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Teng F, Gang O, Freimuth P. Overexpression of human ACE2 protein in mouse fibroblasts stably transfected with the intact ACE2 gene. Virology 2024; 592:109988. [PMID: 38244322 DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2024.109988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Revised: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 01/22/2024]
Abstract
Infection by SARS-CoV-2 is dependent on binding of the viral spike protein to angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a membrane glycoprotein expressed on epithelial cells in the human upper respiratory tract. Recombinant ACE2 protein has potential application for anti-viral therapy. Here we co-transfected mouse fibroblasts (A9 cells) with a cloned fragment of human genomic DNA containing the intact ACE2 gene and an unlinked neomycin phosphotransferase gene, and then selected stable neomycin-resistant transfectants. Transfectant clones expressed ACE2 protein at levels that were generally proportional to the number of ACE2 gene copies integrated in the cell genome, ranging up to approximately 50 times the level of ACE2 present of Vero-E6 cells. Cells overexpressing ACE2 were hypersensitive to infection by spike-pseudotyped vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV-S), and adsorption of VSV-S to these cells occurred at an accelerated rate compared to Vero-E6 cells. The transfectant cell clones described here therefore have favorable attributes as feedstocks for large-scale production of recombinant human ACE2 protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feiyue Teng
- Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA
| | - Oleg Gang
- Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA; Department of Chemical Engineering and Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - Paul Freimuth
- Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA.
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Evaluation of DNA Vaccine Candidates against Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus in Cattle. Vaccines (Basel) 2023; 11:vaccines11020386. [PMID: 36851264 PMCID: PMC9960313 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11020386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Revised: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 02/03/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
We evaluated four DNA vaccine candidates for their ability to produce virus-like particles (VLPs) and elicit a protective immune response against Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) in cattle. Two traditional DNA plasmids and two DNA minicircle constructs were evaluated. Both the pTarget O1P1-3C plasmid and O1P1-3C minicircle encoded a wild-type FMDV 3C protease to process the P1-2A polypeptide, whereas the O1P1-HIV-3CT minicircle used an HIV-1 ribosomal frameshift to down-regulate expression of a mutant 3C protease. A modified pTarget plasmid with a reduced backbone size, mpTarget O1P1-3CLT, used a 3C protease containing two mutations reported to enhance expression. All constructs produced mature FMDV P1 cleavage products in transfected cells, as seen by western blot analysis. Three constructs, O1P1-3C minicircles, pTarget O1P1-3C, and mpTarget O1P1-3CLT plasmids, produced intracellular VLP crystalline arrays detected by electron microscopy. Despite VLP formation in vitro, none of the DNA vaccine candidates elicited protection from clinical disease when administered independently. Administration of pTarget O1P1-3C plasmid enhanced neutralizing antibody titers when used as a priming dose prior to administration of a conditionally licensed adenovirus-vectored FMD vaccine. Further work is needed to develop these DNA plasmid-based constructs into standalone FMD vaccines in cattle.
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Maia Falcão R, Kokaraki G, De Wispelaere W, Amant F, De Souza GA, de Souza JES, Carlson JW, Petta TB. The Expression of the Immunoproteasome Subunit PSMB9 Is Related to Distinct Molecular Subtypes of Uterine Leiomyosarcoma. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14205007. [PMID: 36291793 PMCID: PMC9600211 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14205007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Revised: 09/30/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Uterine leiomyosarcoma (uLMS) is a rare, aggressive, and highly heterogeneous tumor. Knockout female mice for the catalytic subunit of the immunoproteasome PSMB9 develops spontaneous uLMS. In this study, we used molecular data from 3 non-related uLMS cohorts that were integrated and analyzed by proteotranscriptomics. We observed overexpression of the immunoproteasome pathway in uLMS, and then further classified the samples as low or high PSMB9 gene expression levels and we provide evidence that; (i) in the group high there is an enrichment of pathways related to the immune system and in the group low, the ECM formation; (ii) samples with high CD8+/PSMB9 ratio shows better OS; and (iii) the main regulator in the high group is IFNγ and in the low, the proto-oncogene SRC. These findings contribute to the understanding of potential therapeutic or prognostic markers in uLMS. Abstract Background: Uterine leiomyosarcoma (uLMS) are rare and malignant tumors that arise in the myometrium cells and whose diagnosis is based on histopathological features. Identifying diagnostic biomarkers for uLMS is a challenge due to molecular heterogeneity and the scarcity of samples. In vivo and in vitro models for uLMS are urgently needed. Knockout female mice for the catalytic subunit of the immunoproteasome PSMB9 (MIM:177045) develop spontaneous uLMS. This study aimed to analyze the role of PSMB9 in uLMS tumorigenesis and patient outcome. Methods: Molecular data from 3 non-related uLMS cohorts were integrated and analyzed by proteotranscriptomic using gene expression and protein abundance levels in 68 normal adjacent myometrium (MM), 66 uterine leiomyoma (LM), and 67 uLMS. Results: the immunoproteasome pathway is upregulated and the gene PMSB9 shows heterogeneous expression values in uLMS. Quartile group analysis showed no significant difference between groups high and low PSMB9 expression groups at 3-years overall survival (OS). Using CYBERSORTx analysis we observed 9 out of 17 samples in the high group clustering together due to high M2 macrophages and CD4 memory resting, and high CD8+/PSMB9 ratio was associated with better OS. The main pathway regulated in the high group is IFNγ and in the low is the ECM pathway dependent on the proto-oncogene SRC. Conclusion: these findings suggest 2 subtypes of uLMS (immune-related and ECM-related) with different candidate mechanisms of malignancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raul Maia Falcão
- Bioinformatics Graduate Program, Instituto Metropole Digital, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59078-970, Brazil
- University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
| | - Georgia Kokaraki
- University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
| | - Wout De Wispelaere
- Department of Oncology, Leuven and Leuven Cancer Institute, Katholieke Universiteit, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Frédéric Amant
- Department of Oncology, Leuven and Leuven Cancer Institute, Katholieke Universiteit, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Surgery, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, 1066 Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Gustavo Antônio De Souza
- Bioinformatics Graduate Program, Instituto Metropole Digital, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59078-970, Brazil
| | - Jorge Estefano Santana de Souza
- Bioinformatics Graduate Program, Instituto Metropole Digital, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59078-970, Brazil
- University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
| | - Joseph Woodward Carlson
- University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
- K7 Onkologi-Patologi, Karolinska Institute, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Tirzah Braz Petta
- Bioinformatics Graduate Program, Instituto Metropole Digital, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59078-970, Brazil
- University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
- K7 Onkologi-Patologi, Karolinska Institute, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-323-442-1153
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Ralph MR, Shi SQ, Johnson CH, Houdek P, Shrestha TC, Crosby P, O’Neill JS, Sládek M, Stinchcombe AR, Sumová A. Targeted modification of the Per2 clock gene alters circadian function in mPer2luciferase (mPer2Luc) mice. PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1008987. [PMID: 34048425 PMCID: PMC8191895 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2020] [Revised: 06/10/2021] [Accepted: 04/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Modification of the Per2 clock gene in mPer2Luc reporter mice significantly alters circadian function. Behavioral period in constant dark is lengthened, and dissociates into two distinct components in constant light. Rhythms exhibit increased bimodality, enhanced phase resetting to light pulses, and altered entrainment to scheduled feeding. Mechanistic mathematical modelling predicts that enhanced protein interactions with the modified mPER2 C-terminus, combined with differential clock regulation among SCN subregions, can account for effects on circadian behavior via increased Per2 transcript and protein stability. PER2::LUC produces greater suppression of CLOCK:BMAL1 E-box activity than PER2. mPer2Luc carries a 72 bp deletion in exon 23 of Per2, and retains a neomycin resistance cassette that affects rhythm amplitude but not period. The results show that mPer2Luc acts as a circadian clock mutation illustrating a need for detailed assessment of potential impacts of c-terminal tags in genetically modified animal models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin R. Ralph
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Shu-qun Shi
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Carl H. Johnson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Pavel Houdek
- Laboratory of Biological Rhythms, Institute of Physiology, the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Tenjin C. Shrestha
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Priya Crosby
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - John S. O’Neill
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Martin Sládek
- Laboratory of Biological Rhythms, Institute of Physiology, the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | | | - Alena Sumová
- Laboratory of Biological Rhythms, Institute of Physiology, the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
- * E-mail:
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Bissig-Choisat B, Alves-Bezerra M, Zorman B, Ochsner SA, Barzi M, Legras X, Yang D, Borowiak M, Dean AM, York RB, Galvan NTN, Goss J, Lagor WR, Moore DD, Cohen DE, McKenna NJ, Sumazin P, Bissig KD. A human liver chimeric mouse model for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. JHEP Rep 2021; 3:100281. [PMID: 34036256 PMCID: PMC8138774 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhepr.2021.100281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2020] [Revised: 03/03/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Background & Aims The accumulation of neutral lipids within hepatocytes underlies non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which affects a quarter of the world's population and is associated with hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Despite insights gained from both human and animal studies, our understanding of NAFLD pathogenesis remains limited. To better study the molecular changes driving the condition we aimed to generate a humanised NAFLD mouse model. Methods We generated TIRF (transgene-free Il2rg -/-/Rag2 -/-/Fah -/-) mice, populated their livers with human hepatocytes, and fed them a Western-type diet for 12 weeks. Results Within the same chimeric liver, human hepatocytes developed pronounced steatosis whereas murine hepatocytes remained normal. Unbiased metabolomics and lipidomics revealed signatures of clinical NAFLD. Transcriptomic analyses showed that molecular responses diverged sharply between murine and human hepatocytes, demonstrating stark species differences in liver function. Regulatory network analysis indicated close agreement between our model and clinical NAFLD with respect to transcriptional control of cholesterol biosynthesis. Conclusions These NAFLD xenograft mice reveal an unexpected degree of evolutionary divergence in food metabolism and offer a physiologically relevant, experimentally tractable model for studying the pathogenic changes invoked by steatosis. Lay summary Fatty liver disease is an emerging health problem, and as there are no good experimental animal models, our understanding of the condition is poor. We here describe a novel humanised mouse system and compare it with clinical data. The results reveal that the human cells in the mouse liver develop fatty liver disease upon a Western-style fatty diet, whereas the mouse cells appear normal. The molecular signature (expression profiles) of the human cells are distinct from the mouse cells and metabolic analysis of the humanised livers mimic the ones observed in humans with fatty liver. This novel humanised mouse system can be used to study human fatty liver disease.
