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Intramuscular DNA Vaccination Protocols Mediated by Electric Fields

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Electroporation Protocols

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1121))

Abstract

Vaccination is historically one of the most important methods for preventing infectious diseases in humans and animals. New insights in the biology of the immune system allow a more rational design of vaccines, and new vaccination strategies are emerging. DNA vaccines have been proposed as a promising approach for introducing foreign antigens into the host for inducing protective immunity against infectious and cancer diseases. Nevertheless, because of their poor immunogenicity, plasmid DNA vaccination strategies need further implementations. Recent data suggest electrotransfer as a useful tool to improve DNA-based vaccination protocols, being able to stimulate both the humoral and cellular immune responses. In preclinical trials, gene electrotransfer is successfully used in prime-boost combination protocols and its tolerability and safety has been demonstrated also in Phase I clinical trials. In this chapter, we report a short comment supporting electrotransfer as an effective strategy to improve DNA-based vaccination protocols and describe the vaccination procedures by plasmid DNA in combination with electrotransfer and hyaluronidase pretreatment in use in our laboratory.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the staff of the Animal Facility at the “Sacro Cuore” Catholic University of Rome for their assistance in animal care.

E.S. thanks the COST Action TD1104 network-EP4Bio2Med Consortium (http://www.electroporation.net).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular Pathology and Experimental Oncology, CNR-IFT, Rome, Italy

    Pieranna Chiarella & Emanuela Signori

  2. Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Biotechnology, CIR, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Pieranna Chiarella & Emanuela Signori

Authors
  1. Pieranna Chiarella
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  2. Emanuela Signori
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA

    Shulin Li

  2. The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA

    Jeffry Cutrera

  3. Old Dominion University Frank Reidy Ctr for Bioelectrics, Norfolk, Virginia, USA

    Richard Heller

  4. IPBS CNR, Toulouse, France

    Justin Teissie

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Chiarella, P., Signori, E. (2014). Intramuscular DNA Vaccination Protocols Mediated by Electric Fields. 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_28

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9632-8_28

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-9631-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9632-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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