We have previously reported that hyperthermia at 41°C enhanced lipofection-mediated gene transduction into cultured cells. In this study, we adapted hyperthermia technique to novel cationic liposome (Lipofectamine 2000) mediated gene transfection into Lewis lung carcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, transfection efficiencies were 38.9±3.3% by lipofection alone and 52.1±2.6% by lipofection with hyperthermia for 30 min, and 62.5±5.5% and 81.4±3.2% for 1 h, respectively. Hyperthermia significantly enhanced gene transfection efficiency 1.2-1.4 times more than that with lipofection only. We also evaluated the effect of hyperthermia with a pleural dissemination model of lung carcinoma of mice. We developed a model which was well-tolerated with hyperthermia with lipofection by the mice. In spite of repeated treatments, transfection efficiencies were very low and we could not show the augmentation of gene transfection by hyperthermia. Though Lipofectamine 2000 showed strong gene transduction effect and hyperthermia augmented its effect in vitro, further evaluation is needed to adapt both techniques in vivo.

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