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Key Words
- ALP, alkaline phosphatase
- ALT, alanine aminotransferase
- AST, aspartate aminotransferase
- CBPEGs, cholesterol biosynthesis pathway enzyme genes
- CE, cholesteryl ester
- CER, ceramide
- CHHs, chimeric human hepatocytes
- CMHs, chimeric mouse hepatocytes
- CT, confidence transcript
- DAG, diacylglycerol
- DCER, dihydroceramide
- DEG, differentially expressed gene
- FA, fatty acid
- FAH, fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase
- FFA, free fatty acid
- GGT, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase
- HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma
- HCER, hexosylceramide
- HCT, high confidence transcriptional target
- Human disease modelling
- Humanised mice
- LCER, lactosylceramide
- LPC, lysophosphatidylcholine
- LPE, lysophosphatidylethanolamine
- Lipid metabolism
- MAG, monoacylglycerol
- MUFA, monounsaturated fatty acid
- NAFLD, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
- NASH, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis
- NC, normal chow
- NTBC, nitisinone
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
- PC, phosphatidylcholine
- PE, phosphatidylethanolamine
- PI, phosphatidylinositol
- PNPLA3, patatin-like-phospholipase domain-containing protein 3
- PUFA, polyunsaturated free FA
- SM, sphingomyelin
- SREBP, sterol regulatory element-binding protein
- Steatosis
- TAG, triacylglycerol
- TIRF, transgene-free Il2rg-/-/Rag2-/-/Fah-/-
- WD, Western-type diet
- hALB, human albumin
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Michele Alves-Bezerra
- Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Barry Zorman
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Scott A. Ochsner
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Mercedes Barzi
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Medical Genetics, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Xavier Legras
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Medical Genetics, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Diane Yang
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Malgorzata Borowiak
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Institute for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz Universtiy, Poznan, Poland
| | - Adam M. Dean
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Robert B. York
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | | | - John Goss
- Department of Surgery, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
| | - William R. Lagor
- Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - David D. Moore
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - David E. Cohen
- Joan & Sanford I. Weill Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA
| | - Neil J. McKenna
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Pavel Sumazin
- Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Karl-Dimiter Bissig
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Medical Genetics, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Y.T. and Alice Chen Pediatric Genetics and Genomics Research Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Corresponding author. Address: Duke University, Division of Medical Genetics, 905 South LaSalle street, Durham, NC-27708, USA. Tel.: +1 919 660 0761; fax: +1 919 660 0762.
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Bivalkar-Mehla S, Puri D, Singh SB, Subramanyam D. Understanding the role of Beclin1 in mouse embryonic stem cell differentiation through CRISPR-Cas9-mediated gene editing. J Biosci 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12038-021-00139-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Huang J, Wang A, Huang C, Sun Y, Song B, Zhou R, Li L. Generation of Marker-Free pbd-2 Knock-in Pigs Using the CRISPR/Cas9 and Cre/loxP Systems. Genes (Basel) 2020; 11:genes11080951. [PMID: 32824735 PMCID: PMC7465224 DOI: 10.3390/genes11080951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2020] [Revised: 08/09/2020] [Accepted: 08/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Porcine β-defensin 2 (PBD-2), expressed by different tissues of pigs, is a multifunctional cationic peptide with antimicrobial, immunomodulatory and growth-promoting abilities. As the latest generation of genome-editing tool, CRISPR/Cas9 system makes it possible to enhance the expression of PBD-2 in pigs by site-specific knock-in of pbd-2 gene into the pig genome. In this study, we aimed to generate marker-free pbd-2 knock-in pigs using the CRISPR/Cas9 and Cre/loxP systems. Two copies of pbd-2 gene linked by a T2A sequence were inserted into the porcine Rosa26 locus through CRISPR/Cas9-mediated homology-directed repair. The floxed selectable marker gene neoR, used for G418 screening of positive cell clones, was removed by cell-penetrating Cre recombinase with a recombination efficiency of 48.3%. Cloned piglets were produced via somatic cell nuclear transfer and correct insertion of pbd-2 genes was confirmed by PCR and Southern blot. Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence analyses indicated that expression levels of PBD-2 in different tissues of transgenic (TG) piglets were significantly higher than those of their wild-type (WT) littermates. Bactericidal assays demonstrated that there was a significant increase in the antimicrobial properties of the cell culture supernatants of porcine ear fibroblasts from the TG pigs in comparison to those from the WT pigs. Altogether, our study improved the protein expression level of PBD-2 in pigs by site-specific integration of pbd-2 into the pig genome, which not only provided an effective pig model to study the anti-infection mechanisms of PBD-2 but also a promising genetic material for the breeding of disease-resistant pigs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (J.H.); (C.H.)
- Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (A.W.); (Y.S.); (B.S.)
| | - Antian Wang
- Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (A.W.); (Y.S.); (B.S.)
- Key Laboratory of Development of Veterinary Diagnostic Products, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Chao Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (J.H.); (C.H.)
- Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (A.W.); (Y.S.); (B.S.)
| | - Yufan Sun
- Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (A.W.); (Y.S.); (B.S.)
- Key Laboratory of Development of Veterinary Diagnostic Products, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Bingxiao Song
- Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (A.W.); (Y.S.); (B.S.)
- Key Laboratory of Development of Veterinary Diagnostic Products, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Rui Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (J.H.); (C.H.)
- International Research Center for Animal Disease, Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Wuhan 430070, China
- Correspondence: (R.Z.); (L.L.)
| | - Lu Li
- Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China; (A.W.); (Y.S.); (B.S.)
- Key Laboratory of Development of Veterinary Diagnostic Products, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Wuhan 430070, China
- Correspondence: (R.Z.); (L.L.)
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Park JS, Kim JI, Lim HJ, Ryu SK, Kwon E, Han KM, Nam KT, Lee HW, Kang BC. Differential manifestation of ocular phenotypes in TALEN-mediated p19 arf knockout FVB/N and C57BL/6J mouse lines. Genes Genomics 2020; 42:1023-1033. [PMID: 32712838 DOI: 10.1007/s13258-020-00959-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND p19arf, primarily known as a tumor suppressor, has also been reported to play an essential role in normal development of mouse eyes. Consistently, lack of p19arf has been associated with ocular defects, but the mixed background of the knockout (KO) mouse strain used raised a concern on the accuracy of the phenotypes observed in association with the targeted gene due to genetic heterogeneity. OBJECT We carried out a study to investigate into the effect of genetic background on the manifestation of p19arf KO associated phenotypes. METHODS We characterized the phenotypes of novel p19arf KO mouse lines generated in FVB/N and C57BL/6J using a transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN) system in comparison to the reported phenotypes of three other p19arf-deficient mouse lines generated using homologous recombination. RESULTS Ninety-five percent of FVB/N-p19arf KO mice showed ocular opacity from week 4 after birth which worsened rapidly until week 6, while such abnormality was absent in C57BL/6J-p19arf KO mice up to the age of 26 weeks. Histopathological analysis revealed retrolental masses and dysplasia in the retinal layer in FVB/N-p19arf KO mice from week 4. Besides these, both strains developed normally from birth to week 26 without increased tumorigenesis except for a subcutaneous tumor found in a C57BL/6J-p19arf KO mouse. CONCLUSION Our findings demonstrated surprisingly variable manifestation of p19arf-linked phenotypes between FVB/N and C57BL/6J mice, and furthermore between our mouse lines and the established lines, indicating a critical impact of genetic background on functional study of genes using gene targeting strategies in mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin-Sung Park
- Department of Experimental Animal Research, Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Joo-Il Kim
- Department of Experimental Animal Research, Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,Graduate School of Translational Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyun-Jin Lim
- Department of Experimental Animal Research, Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,Graduate School of Translational Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Soo-Kyung Ryu
- Department of Experimental Animal Research, Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Euna Kwon
- Department of Experimental Animal Research, Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Kang-Min Han
- Graduate School of Translational Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,Department of Pathology, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Republic of Korea
| | - Ki-Taek Nam
- College of Medicine Severance Biomedical Science Institute, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Han-Woong Lee
- Department of Biochemistry, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Byeong-Cheol Kang
- Department of Experimental Animal Research, Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea. .,Graduate School of Translational Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. .,Biomedical Center for Animal Resource and Development, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. .,Designed Animal Resource Center, Institute of GreenBio Science and Technology, Seoul National University, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do, Republic of Korea.
