Increased gene expression and inflammatory cell infiltration caused by electroporation are both important for improving the efficacy of DNA vaccines.

One potential reason for the enhancement of immune responses to DNA vaccines following electroporation is increased gene expression. However, the inflammatory response and accompanying cellular infiltration stimulated by electroporation may also be essential for enhancing immune responses to DNA vaccines. These parameters were investigated in pigs, using different electroporation conditions to induce different levels of gene expression and inflammation.

Electroporation improves the efficacy of DNA vaccines in large animals.

It is generally recognized that DNA vaccines are often less effective in large animals than in mice. One possible reason for this reduced effectiveness may be transfection efficiency and the low level of expression elicited by plasmid vectors in large animals. A possible way to improve plasmid gene expression in vivo is electroporation.