Studies on aerosol delivery of plasmid DNA using a mesh nebulizer

Aerosol delivery of plasmid DNA therapeutic solutions is promising for the treatment of respiratory diseases. However, it poses challenges, most significantly the need to protect the delicate supercoiled (sc) structure of plasmid during aerosolization. Nebulizers for liquid aerosolization using meshes appear a better method for delivery than conventional jet and ultrasonic nebulizers. This paper explores their application to the delivery of plasmid DNA. A computational fluid dynamics model of the dynamics of fluid flow through the nozzle of the MicroAIR® mesh nebulizer indicated high strain rates (>10 5 s −1 ) near the nozzle exit capable of causing damage to the shear‐sensitive plasmid DNA. Knowledge of the strain rates predicted using CFD and molecule size determined using atomic force microscopy (AFM) enabled estimation of the hydrodynamic force and whether damage of shear‐sensitive therapeutics was likely. Plasmids of size 5.7 and 20 kb were aerosolized in the mesh nebulizer. The sc structure of the 5.7‐kb plasmid was successfully delivered without damage, while aerosolization of the 20‐kb plasmid led to disintegration of the pDNA sc structure as observed in AFM. Subsequent formulation of the sc 20‐kb plasmid with PEI resulted in successful aerosol delivery. The maximum hydrodynamic forces computed for the aerosolization of structures of the size of 5.7‐kb and PEI formulated 20‐kb plasmids were less than the forces reported to damage the structure of double‐stranded DNA. A combination of CFD analysis and structure analysis may be used to predict successful aerosol delivery in such a mesh nebulizer. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2007;98: 939–955. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.