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9
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Zimmermann A, Hercher D, Regner B, Frischer A, Sperger S, Redl H, Hacobian A. Evaluation of BMP-2 Minicircle DNA for Enhanced Bone Engineering and Regeneration. Curr Gene Ther 2020; 20:55-63. [PMID: 32338217 DOI: 10.2174/1566523220666200427121350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2020] [Revised: 04/06/2020] [Accepted: 04/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND To date, the significant osteoinductive potential of bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) non-viral gene therapy cannot be fully exploited therapeutically. This is mainly due to weak gene delivery and brief expression peaks restricting the therapeutic effect. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to test the application of minicircle DNA, allowing prolonged expression potential. It offers notable advantages over conventional plasmid DNA. The lack of bacterial sequences and the resulting reduction in size, enables safe usage and improved performance for tissue regeneration. METHODS We inserted an optimized BMP-2 gene cassette with minicircle plasmid technology. BMP-2 minicircle plasmids were produced in E. coli yielding plasmids lacking bacterial backbone elements. Comparative studies of these BMP-2 minicircles and conventional BMP-2 plasmids were performed in vitro in cell systems, including bone marrow derived stem cells. Tests performed included gene expression profiles and cell differentiation assays. RESULTS A C2C12 cell line transfected with the BMP-2-Advanced minicircle showed significantly elevated expression of osteocalcin, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, and BMP-2 protein amount when compared to cells transfected with conventional BMP-2-Advanced plasmid. Furthermore, the plasmids show suitability for stem cell approaches by showing significantly higher levels of ALP activity and mineralization when introduced into human bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs). CONCLUSION We have designed a highly bioactive BMP-2 minicircle plasmid with the potential to fulfil clinical requirements for non-viral gene therapy in the field of bone regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice Zimmermann
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Experimental and Clinical Traumatology, Vienna, Austria
| | - David Hercher
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Experimental and Clinical Traumatology, Vienna, Austria
| | - Benedikt Regner
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Experimental and Clinical Traumatology, Vienna, Austria
| | - Amelie Frischer
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Experimental and Clinical Traumatology, Vienna, Austria
| | - Simon Sperger
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Experimental and Clinical Traumatology, Vienna, Austria
| | - Heinz Redl
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Experimental and Clinical Traumatology, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ara Hacobian
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Experimental and Clinical Traumatology, Vienna, Austria
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10
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Alves-Bezerra M, Furey N, Johnson CG, Bissig KD. Using CRISPR/Cas9 to model human liver disease. JHEP Rep 2019; 1:392-402. [PMID: 32039390 PMCID: PMC7005665 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhepr.2019.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2019] [Revised: 09/15/2019] [Accepted: 09/19/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing has revolutionised biomedical research. The ease of design has allowed many groups to apply this technology for disease modelling in animals. While the mouse remains the most commonly used organism for embryonic editing, CRISPR is now increasingly performed with high efficiency in other species. The liver is also amenable to somatic genome editing, and some delivery methods already allow for efficient editing in the whole liver. In this review, we describe CRISPR-edited animals developed for modelling a broad range of human liver disorders, such as acquired and inherited hepatic metabolic diseases and liver cancers. CRISPR has greatly expanded the repertoire of animal models available for the study of human liver disease, advancing our understanding of their pathophysiology and providing new opportunities to develop novel therapeutic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Alves-Bezerra
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Center (STAR), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Nika Furey
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Center (STAR), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Collin G Johnson
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Center (STAR), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Karl-Dimiter Bissig
- Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Center (STAR), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Department of Molecular Virology & Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, Division of Medical Genetics, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
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11
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A Strategy to Optimize the Generation of Stable Chromobody Cell Lines for Visualization and Quantification of Endogenous Proteins in Living Cells. Antibodies (Basel) 2019; 8:antib8010010. [PMID: 31544816 PMCID: PMC6640688 DOI: 10.3390/antib8010010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2018] [Revised: 01/04/2019] [Accepted: 01/07/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Single-domain antibodies have emerged as highly versatile nanoprobes for advanced cellular imaging. For real-time visualization of endogenous antigens, fluorescently labelled nanobodies (chromobodies, CBs) are introduced as DNA-encoded expression constructs in living cells. Commonly, CB expression is driven from strong, constitutively active promoters. However, high expression levels are sometimes accompanied by misfolding and aggregation of those intracellular nanoprobes. Moreover, stable cell lines derived from random genomic insertion of CB-encoding transgenes bear the risk of disturbed cellular processes and inhomogeneous CB signal intensities due to gene positioning effects and epigenetic silencing. In this study we propose a strategy to generate optimized CB expressing cell lines. We demonstrate that expression as ubiquitin fusion increases the fraction of intracellularly functional CBs and identified the elongation factor 1α (EF1-α) promoter as highly suited for constitutive CB expression upon long-term cell line cultivation. Finally, we applied a CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing approach for targeted insertion of CB expression constructs into the adeno-associated virus integration site 1 (AAVS1) safe harbour locus of human cells. Our results indicate that this combinatorial approach facilitates the generation of fully functional and stable CB cell lines for quantitative live-cell imaging of endogenous antigens.
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12
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Disruption of the Tff1 gene in mice using CRISPR/Cas9 promotes body weight reduction and gastric tumorigenesis. Lab Anim Res 2018; 34:257-263. [PMID: 30671113 PMCID: PMC6333602 DOI: 10.5625/lar.2018.34.4.257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2018] [Revised: 12/07/2018] [Accepted: 12/08/2018] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Trefoil factor 1 (TFF1, also known as pS2) is strongly expressed in the gastrointestinal mucosa and plays a critical role in the differentiation of gastric glands. Since approximately 50% of all human gastric cancers are associated with decreased TFF1 expression, it is considered a tumor suppressor gene. TFF1 deficiency in mice results in histological changes in the antral and pyloric gastric mucosa, with severe hyperplasia and dysplasia of epithelial cells, resulting in the development of antropyloric adenoma. Here, we generated TFF1-knockout (KO) mice, without a neomycin resistant (NeoR) cassette, using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated nuclease 9 (CRSIPR/Cas9) system. Though our TFF1-KO mice showed phenotypes very similar to the previous embryonic stem (ES)-cell-based KO mice, they differed from the previous reports in that a reduction in body weight was observed in males. These results demonstrate that these newly established TFF1-KO mice are useful tools for investigating genetic and environmental factors influencing gastric cancer, without the effects of artificial gene insertion. Furthermore, these findings suggest a novel hypothesis that TFF1 expression influences gender differences.
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CRISPR/Cas9-mediated generation of a Plac8 knockout mouse model. Lab Anim Res 2018; 34:279-287. [PMID: 30671116 PMCID: PMC6333607 DOI: 10.5625/lar.2018.34.4.279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2018] [Revised: 12/07/2018] [Accepted: 12/08/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Placenta specific 8 (PLAC8, also known as ONZIN) is a multi-functional protein that is highly expressed in the intestine, lung, spleen, and innate immune cells, and is involved in various diseases, including cancers, obesity, and innate immune deficiency. Here, we generated a Plac8 knockout mouse using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. The Cas9 mRNA and two single guide RNAs targeting a region near the translation start codon at Plac8 exon 2 were microinjected into mouse zygotes. This successfully eliminated the conventional translation start site, as confirmed by Sanger sequencing and PCR genotyping analysis. Unlike the previous Plac8 deficient models displaying increased adipose tissue and body weights, our male Plac8 knockout mice showed rather lower body weight than sex-matched littermate controls, though the only difference between these two mouse models is genetic context. Differently from the previously constructed embryonic stem cell-derived Plac8 knockout mouse that contains a neomycin resistance cassette, this knockout mouse model is free from a negative selection marker or other external insertions, which will be useful in future studies aimed at elucidating the multi-functional and physiological roles of PLAC8 in various diseases, without interference from exogenous foreign DNA.
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Generation of knockout mouse models of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors by engineered nuclease-mediated genome editing. Lab Anim Res 2018; 34:264-269. [PMID: 30671114 PMCID: PMC6333600 DOI: 10.5625/lar.2018.34.4.264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2018] [Revised: 12/07/2018] [Accepted: 12/08/2018] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Cell cycle dysfunction can cause severe diseases, including neurodegenerative disease and cancer. Mutations in cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors controlling the G1 phase of the cell cycle are prevalent in various cancers. Mice lacking the tumor suppressors p16Ink4a (Cdkn2a, cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2a), p19Arf (an alternative reading frame product of Cdkn2a,), and p27Kip1 (Cdkn1b, cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1b) result in malignant progression of epithelial cancers, sarcomas, and melanomas, respectively. Here, we generated knockout mouse models for each of these three cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors using engineered nucleases. The p16Ink4a and p19Arf knockout mice were generated via transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and p27Kip1 knockout mice via clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated nuclease 9 (CRISPR/Cas9). These gene editing technologies were targeted to the first exon of each gene, to induce frameshifts producing premature termination codons. Unlike preexisting embryonic stem cell-based knockout mice, our mouse models are free from selectable markers or other external gene insertions, permitting more precise study of cell cycle-related diseases without confounding influences of foreign DNA.
