Figure 6.

Electroporation-mediated gene transfer of the Na⁺,K⁺-ATPase can reverse LPS-induced lung injury. (A) LPS (4 mg/kg) was administered intratracheally to Balb/c mice and, 1 day later, 100 μg of plasmid was delivered to the lungs by electroporation. At 24 and 48 hours later, lungs were removed for gravimetric analysis. No DNA (LPS-treated only, horizontal lined bars) or plasmids expressing no transgene (pcDNA3, open bars), the α subunit (gray bars), the β subunit (hatched bars), or a mixture of α and β (50 μg of each; “combo,” closed bars) were used. Wet-to-dry ratios are shown as mean ± SEM (n = 5). (B) Mice were treated with LPS and electroporated as in (A), and alveolar fluid clearance (AFC) was measured in living animals 48 hours after electroporation. AFC is shown as percentage of total instilled volume cleared in 30 minutes (mean ± SEM; n = 4). Statistical analysis was by one-way analyis of variance followed by Tukey-Kramer post hoc testing. *P ⩽ 0.05 compared with pcDNA3.