Anti-tumor effects of naked plasmid DNA using a hydrodynamics-based procedure.

High levels of foreign gene expression in mouse hepatocytes can be achieved by the rapid injection of a large volume of naked plasmid (pDNA) into animals via the tail vein, the so-called hydrodynamics-based procedure. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of hydrodynamics-based tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) transfer for tumor treatment, in which the naked pDNA encoding TNFalpha was administered into the tail vein following a intravenous injection of B16 melanoma cells. The mice treated with TNFalpha-expressing pDNA displayed a profound reduction in lung metastasis.