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15
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CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of Rag-2 causes systemic lymphopenia with hypoplastic lymphoid organs in FVB mice. Lab Anim Res 2018; 34:166-175. [PMID: 30671102 PMCID: PMC6333597 DOI: 10.5625/lar.2018.34.4.166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2018] [Revised: 10/04/2018] [Accepted: 10/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Recombination activating gene-2 (RAG-2) plays a crucial role in the development of lymphocytes by mediating recombination of T cell receptors and immunoglobulins, and loss of RAG-2 causes severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) in humans. RAG-2 knockout mice created using homologous recombination in ES cells have served as a valuable immunodeficient platform, but concerns have persisted on the specificity of RAG-2-related phenotypes in these animals due to the limitations associated with the genome engineering method used. To precisely investigate the function of RAG-2, we recently established a new RAG-2 knockout FVB mouse line (RAG-2−/−) manifesting lymphopenia by employing a CRISPR/Cas9 system at Center for Mouse Models of Human Disease. In this study, we further characterized their phenotypes focusing on histopathological analysis of lymphoid organs. RAG-2−/− mice showed no abnormality in development compared to their WT littermates for 26 weeks. At necropsy, gross examination revealed significantly smaller spleens and thymuses in RAG-2−/− mice, while histopathological investigation revealed hypoplastic white pulps with intact red pulps in the spleen, severe atrophy of the thymic cortex and disappearance of follicles in lymph nodes. However, no perceivable change was observed in the bone marrow. Moreover, our analyses showed a specific reduction of lymphocytes with a complete loss of mature T cells and B cells in the lymphoid organs, while natural killer cells and splenic megakaryocytes were increased in RAG-2−/− mice. These findings indicate that our RAG-2−/− mice show systemic lymphopenia with the relevant histopathological changes in the lymphoid organs, suggesting them as an improved Rag-2-related immunodeficient model.
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Choi S, Lee K, Jung H, Park N, Kang J, Nam KH, Kim EK, Ju JH, Kang KY. Kruppel-Like Factor 4 Positively Regulates Autoimmune Arthritis in Mouse Models and Rheumatoid Arthritis in Patients via Modulating Cell Survival and Inflammation Factors of Fibroblast-Like Synoviocyte. Front Immunol 2018; 9:1339. [PMID: 29997611 PMCID: PMC6030377 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.01339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2018] [Accepted: 05/29/2018] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease that causes mild to severe joint inflammation. During RA pathogenesis, fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) acquire a tumor-like phenotype and mediate cartilage destruction both directly and indirectly by producing proinflammatory cytokines and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Kruppel-like factor (KLF) 4, a member of the KLF family, plays significant roles in cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation. A recent study reported increased expression of KLF4 in synovial tissue from RA patients. However, its precise role in RA in different models, including mouse autoimmune disease models, remains unclear. In this study, we examined the role of KLF4 during development of autoimmune arthritis in mouse models. To do this, we used KLF4 knockout mice rendered by ribonucleic acid (RNA)-guided endonuclease (RGEN) and performed collagen antibody-induced arthritis (CAIA). We found that deletion of KLF4 reduces inflammation induced by CAIA. In addition, we assessed collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in control mice and KLF4-overexpressing mice generated by a minicircle vector treatment. Severity of CIA in mice overexpressing KLF4 was greater than that in mice injected with control vector. Finally, we verified the inflammatory roles of KLF4 in CIA by treating Kenpaullone which is used as KLF4 inhibitor. Next, we focused on human/mouse FLS to discover the cellular process involved in RA pathogenesis including proliferation, apoptosis, and inflammation including MMPs. In FLS, KLF4 upregulated expression of mRNA encoding proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6. KLF4 also regulated expression of matrix metallopeptidase 13 in the synovium. We found that blockade of KLF4 in FLS increased apoptosis and suppressed proliferation followed by downregulation of antiapoptotic factor BCL2. Our results indicate that KLF4 plays a crucial role in pathogenesis of inflammatory arthritis in vivo, by regulating apoptosis, MMP expression, and cytokine expression by FLS. Thus, KLF4 might be a novel transcription factor for generating RA by modulating cellular process of FLS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seungjin Choi
- CiSTEM Laboratory, Catholic iPSC Research Center, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
- Department of Cancer Biomedical Science, Research Institute, National Cancer Center, Goyang, South Korea
| | - Kijun Lee
- CiSTEM Laboratory, Catholic iPSC Research Center, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Hyerin Jung
- CiSTEM Laboratory, Catholic iPSC Research Center, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Narae Park
- CiSTEM Laboratory, Catholic iPSC Research Center, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Jaewoo Kang
- CiSTEM Laboratory, Catholic iPSC Research Center, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Ki-Hoan Nam
- Laboratory Animal Resource Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience & Biotechnology (KRIBB), Cheongju, South Korea
| | - Eun-Kyeong Kim
- Laboratory Animal Resource Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience & Biotechnology (KRIBB), Cheongju, South Korea
| | - Ji Hyeon Ju
- CiSTEM Laboratory, Catholic iPSC Research Center, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Kwi Young Kang
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Incheon St. Mary’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Incheon, South Korea
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Differences between immunodeficient mice generated by classical gene targeting and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene knockout. Transgenic Res 2018; 27:241-251. [PMID: 29594927 PMCID: PMC5986857 DOI: 10.1007/s11248-018-0069-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2017] [Accepted: 03/19/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Immunodeficient mice are widely used for pre-clinical studies to understand various human diseases. Here, we report the generation of four immunodeficient mouse models using CRISPR/Cas9 system without inserting any foreign gene sequences such as NeoR cassettes and their characterization. By eliminating any possible effects of adding a NeoR cassette, our mouse models may allow us to better elucidate the in vivo functions of each gene. Our FVB-Rag2−/−, B6-Rag2−/−, and BALB/c-Prkdc−/− mice showed phenotypes similar to those of the earlier immunodeficient mouse models, including a lack of mature B cells and T cells and an increase in the number of CD45+DX-5+ natural killer cells. However, B6-Il2rg−/− mice had a unique phenotype, with a lack of mature B cells, increased number of T cells, and decreased number of natural killer cells. Additionally, serum immunoglobulin levels in all four immunodeficient mouse models were significantly reduced when compared to those in wild-type mice with the exception of IgM in B6-Il2rg−/− mice. These results indicate that our immunodeficient mouse models are a robust tool for in vivo studies of the immune system and will provide new insights into the variation in phenotypic outcomes resulting from different gene-targeting methodologies.
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18
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Stepanenko AA, Heng HH. Transient and stable vector transfection: Pitfalls, off-target effects, artifacts. MUTATION RESEARCH-REVIEWS IN MUTATION RESEARCH 2017; 773:91-103. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mrrev.2017.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2016] [Revised: 05/09/2017] [Accepted: 05/13/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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Šimčíková M, Prather KLJ, Prazeres DMF, Monteiro GA. Towards effective non-viral gene delivery vector. Biotechnol Genet Eng Rev 2017; 31:82-107. [PMID: 27160661 DOI: 10.1080/02648725.2016.1178011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Despite very good safety records, clinical trials using plasmid DNA failed due to low transfection efficiency and brief transgene expression. Although this failure is both due to poor plasmid design and to inefficient delivery methods, here we will focus on the former. The DNA elements like CpG motifs, selection markers, origins of replication, cryptic eukaryotic signals or nuclease-susceptible regions and inverted repeats showed detrimental effects on plasmids' performance as biopharmaceuticals. On the other hand, careful selection of promoter, polyadenylation signal, codon optimization and/or insertion of introns or nuclear-targeting sequences for therapeutic protein expression can enhance the clinical efficacy. Minimal vectors, which are devoid of the bacterial backbone and consist exclusively of the eukaryotic expression cassette, demonstrate better performance in terms of expression levels, bioavailability, transfection rates and increased therapeutic effects. Although the results are promising, minimal vectors have not taken over the conventional plasmids in clinical trials due to challenging manufacturing issues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michaela Šimčíková
- a MIT-Portugal Program.,b iBB-Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences , Lisbon , Portugal
| | - Kristala L J Prather
- a MIT-Portugal Program.,c Department of Chemical Engineering , Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge , MA , USA
| | - Duarte M F Prazeres
- a MIT-Portugal Program.,c Department of Chemical Engineering , Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge , MA , USA.,d Department of Bioengineering , Instituto Superior Técnico , Lisbon , Portugal
| | - Gabriel A Monteiro
- a MIT-Portugal Program.,c Department of Chemical Engineering , Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge , MA , USA.,d Department of Bioengineering , Instituto Superior Técnico , Lisbon , Portugal
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Turina M, Rossi M, Moretti M. Investigation on the partial resistance of Cpkk2 knock out strain of Cryphonectria parasitica to Cryphonectria hypovirus 1 infection in presence of Geneticin and Geneticin resistance gene. Virus Res 2016; 219:58-61. [PMID: 26643512 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2015.11.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2015] [Revised: 11/18/2015] [Accepted: 11/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
We have recently characterized the central components of the three MAP kinase cascades present in Cryphonectria parasitica : the MEK genes cpkk1, cpkk2 and cpkk3. When we attempted to infect through anastomosis the three knock out strains with Cryphonectria hypovirus 1 (CHV1), only the deletion strain of Cpkk2, the yeast Ste7 homologue, involved in mating and filamentous growth, could not be infected. We then proceeded to attempt virus infection through transformation of Δcpkk2 protoplasts using an infectious cDNA clone able to establish virus infection through transformation. In this case, a very limited number of strains could be recovered as stable transformants compared to the efficiency of control transformations with plasmid carrying only the antibiotic marker. Furthermore, transformants carrying actively replicating virus could be isolated only if the selection marker Geneticin was used during the very initial selection process, and not maintained throughout the growth of the colonies. Moreover, Δcpkk2 isolates that maintained the virus lost Geneticin resistance. We therefore unveiled a specific negative interaction among virus infection, presence of Geneticin in the growth media, and lack of Cpkk2 MEK in the fungal host.
