RESUMO
The skin is an attractive tissue for vaccination in a clinical setting due to the accessibility of the target, the ease of monitoring and most importantly the immune competent nature of the dermal tissue. While skin electroporation offers an exciting and novel future methodology for the delivery of DNA vaccines in the clinic, little is known about the actual mechanism of the approach and the elucidation of the resulting immune responses. To further understand the mechanism of this platform, the expression kinetics and localization of a reporter plasmid delivered via a surface dermal electroporation (SEP) device as well as the effect that this treatment would have on the resident immune cells in that tissue was investigated. Initially a time course (day 0 to day 21) of enhanced gene delivery with electroporation (EP) was performed to observe the localization of green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression and the kinetics of its appearance as well as clearance. Using gross imaging, GFP expression was not detected on the surface of the skin until 8 h post treatment. However, histological analysis by fluorescent microscopy revealed GFP positive cells as early as 1 h after plasmid delivery and electroporation. Peak GFP expression was observed at 24 h and the expression was maintained in skin for up to seven days. Using an antibody specific for a keratinocyte cell surface marker, reporter gene positive keratinocytes in the epidermis were identified. H&E staining of treated skin sections demonstrated an influx of monocytes and granulocytes at the EP site starting at 4 h and persisting up to day 14 post treatment. Immunological staining revealed a significant migration of lymphocytic cells to the EP site, congregating around cells expressing the delivered antigen. In conclusion, this study provides insights into the expression kinetics following EP enhanced DNA delivery targeting the dermal space. These findings may have implications in the future to design efficient DNA vaccination strategies for the clinic.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: BPSA is a "benign" form of free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) that is increased in prostate transition zone tissues of men with pathologic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). We developed an immunoassay to determine the concentration of BPSA in the serum of men with BPH. METHODS: The BPSA antigen was purified by HPLC, and murine monoclonal antibodies were prepared by standard methods. A fluorogenic ELISA was developed with high specificity for BPSA and no cross-reactivity with other forms of PSA. RESULTS: The BPSA immunoassay had a lower limit of detection of 6 ng/L and a cross-reactivity of <1% with all other clipped and nonclipped forms of PSA. The BPSA antibody was specific for the internal Lys(182) cleavage site that characterizes BPSA. Biopsy-negative men with a median total PSA of 4.8 micro g/L had a median of 0.22 micro g/L BPSA, representing 25% of the free PSA in serum. BPSA ranged from 0% to 60% of the free PSA in serum. BPSA in a cohort of cancer serum also comprised 25% of the free PSA. Control serum from women or men without increased PSA had nondetectable BPSA. CONCLUSIONS: BPSA is a significant percentage of the free PSA in BPH serum but not in control serum. The presence of prostate cancer does not alter the relative proportions of BPSA in sera with <10 micro g/L PSA. BPSA has a wide distribution of concentrations in the serum and may provide clinical information for the study of men with BPH.
