and its in vitro effect on cold preservation

In order to elucidate the role of superoxide dismutase (SOD on ischemia-reperfusion injury, bovine and porcine aortic endothelial cells were transfected with retroviral vector LSODRNL containing human Cu,Zn-SOD cDNA and their SOD activities were evaluated by measuring superoxide scavenging capability. Successful augmentation of Cu,Zn-SOD up to 2.7-fold in bovine and 1.9-fold in porcine cells was obtained. After 24 h cold preservation followed by 4 h rewarming, cell viability compared with that of pre-preservation was significantly increased in both types of cells (P < 0.01). Moreover, after exposure to superoxide, viability of the porcine cells with high SOD activity was significantly improved compared to control cells. We consider that transfection of human Cu,Zn-SOD cDNA to arterial endothelial cells is useful for preventing from cold preservation-rewarming or ischemia-reperfusion injury.