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Affiliation(s)
- Massimo Turina
- Istituto per la Protezione Sostenibile delle Piante, CNR, Strada delle Cacce 73, 10135 Torino, Italy.
| | - Marika Rossi
- Istituto per la Protezione Sostenibile delle Piante, CNR, Strada delle Cacce 73, 10135 Torino, Italy
| | - Marino Moretti
- Istituto per la Protezione Sostenibile delle Piante, CNR, Strada delle Cacce 73, 10135 Torino, Italy
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In vivo electroporation of minicircle DNA as a novel method of vaccine delivery to enhance HIV-1-specific immune responses. J Virol 2013; 88:1924-34. [PMID: 24284319 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.02757-13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
DNA vaccines offer advantage over conventional vaccines, as they are safer to use, easier to produce, and able to induce humoral as well cellular immune responses. Unfortunately, no DNA vaccines have been licensed for human use for the difficulties in developing an efficient and safe in vivo gene delivery system. In vivo electroporation (EP)-based DNA delivery has attracted great attention for its potency to enhance cellular uptake of DNA vaccines and function as an adjuvant. Minicircle DNA (a new form of DNA containing only a gene expression cassette and lacking a backbone of bacterial plasmid DNA) is a powerful candidate of gene delivery in terms of improving the levels and the duration of transgene expression in vivo. In this study, as a novel vaccine delivery system, we combined in vivo EP and the minicircle DNA carrying a codon-optimized HIV-1 gag gene (minicircle-gag) to evaluate the immunogenicity of this system. We found that minicircle-gag conferred persistent and high levels of gag expression in vitro and in vivo. The use of EP delivery further increased minicircle-based gene expression. Moreover, when delivered by EP, minicircle-gag vaccination elicited a 2- to 3-fold increase in cellular immune response and a 1.5- to 3-fold augmentation of humoral immune responses compared with those elicited by a pVAX1-gag positive control. Increased immunogenicity of EP-assisted minicircle-gag may benefit from increasing local antigen expression, upregulating inflammatory genes, and recruiting immune cells. Collectively, in vivo EP of minicircle DNA functions as a novel vaccine platform that can enhance efficacy and immunogenicity of DNA vaccines.
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Marker-free plasmids for biotechnological applications – implications and perspectives. Trends Biotechnol 2013; 31:539-47. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2013.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2013] [Revised: 06/03/2013] [Accepted: 06/03/2013] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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23
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Li L, Dimitriadis EK, Yang Y, Li J, Yuan Z, Qiao C, Beley C, Smith RH, Garcia L, Kotin RM. Production and characterization of novel recombinant adeno-associated virus replicative-form genomes: a eukaryotic source of DNA for gene transfer. PLoS One 2013; 8:e69879. [PMID: 23936358 PMCID: PMC3731302 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2013] [Accepted: 06/13/2013] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Conventional non-viral gene transfer uses bacterial plasmid DNA containing antibiotic resistance genes, cis-acting bacterial sequence elements, and prokaryotic methylation patterns that may adversely affect transgene expression and vector stability in vivo. Here, we describe novel replicative forms of a eukaryotic vector DNA that consist solely of an expression cassette flanked by adeno-associated virus (AAV) inverted terminal repeats. Extensive structural analyses revealed that this AAV-derived vector DNA consists of linear, duplex molecules with covalently closed ends (termed closed-ended, linear duplex, or "CELiD", DNA). CELiD vectors, produced in Sf9 insect cells, require AAV rep gene expression for amplification. Amounts of CELiD DNA produced from insect cell lines stably transfected with an ITR-flanked transgene exceeded 60 mg per 5 × 10(9) Sf9 cells, and 1-15 mg from a comparable number of parental Sf9 cells in which the transgene was introduced via recombinant baculovirus infection. In mice, systemically delivered CELiD DNA resulted in long-term, stable transgene expression in the liver. CELiD vectors represent a novel eukaryotic alternative to bacterial plasmid DNA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lina Li
- Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Gene Therapy, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Emilios K. Dimitriadis
- National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Yu Yang
- Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Gene Therapy, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Juan Li
- School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Zhenhua Yuan
- School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Chunping Qiao
- School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Cyriaque Beley
- Biotherapies of Neuromuscular Diseases, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Versailles, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France
| | - Richard H. Smith
- Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Gene Therapy, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Luis Garcia
- Biotherapies of Neuromuscular Diseases, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Versailles, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France
| | - Robert M. Kotin
- Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Gene Therapy, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Kobelt D, Schleef M, Schmeer M, Aumann J, Schlag PM, Walther W. Performance of high quality minicircle DNA for in vitro and in vivo gene transfer. Mol Biotechnol 2013; 53:80-9. [PMID: 22467123 DOI: 10.1007/s12033-012-9535-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Plasmid DNA is frequently used particularly for nonviral gene therapy. Conventional plasmid DNA contains bacterial backbone and resistance gene sequences, as well as immunogenic CpG motifs. These components are not required for transgene expression. They represent a potential risk for safe clinical application and reduce gene transfer rates as well as transgene expression. To overcome these drawbacks, the minicircle technology is removing such sequences, to improve performance and also to reduce DNA size. Here, we show the effective production of luciferase, GFP, or lacZ-carrying minicircle DNA with high yield and reproducible high quality. They are used for lipofection or electroporation gene transfer into human melanoma and colon carcinoma cell lines. Comparison of respective parental plasmid and minicircle-mediated luciferase gene transfer shows improved luciferase expression by minicircle in all cell lines. This is not associated with increase in intracellular minicircle copy numbers after lipofection or electroporation. The minicircles rather mediate enhanced transgene mRNA transcription compared to their parental plasmids. In addition, FACS analysis revealed increase in counts of GFP positive cells after minicircle gene transfer, indicating higher gene transfer rates. Furthermore, minicircle showed also improved performance in vivo after jet-injection gene transfer. Therefore, availability of minicircles with reproducible high quality and sufficient amount makes them an applicable and effective alternative to conventional plasmid gene vectors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dennis Kobelt
- Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine, Robert-Rössle-Str. 10, 13125 Berlin, Germany.
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Lanza AM, Kim DS, Alper HS. Evaluating the influence of selection markers on obtaining selected pools and stable cell lines in human cells. Biotechnol J 2013; 8:811-21. [PMID: 23450727 DOI: 10.1002/biot.201200364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2012] [Revised: 01/29/2013] [Accepted: 02/28/2013] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Selection markers are common genetic elements used in recombinant cell line development. While several selection systems exist for use in mammalian cell lines, no previous study has comprehensively evaluated their performance in the isolation of recombinant populations and cell lines. Here we examine four antibiotics, hygromycin B, neomycin, puromycin, and Zeocin™, and their corresponding selector genes, using a green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a reporter in two model cell lines, HT1080 and HEK293. We identify Zeocin™ as the best selection agent for cell line development in human cells. In comparison to the other selection systems, Zeocin™ is able to identify populations with higher fluorescence levels, which in turn leads to the isolation of better clonal populations and less false positives. Furthermore, Zeocin™-resistant populations exhibit better transgene stability in the absence of selection pressure compared to other selection agents. All isolated Zeocin™-resistant clones, regardless of cell type, exhibited GFP expression. By comparison, only 79% of hygromycin B-resistant, 47% of neomycin-resistant, and 14% of puromycin-resistant clones expressed GFP. Based on these results, we rank Zeocin™ > hygromycin B ∼ puromycin > neomycin for cell line development in human cells. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that selection marker choice does indeed impact cell line development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda M Lanza
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
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Dutta P, Tanti GK, Sharma S, Goswami SK, Komath SS, Mayo MW, Hockensmith JW, Muthuswami R. Global epigenetic changes induced by SWI2/SNF2 inhibitors characterize neomycin-resistant mammalian cells. PLoS One 2012; 7:e49822. [PMID: 23209606 PMCID: PMC3509132 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0049822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2012] [Accepted: 10/17/2012] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Previously, we showed that aminoglycoside phosphotransferases catalyze the formation of a specific inhibitor of the SWI2/SNF2 proteins. Aminoglycoside phosphotransferases, for example neomycin-resistant genes, are used extensively as selection markers in mammalian transfections as well as in transgenic studies. However, introduction of the neomycin-resistant gene is fraught with variability in gene expression. We hypothesized that the introduction of neomycin-resistant genes into mammalian cells results in inactivation of SWI2/SNF2 proteins thereby leading to global epigenetic changes. Methodology Using fluorescence spectroscopy we have shown that the inhibitor, known as Active DNA-dependent ATPase ADomain inhibitor (ADAADi), binds to the SWI2/SNF2 proteins in the absence as well as presence of ATP and DNA. This binding occurs via a specific region known as Motif Ia leading to a conformational change in the SWI2/SNF2 proteins that precludes ATP hydrolysis. ADAADi is produced from a plethora of aminoglycosides including G418 and Streptomycin, two commonly used antibiotics in mammalian cell cultures. Mammalian cells are sensitive to ADAADi; however, cells stably transfected with neomycin-resistant genes are refractory to ADAADi. In resistant cells, endogenous SWI2/SNF2 proteins are inactivated which results in altered histone modifications. Microarray data shows that the changes in the epigenome are reflected in altered gene expression. The microarray data was validated using real-time PCR. Finally, we show that the epigenetic changes are quantized. Significance The use of neomycin-resistant genes revolutionized mammalian transfections even though questions linger about efficacy. In this study, we have demonstrated that selection of neomycin-resistant cells results in survival of only those cells that have undergone epigenetic changes, and therefore, data obtained using these resistant genes as selection markers need to be cautiously evaluated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Popy Dutta
- School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Delhi, India
| | - Goutam Kumar Tanti
- School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Delhi, India
| | - Soni Sharma
- School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Delhi, India
| | - Shyamal K. Goswami
- School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Delhi, India
| | - Sneha Sudha Komath
- School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Delhi, India
| | - Marty W. Mayo
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Joel W. Hockensmith
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America
- * E-mail: (JWH); (RM)
| | - Rohini Muthuswami
- School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Delhi, India
- * E-mail: (JWH); (RM)
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Abstract
Plasmid DNA (pDNA) is the base for promising DNA vaccines and gene therapies against many infectious, acquired, and genetic diseases, including HIV-AIDS, Ebola, Malaria, and different types of cancer, enteric pathogens, and influenza. Compared to conventional vaccines, DNA vaccines have many advantages such as high stability, not being infectious, focusing the immune response to only those antigens desired for immunization and long-term persistence of the vaccine protection. Especially in developing countries, where conventional effective vaccines are often unavailable or too expensive, there is a need for both new and improved vaccines. Therefore the demand of pDNA is expected to rise significantly in the near future. Since the injection of pDNA usually only leads to a weak immune response, several milligrams of DNA vaccine are necessary for immunization protection. Hence, there is a special interest to raise the product yield in order to reduce manufacturing costs. In this chapter, the different stages of plasmid DNA production are reviewed, from the vector design to downstream operation options. In particular, recent advances on cell engineering for improving plasmid DNA production are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alvaro R Lara
- Departamento de Procesos y Tecnología, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Cuajimalpa, Mexico City, Mexico.
