DNA and jolts of electricity get people to make optimal antibodies

"The research team, a mixture of people from a biotech company and academic labs, used a commercial injection setup that mixes the injection of the DNA with short pulses of electricity. The electricity disrupts the cell membrane, allowing the plasmid DNA to make it inside cells. Based on animal testing, doing this in muscle cells is enough to turn the muscles into factories producing lots of broadly neutralizing antibodies."

"The new study was meant to test the safety of doing that in humans. The team recruited 44 participants, testing various doses of two antibody-producing plasmids,and injection schedules. All but four of the subjects completed the study; three of those who dropped out had all been testing a routine with the electric pulses happening very quickly, which turned out to be unpleasant. Fortunately, it didn't seem to make any difference to the production of antibodies."

"While there were a lot of adverse reactions, most of these were associated with the injection itself: muscle pain at the site, a scab forming afterwards, and a reddening of the skin. The worst problem appeared to be a single case of moderate muscle pain that persisted for a couple of days. In all but one volunteer, the injection resulted in stable production of the two antibodies for at least 72 weeks following the injection; the single exception only made one of the two."

Antibody genes were placed on circular plasmids to protect DNA from digestion and enable protein expression, but plasmids alone do not enter cells. A commercial injector combined DNA injection with short electric pulses to transiently disrupt cell membranes and permit plasmid uptake into muscle cells. Animal testing indicated muscle cells expressing plasmids can generate broadly neutralizing antibodies. Forty-four participants received various doses and injection schedules and most completed the regimens. Injection-site adverse effects were common and mostly mild. Nearly all volunteers produced stable levels of both antibodies for at least 72 weeks.

Read at Ars Technica