Fat grafting as a vehicle for the delivery of recombinant adenoassociated viral vectors to achieve gene modification of muscle flaps.

BACKGROUND: The combination of gene therapy and plastic surgery may have the potential to improve the specificity that is needed to achieve clinically applicable treatment regimens. Our goal was to develop a method for gene modification that would yield sustainable production of gene products but would be less time consuming than existing protocols. METHODS: An adenoassociated virus was used to deliver gene products to pectoralis muscle flaps. Gene modification was accomplished via either direct injection or novel fat grafting techniques. RESULTS: The production of gene product was observable by both in vivo imaging and immunohistochemical staining. Gene products were not detected in tissues that were not in contact with the fat grafts that were incubated with the viral vector, indicating that the transduction stayed local to the flap. CONCLUSIONS: Using novel recombinant adenoassociated virus vectors, we have developed a method for gene delivery that is highly efficient and applicable to muscle flaps.