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Faurez F, Dory D, Le Moigne V, Gravier R, Jestin A. Biosafety of DNA vaccines: New generation of DNA vectors and current knowledge on the fate of plasmids after injection. Vaccine 2010; 28:3888-95. [DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2010.03.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2009] [Revised: 03/09/2010] [Accepted: 03/21/2010] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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Peripheral non-viral MIDGE vector-driven delivery of beta-endorphin in inflammatory pain. Mol Pain 2009; 5:72. [PMID: 20003437 PMCID: PMC2797781 DOI: 10.1186/1744-8069-5-72] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2009] [Accepted: 12/14/2009] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Leukocytes infiltrating inflamed tissue produce and release opioid peptides such as β-endorphin, which activate opioid receptors on peripheral terminals of sensory nerves resulting in analgesia. Gene therapy is an attractive strategy to enhance continuous production of endogenous opioids. However, classical viral and plasmid vectors for gene delivery are hampered by immunogenicity, recombination, oncogene activation, anti-bacterial antibody production or changes in physiological gene expression. Non-viral, non-plasmid minimalistic, immunologically defined gene expression (MIDGE) vectors may overcome these problems as they carry only elements needed for gene transfer. Here, we investigated the effects of a nuclear localization sequence (NLS)-coupled MIDGE encoding the β-endorphin precursor proopiomelanocortin (POMC) on complete Freund's adjuvant-induced inflammatory pain in rats. Results POMC-MIDGE-NLS injected into inflamed paws appeared to be taken up by leukocytes resulting in higher concentrations of β-endorphin in these cells. POMC-MIDGE-NLS treatment reversed enhanced mechanical sensitivity compared with control MIDGE-NLS. However, both effects were moderate, not always statistically significant or directly correlated with each other. Also, the anti-hyperalgesic actions could not be increased by enhancing β-endorphin secretion or by modifying POMC-MIDGE-NLS to code for multiple copies of β-endorphin. Conclusion Although MIDGE vectors circumvent side-effects associated with classical viral and plasmid vectors, the current POMC-MIDGE-NLS did not result in reliable analgesic effectiveness in our pain model. This was possibly associated with insufficient and variable efficacy in transfection and/or β-endorphin production. Our data point at the importance of the reproducibility of gene therapy strategies for the control of chronic pain.
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Rubinstein MP, Salem ML, Kadima AN, Nguyen CL, Gillanders WE, Nishimura MI, Cole DJ. Loss of T cell-mediated antitumor immunity after construct-specific downregulation of retrovirally encoded T-cell receptor expression in vivo. Cancer Gene Ther 2009; 16:171-83. [PMID: 18690205 PMCID: PMC3065370 DOI: 10.1038/cgt.2008.63] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2007] [Revised: 03/13/2008] [Accepted: 05/05/2008] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Adoptive T-cell therapy is clinically efficacious in the treatment of select cancers. However, it is often difficult to obtain adequate numbers of tumor-specific T cells for therapy. One method for overcoming this limitation is to generate tumor-specific T cells by retrovirally mediated T-cell-receptor (TCR) gene transfer. However, despite instances of therapeutic success, major obstacles remain, including attaining the survival of retrovirally modified T cells in vivo as well as inducing long-term and multi-gene retroviral expression. Using a murine model of adoptively transferred retrovirally modified CD8(+) T cells, where antitumor immunity was dependent on sustained, multigene expression, we found that in vitro assays are poor indicators of in vivo efficacy. Despite persisting for over 9 months in a nonlymphopenic environment, genetically modified T cells exhibited discordant retrovirally mediated gene expression in vivo not readily evident from initial in vitro assays. In particular, one of the two TCR subunit genes necessary for antigen specificity was selectively lost in vivo. As this discordant gene expression was associated with the loss of antitumor immunity, consideration of these findings may provide guidance in the design, evaluation and application of retroviral vectors for use in the treatment of cancer and other human disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- M P Rubinstein
- Department of Biological Sciences, The University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
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31
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Abstract
A large number of cancer gene therapy clinical trials are currently being performed that are attempting to evaluate novel approaches to eliminate tumor cells by the introduction of genetic material into patients. One of the most important objectives in gene therapy is the development of highly safe and efficient vector systems for gene transfer in eukaryotic cells. Currently, viral and nonviral vector systems are used, both having their advantages and limitations. Minicircles are novel supercoiled minimal expression cassettes, derived from conventional plasmid DNA by site-specific recombination in vivo in Escherichia coli for the use in nonviral gene therapy and vaccination. Minicircle DNA lacks the bacterial backbone sequence consisting of an antibiotic resistance gene, an origin of replication, and inflammatory sequences intrinsic to bacterial DNA. In addition to their improved safety profile, minicircles have been shown to greatly increase the efficiency oftransgene expression in various in vitro and in vivo studies. In this chapter, we describe the production, purification, and application of minicircle DNA and discuss the rationale of the improved gene transfer efficiencies compared to conventional plasmid DNA.
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Mayrhofer P, Blaesen M, Schleef M, Jechlinger W. Minicircle-DNA production by site specific recombination and protein-DNA interaction chromatography. J Gene Med 2008; 10:1253-69. [PMID: 18767031 DOI: 10.1002/jgm.1243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Conventional plasmid-DNA (pDNA) used in gene therapy and vaccination can be subdivided into a bacterial backbone and a transcription unit. Bacterial backbone sequences are needed for pDNA production in bacteria. However, for gene transfer application, these sequences are dispensable, reduce the overall efficiency of the DNA agent and, most importantly, represent a biological safety risk. For example, the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes, as well as the uncontrolled expression of backbone sequences, may have profound detrimental effects and unmethylated CpG motifs have been shown to contribute to silencing of episomal transgene expression. Therefore, an important goal in nonviral vector development is to produce supercoiled pDNA lacking bacterial backbone sequences. METHODS A method is described to provide circular, supercoiled minimal expression cassettes (minicircle-DNA) based on two processes: (i) an inducible, sequence specific, in vivo recombination process that is almost 100% efficient and (2) a novel affinity-based chromatographic purification approach for the isolation of the minicircle-DNA. RESULTS Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis, capillary gel electrophoresis and restriction analysis of the recombination products, and the minicircle-DNA revealed a recombination efficiency greater than 99.5% and a purity of the isolated minicircle-DNA of more than 98.5%. CONCLUSIONS The results obtained in the present study demonstrate that the described technology facilitates the production of highly pure minicircle-DNA for direct application in gene therapy and vaccination. The process described is efficient, stable and suitable for further scale-up in industrial large-scale manufacturing.
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Torne-Celer C, Moreau K, Faure C, Verdier G, Ronfort C. An improved self-deleting retroviral vector derived from avian leukemia and sarcoma virus. Arch Virol 2008; 153:2233-43. [PMID: 19018452 DOI: 10.1007/s00705-008-0252-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2008] [Accepted: 10/30/2008] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
We have previously developed a self-deleting avian leukosis and sarcoma virus (ALSV)- based retroviral vector carrying an additional attachment (att) sequence. Resulting proviruses underwent deletion of viral sequences and were flanked either by two LTRs (LTRs proviruses) or by the additional att sequence and the 3' LTR (att proviruses). Herein, we have tried to increase (1) the self-deleting properties of this vector, either by raising the selection pressure applied on target cells or by optimizing the size of the internal att sequence, (2) the titer of the vector by deleting or inverting some viral sequences. Moreover, a new type of provirus flanked by att sequences at each end was isolated. Finally, under specific conditions, 100% of proviruses had internal sequences deleted, and as many as 92-100% of proviruses were no longer mobilizable by a replication-competent virus. The inactivation procedure achieved here might improve the biosafety of retroviral vectors.
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34
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Coronin-1A links cytoskeleton dynamics to TCR alpha beta-induced cell signaling. PLoS One 2008; 3:e3467. [PMID: 18941544 PMCID: PMC2568942 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2008] [Accepted: 09/20/2008] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Actin polymerization plays a critical role in activated T lymphocytes both in regulating T cell receptor (TCR)-induced immunological synapse (IS) formation and signaling. Using gene targeting, we demonstrate that the hematopoietic specific, actin- and Arp2/3 complex-binding protein coronin-1A contributes to both processes. Coronin-1A-deficient mice specifically showed alterations in terminal development and the survival of αβT cells, together with defects in cell activation and cytokine production following TCR triggering. The mutant T cells further displayed excessive accumulation yet reduced dynamics of F-actin and the WASP-Arp2/3 machinery at the IS, correlating with extended cell-cell contact. Cell signaling was also affected with the basal activation of the stress kinases sAPK/JNK1/2; and deficits in TCR-induced Ca2+ influx and phosphorylation and degradation of the inhibitor of NF-κB (IκB). Coronin-1A therefore links cytoskeleton plasticity with the functioning of discrete TCR signaling components. This function may be required to adjust TCR responses to selecting ligands accounting in part for the homeostasis defect that impacts αβT cells in coronin-1A deficient mice, with the exclusion of other lympho/hematopoietic lineages.
