Gene therapy
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It is well documented that responses to growth factor treatment typically display bell-shaped dose responses that can significantly affect efficacy. Here we tested the hypothesis that nonviral liposomal gene delivery also displays this characteristic. We chose two different growth factors, keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) CMV-driven transfecting constructs at three different concentrations and assessed efficacy on several physiological parameters that are descriptive of wound healing progress in a burn-wound healing model. ⋯ Different doses of the nonviral cDNA gene transfer coding for KGF or IGF-I resulted in different outcomes for dermal and epidermal regeneration. There was a dose-dependent response to both growth factor gene transfers that was not dissimilar from that typically displayed by treatment with growth factor proteins. Both concentrations below and above the optimal concentration of DNA:liposomal preparations did not yield the results observed at the optimal concentration.