Hydrodynamic Renal Pelvis Injection: A Technique to Directly Deliver DNA into Kidney Cells of Murine Model

In This Article

Abstract

Source: Woodard, L. E. et al. Hydrodynamic Renal Pelvis Injection for Non-viral Expression of Proteins in the Kidney. J. Vis. Exp. (2018)

In this video, we present the protocol for hydrodynamic injection of plasmids into the renal pelvis of the mouse kidney for nucleic acid transfection. This technique allows organ-specific delivery of plasmids by utilizing the principle of high hydrostatic pressure, which forcefully drives the plasmids into the specific site without causing tissue injury.

Protocol

All procedures involving animal models have been reviewed by the local institutional animal care committee and the JoVE veterinary review board.

1. Perform the Hydrodynamic Renal Pelvis Injection Surgery

Select mice carefully for surgery.
NOTE: Strain-specific differences have not yet been observed but may be possible. Most injections have been on the C57BL/6 or FVB backgrounds. Renal pelvis injections work best in mice that are 6–12 weeks old. In mice greater than 16 weeks, up to a 50% failure rate by luciferase imaging is possible for unclear reasons. The same age-related failure ....

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Results

Rodent surgical method diagram; renal injection setup; kidney anatomy; scientific research use.
Figure 1. Correct incision site and needle placement for hydrodynamic renal pelvis injections. A) The incision (red line) should be located approximately 1 cm from the spine and approximately 1 cm below the ribcage of the mouse. B) After the.......