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35
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Rational vector design for efficient non-viral gene delivery: challenges facing the use of plasmid DNA. Mol Biotechnol 2008; 39:97-104. [PMID: 18327557 DOI: 10.1007/s12033-008-9046-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Although non-viral gene delivery is a very straightforward technology, there are currently no FDA-approved gene medicinal products available. Therefore, improving potency, safety, and efficiency of current plasmid DNA vectors will be a major task for the near future. This article will provide an overview on factors influencing production yield and quality as well as safety issues that emerge from the vector design itself. Special focus will be on generating bacterial pDNA vectors by circumventing the use of antibiotic resistance genes, to generate safer gene medicinal products as well as smaller, more efficient DNA vectors.
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36
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Bennour E, Ferrand C, Rémy-Martin JP, Certoux JM, Gorke S, Qasim W, Gaspar HB, Baumert T, Duperrier A, Deschamps M, Fehse B, Tiberghien P, Robinet E. Abnormal Expression of Only the CD34 Part of a Transgenic CD34/Herpes Simplex Virus-Thymidine Kinase Fusion Protein Is Associated with Ganciclovir Resistance. Hum Gene Ther 2008; 19:699-709. [DOI: 10.1089/hum.2007.060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Emad Bennour
- INSERM U645, 25020 Besançon, France
- Université de Franche-Comté, IFR133 IBCT, 25020 Besançon, France
- EFS Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 25020 Besançon, France
| | - Christophe Ferrand
- INSERM U645, 25020 Besançon, France
- Université de Franche-Comté, IFR133 IBCT, 25020 Besançon, France
- EFS Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 25020 Besançon, France
| | - Jean-Paul Rémy-Martin
- INSERM U645, 25020 Besançon, France
- Université de Franche-Comté, IFR133 IBCT, 25020 Besançon, France
- EFS Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 25020 Besançon, France
| | - Jean-Marie Certoux
- INSERM U645, 25020 Besançon, France
- Université de Franche-Comté, IFR133 IBCT, 25020 Besançon, France
- EFS Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 25020 Besançon, France
| | - Sebastian Gorke
- Department of Medicine II, University of Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany
- INSERM U748, 67000 Strasbourg, France
| | - Waseem Qasim
- Institute of Child Health, Molecular Immunology Unit, WC1N 1EH London, United Kingdom
| | - H. Bobby Gaspar
- Institute of Child Health, Molecular Immunology Unit, WC1N 1EH London, United Kingdom
| | - Thomas Baumert
- Department of Medicine II, University of Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany
- INSERM U748, 67000 Strasbourg, France
| | - Anne Duperrier
- INSERM U645, 25020 Besançon, France
- Université de Franche-Comté, IFR133 IBCT, 25020 Besançon, France
- EFS Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 25020 Besançon, France
| | - Marina Deschamps
- INSERM U645, 25020 Besançon, France
- Université de Franche-Comté, IFR133 IBCT, 25020 Besançon, France
- EFS Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 25020 Besançon, France
- EFS Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Clinical Biomonitoring Laboratory, 25020 Besançon, France
| | - Boris Fehse
- Paediatric Clinic III, University Hospital of the Goethe University, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Pierre Tiberghien
- INSERM U645, 25020 Besançon, France
- Université de Franche-Comté, IFR133 IBCT, 25020 Besançon, France
- EFS Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 25020 Besançon, France
| | - Eric Robinet
- INSERM U645, 25020 Besançon, France
- Université de Franche-Comté, IFR133 IBCT, 25020 Besançon, France
- EFS Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 25020 Besançon, France
- Present address: INSERM, U748, 67000 Strasbourg, France
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Huang G, Zheng Q, Sun J, Guo C, Yang J, Chen R, Xu Y, Wang G, Shen D, Pan Z, Jin J, Wang J. Stabilization of cellular properties and differentiation mutilpotential of human mesenchymal stem cells transduced with hTERT gene in a long-term culture. J Cell Biochem 2008; 103:1256-69. [PMID: 18027880 DOI: 10.1002/jcb.21502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are promising candidates for cell therapy and tissue engineering. The life span of hMSCs during in vitro culture is limited. Human telomerase catalytic subunit (hTERT) gene transduction can prolong the life span of hMSCs and maintain their potential of osteogenic differentiation. We established a line of hMSCs transduced with exogenous hTERT (hTERT-hMSCs) and investigated its sustaining cellular properties in a long-term culture. This line of hTERT-hMSCs was cultured for 290 population doublings (PDs) without loss of contact inhibition. Under adipogenic, chondrogenic and osteogenic induction, hTERT-hMSCs at PD 95 and PD 275 could differentiate respectively into adipocytes, chondrocytes, and osteocytes. hTERT-hMSCs at these PDs showed no transforming activity through both in vitro assay of cell growth in soft agar and in vivo assay of tumorigenicity in NOD-SCID mice. Karyotype analyses showed no significant chromosomal abnormalities in hTERT-hMSCs at these PDs. These results suggested that the hTERT-hMSCs at lower population doubling levels (PDLs) should be considered as a cell model for studies of cellular senescence, differentiation and in vitro tissue engineering experiment because of its prolonged life span and normal cellular properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guoping Huang
- College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, P.R. China
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Deschamps M, Robinet E, Certoux JM, Mercier P, Sauce D, De Vos J, Montcuquet N, Bonyhadi M, Rème T, Tiberghien P, Ferrand C. Transcriptome of retrovirally transduced CD8+ lymphocytes: Influence of cell activation, transgene integration, and selection process. Mol Immunol 2008; 45:1112-25. [PMID: 17825913 DOI: 10.1016/j.molimm.2007.07.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2007] [Revised: 07/16/2007] [Accepted: 07/18/2007] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
A suicide gene introduced by retroviral means can allow in vivo control of alloreactivity mediated by donor gene-modified T cells (GMTC) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The present study establishes the transcriptomic profile of GMTC prepared according to the GMTC production process used in our clinical trial (activation/selection methods, CD3/NeoR), which was previously demonstrated to induce phenotypical and functional alterations. This transcriptomic profile was compared with that of GMTC prepared by a novel process (CD3-CD28/DeltaNGFR-MACS) that limits alterations. Using a human pan-genomic microarray and GeneSpring software, we determined the gene expression profiles of CD8+ T cells from four healthy donors before and after the different steps required for gene modification. This analysis revealed that the gene expression pattern of GMTC is affected mainly by the activation step. Specific analysis of GMTC production processes showed that DeltaNGFR-MACS selection combined with CD3-CD28 activation limits the aberrant expression of genes involved in immunological functions and apoptotic pathways. Furthermore, our results indicate a limited risk of oncogenesis associated with retroviral-mediated gene transfer in CD8+ cells, a lower perturbation of the cell cycle regulation pathway after CD3-CD28 activation than after CD3 activation, and no significant involvement of the DeltaNGFR transduction signaling pathway when DeltaNGFR is used for selection. Moreover, genes that might be targeted to limit T cell functional alterations after ex vivo manipulation and culture were identified. These findings should be relevant to further adoptive T cell immunotherapy trials using ex vivo-expanded, gene-modified or unmodified T cells.
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Abstract
Vaccination with DNA is one of the most promising novel immunization techniques against a variety of pathogens and tumors, for which conventional vaccination regimens have failed. DNA vaccines are able to stimulate both arms of the immune system simultaneously, without carrying the safety risks associated with live vaccines, therefore representing not only an alternative to conventional vaccines but also significant progress in the prevention and treatment of fatal diseases and infections. However, translation of the excellent results achieved in small animals to similar success in primates or large animals has so far proved to be a major hurdle. Moreover, biosafety issues, such as the removal of antibiotic resistance genes present in plasmid DNA used for vaccination, remain to be addressed adequately. This review describes strategies to improve the design and production of conventional plasmid DNA, including an overview of safety and regulatory issues. It further focuses on novel systems for the optimization of plasmid DNA and the development of diverse plasmid DNA delivery systems for vaccination purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wolfgang Jechlinger
- Institute of Bacteriology, Mycology and Hygiene, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, A- 1210, Vienna, Austria.
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Rodgers KD, Sasaki T, Aszodi A, Jacenko O. Reduced perlecan in mice results in chondrodysplasia resembling Schwartz-Jampel syndrome. Hum Mol Genet 2007; 16:515-28. [PMID: 17213231 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddl484] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Perlecan knock-in mice were developed to model Schwartz-Jampel syndrome (SJS), a skeletal disease resulting from decreased perlecan. Two mouse strains were generated: those carrying a C-to-Y mutation at residue 1532 and the neomycin cassette (C1532Yneo) and those harboring the mutation alone (C1532Y). Immunostaining, biochemistry, size measurements, skeletal studies and histology revealed Hspg2 transcriptional changes in C1532Yneo mice, leading to reduced perlecan secretion and a skeletal disease phenotype characteristic of SJS patients. Skeletal disease features include smaller size, impaired mineralization, misshapen bones, flat face and joint dysplasias reminiscent of osteoarthritis and osteonecrosis. Moreover, C1532Yneo mice displayed transient expansion of hypertrophic cartilage in the growth plate concomitant with radial trabecular bone orientation. In contrast, C1532Y mice, harboring only the mutation associated with SJS, displayed a mild phenotype, inconsistent with SJS. These studies question the C1532Y mutation as the sole causative factor of SJS in the human family harboring this alteration and imply that transcriptional changes leading to perlecan reduction may represent the disease mechanism for SJS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn D Rodgers
- Department of Animal Biology, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, 3800 Spruce Street, Rosenthal Room 152, Pennsylvania, PA 19104-6046, USA.
