Injectable alginate hydrogel for enhanced spatiotemporal control of lentivector delivery in murine skeletal muscle.

Hydrogels are an especially appealing class of biomaterials for gene delivery vehicles as they can be introduced into the body with minimally invasive procedures and are often applied in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine strategies. In this study, we show for the first time the use of an injectable alginate hydrogel for controlled delivery of lentivectors in the skeletal muscle of murine hindlimb. We propose to alter the release rates of lentivectors through manipulation of the molecular weight distribution of alginate hydrogels. The release of lentivector was tested using two different ratios of low and high molecular weight (MW) alginate polymers (75/25 and 25/75 low/high MW). The interdependency of lentivector release rate and alginate degradation rate was assessed in vitro. Lentivector-loaded hydrogels maintained transduction potential for up to one week in vitro as demonstrated by the continual transduction of HEK-293T cells. Injection of lentivector-loaded hydrogel in vivo led to a sustained level of transgene expression for more than two months while minimizing the copies of lentivirus genome inserted into the genome of murine skeletal muscle cells. This strategy of spatiotemporal control of lentivector delivery from alginate hydrogels may provide a versatile tool to combine gene therapy and biomaterials for applications in regenerative medicine.

Effects of oral N-acetylcysteine on walking capacity, leg reactive hyperemia, and inflammatory and angiogenic mediators in patients with intermittent claudication.

Increased oxidative stress and inflammation contribute to impaired walking capacity and endothelial dysfunction in patients with intermittent claudication (IC). The goal of the study was to determine the effects of oral treatment with the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on walking capacity, leg postocclusive reactive hyperemia, circulating levels of inflammatory mediators, and whole blood expression of angiogenic mediators in patients with IC. Following a double-blinded randomized crossover design, 10 patients with IC received NAC (1,800 mg/day for 4 days plus 2,700 mg before the experimental session) and placebo (PLA) before undergoing a graded treadmill exercise test. Leg postocclusive reactive hyperemia was assessed before and after the test. Blood samples were taken before and after NAC or PLA ingestions and 5 and 30 min after the exercise test for the analysis of circulating inflammatory and angiogenic markers. Although NAC increased the plasma ratio of reduced to oxidized glutathione, there were no differences between experimental sessions for walking tolerance and postocclusive reactive hyperemia. Plasma concentrations of soluble vascular cell adhesion protein-1, monocyte chemotactic protein-1, and endothelin-1 increased similarly following maximal exercise after PLA and NAC (P < 0.001). Whole blood expression of pro-angiogenic microRNA-126 increased after maximal exercise in the PLA session, but treatment with NAC prevented this response. Similarly, exercise-induced changes in whole blood expression of VEGF, endothelial nitric oxide synthase and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase R2 were blunted after NAC. In conclusion, oral NAC does not increase walking tolerance or leg blood flow in patients with IC. In addition, oral NAC prevents maximal exercise-induced increase in the expression of circulating microRNA-126 and other angiogenic mediators in patients with IC.