The skin is considered as well suited for gene therapy and vaccination. DNA vaccines elicit both broad humoral and cellular immune responses when injected in the skin. Physical and chemical methods are needed to boost the expression. Gene electrotransfer (GET) is one of the most effective approaches. This step-by-step protocol describes the procedures to obtain an efficient GET targeted to the skin by using easy-to-use noninvasive electrodes after intradermal plasmid injection (i.d. GET). A specific pulse sequence is reported. Expression is observed by in vivo fluorescence imaging during >2 weeks as the plasmid was coding for tdTomato. The protocol is efficient for the transient expression of clinical proteins.
Keywords: electroporation; gene transfer; skin.