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Chan J, O'Donoghue K, Gavina M, Torrente Y, Kennea N, Mehmet H, Stewart H, Watt DJ, Morgan JE, Fisk NM. Galectin-1 induces skeletal muscle differentiation in human fetal mesenchymal stem cells and increases muscle regeneration. Stem Cells 2006; 24:1879-91. [PMID: 16675596 DOI: 10.1634/stemcells.2005-0564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 117] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Cell therapy for degenerative muscle diseases such as the muscular dystrophies requires a source of cells with the capacity to participate in the formation of new muscle fibers. We investigated the myogenic potential of human fetal mesenchymal stem cells (hfMSCs) using a variety of stimuli. The use of 5-azacytidine or steroids did not produce skeletal muscle differentiation, whereas myoblast-conditioned medium resulted in only 1%-2% of hfMSCs undergoing muscle differentiation. However, in the presence of galectin-1, 66.1% +/- 5.7% of hfMSCs, but not adult bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells, assumed a muscle phenotype, forming long, multinucleated fibers expressing both desmin and sarcomeric myosin via activation of muscle regulatory factors. Continuous exposure to galectin-1 resulted in more efficient muscle differentiation than pulsed exposure (62.3% vs. 39.1%; p < .001). When transplanted into regenerating murine muscle, galectin-1-exposed hfMSCs formed fourfold more human muscle fibers than nonstimulated hfMSCs (p = .008), with similar results obtained in a scid/mdx dystrophic mouse model. These data suggest that hfMSCs readily undergo muscle differentiation in response to galectin-1 through a stepwise progression similar to that which occurs during embryonic myogenesis. The high degree of myogenic conversion achieved by this method has relevance for the development of therapies for muscular dystrophies.
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MESH Headings
- Adult
- Animals
- Azacitidine/pharmacology
- Bone Marrow Cells/cytology
- Cell Differentiation/drug effects
- Cells, Cultured
- Culture Media, Conditioned/pharmacology
- Disease Models, Animal
- Fetal Blood/cytology
- Fetal Stem Cells/cytology
- Fetal Stem Cells/drug effects
- Fetal Stem Cells/physiology
- Galectin 1/pharmacology
- Humans
- Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation
- Mesenchymal Stem Cells/cytology
- Mesenchymal Stem Cells/drug effects
- Mesenchymal Stem Cells/physiology
- Mice
- Mice, Inbred mdx
- Mice, Knockout
- Mice, SCID
- Muscle, Skeletal/cytology
- Muscle, Skeletal/drug effects
- Muscle, Skeletal/physiology
- Muscular Dystrophy, Animal/therapy
- Regeneration/drug effects
- Regeneration/physiology
- Transplantation, Heterologous
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Affiliation(s)
- Jerry Chan
- Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Campus, London, United Kingdom.
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42
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Gartel AL, Kandel ES. RNA interference in cancer. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006; 23:17-34. [PMID: 16466964 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioeng.2006.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 96] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2005] [Revised: 01/08/2006] [Accepted: 01/13/2006] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
In the recent years, RNA interference (RNAi) has emerged as a major regulatory mechanism in eukaryotic gene expression. The realization that changes in the levels of microRNAs are directly associated with cancer led to the recognition of a new class of tumor suppressors and oncogenes. Moreover, RNAi has been turned into a potent tool for artificially modulating gene expression through the introduction of short interfering RNAs. A plethora of individual inhibitory RNAs as well as several large collections of these reagents have been generated. The systems for stable and regulated expression of these molecules emerged as well. These tools have helped to delineate the roles of various cellular factors in oncogenesis and tumor suppression and laid the foundation for new approaches in gene discovery. Furthermore, successful inhibition of tumor cell growth by RNAi aimed at oncogenes in vitro and in vivo supports the enthusiasm for potential therapeutic applications of this technique. In this article we review the evidence of microRNA involvement in cancer, the use of short interfering RNAs in forward and reverse genetics of this disease, and as well as both the benefits and limitations of experimental RNAi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrei L Gartel
- Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, 60612, USA.
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43
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Jechlinger W, Azimpour Tabrizi C, Lubitz W, Mayrhofer P. Minicircle DNA immobilized in bacterial ghosts: in vivo production of safe non-viral DNA delivery vehicles. J Mol Microbiol Biotechnol 2005; 8:222-31. [PMID: 16179799 DOI: 10.1159/000086703] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
DNA as an active agent is among the most promising technologies for vaccination and therapy. However, plasmid backbone sequences needed for the production of pDNA in bacteria are dispensable, reduce the efficiency of the DNA agent and, most importantly, represent a biological safety risk. In this report we describe a novel technique where a site-specific recombination system based on the ParA resolvase was applied to a self-immobilizing plasmid system (SIP). In addition, this system was combined with the protein E-specific lysis technology to produce non-living bacterial carrier vehicles loaded with minicircle DNA. The in vivo recombination process completely divided an origin plasmid into a minicircle and a miniplasmid. The replicative miniplasmid containing the origin of replication and the antibiotic resistance gene was lost during the subsequently induced PhiX174 gene E-mediated lysis process, which results in bacterial ghosts. The minicircle DNA was retained in these empty bacterial cell envelopes during the lysis process via the specific interaction of a membrane anchored protein with the minicircle DNA. Using this novel platform technology, a DNA delivery vehicle--consisting of a safe bacterial carrier with known adjuvant properties and minicircle DNA with an optimized safety profile--can be produced in vivo in a continuous process. Furthermore, this study provides the basis for the development of an efficient in vitro minicircle purification process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wolfgang Jechlinger
- Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Section Microbiology and Biotechnology, Veterinary Medicine, University of Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, A-1210 Vienna, Austria.
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44
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Robinet E, Fehse B, Ebeling S, Sauce D, Ferrand C, Tiberghien P. Improving the ex vivo retroviral-mediated suicide-gene transfer process in T lymphocytes to preserve immune function. Cytotherapy 2005; 7:150-7. [PMID: 16040394 DOI: 10.1080/14653240510018190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
The retroviral-mediated transfer of a suicide gene into donor T cells has been proposed as a method to control alloreactivity after hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation. Gene-modified cells (GMC) may be infused into the patient either at the time of transplantation, together with a T-cell depleted HSC graft, or after transplantation, as a donor lymphocyte infusion. Administration of a so-called pro-drug activating the "suicide" mechanism only after occurrence of GvHD should selectively destroy the alloreactive GMC in vivo, eventually leading to GvHD abrogation. Although phase I-II clinical trials provided vital proof of the principle of GvHD control by suicide-gene therapy, this approach is still suboptimal. Indeed, current gene transfer strategies rely on gamma-retroviral vectors that require extensive T-cell activation and expansion for efficient transduction. Both in vitro and in vivo studies have shown that the activation, cell expansion, transduction and selection steps lead to TCR repertoire alterations and impairment of crucial T-cell functions, such as alloreactivity and anti-EBV reactivity. Thus, improvements of the suicide-gene transfer processes are required in order to preserve T-cell function. This could be achieved by using CD3/CD28 co-stimulation and immunomagnetic selection of transduced cells. In future clinical trials, lentiviral vectors may prove to be a better alternative to gamma-retroviral-mediated gene transfer, by reducing the need for prolonged ex vivo culture.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Robinet
- INSERM U645-UPRES EA2284, EFS Bourgogne/Franche-Comté, 1 boulevard A. Fleming, IFR 133, 25020 Besançon Cedex, France
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45
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Bentzon JF, Stenderup K, Hansen FD, Schroder HD, Abdallah BM, Jensen TG, Kassem M. Tissue distribution and engraftment of human mesenchymal stem cells immortalized by human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2005; 330:633-40. [PMID: 15809044 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2005.03.072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2005] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Engraftment of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in peripheral tissues for replenishing of local stem cell function has been proposed as a therapeutic approach to degenerative diseases. We have previously reported the development of an immortalized human telomerase reverse transcriptase transduced MSC line (hMSC-TERT). In the present study, we co-transduced hMSC-TERT with enhanced green fluorescent protein gene, and studied tissue distribution, engraftment, and cell survival after intracardiac and intravenous injections in immunodeficient mice. The pattern of organ distribution suggested that infused cells were efficiently arrested in microvasculature during first-pass, but only for a fraction of the infused cells was arrest followed by vascular emigration and tissue engraftment. Few engrafted cells in lungs, heart, and kidney glomeruli remained after 4 weeks. These observations are consistent with several reports on limited systemic transplantability of primary MSC. HMSC-TERT may constitute a valuable tool for mechanistic studies on how to control MSC homing and engraftment.
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Affiliation(s)
- J F Bentzon
- Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory (KMEB), Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University Hospital of Odense, Denmark
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46
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Porter MH, Paveglio SA, Zhang JA, Olson DE, Campbell AG, Thulé PM. Host Cells Reduce Glucose Uptake and Glycogen Deposition in Response to Hepatic Insulin Gene Therapy. J Investig Med 2005; 53:201-12. [PMID: 15974246 DOI: 10.2310/6650.2005.00404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hepatic insulin gene therapy (HIGT) restores weight gain and near-normal glycemia in rodent models of insulin-deficient diabetes mellitus. However, the effect of transgenic insulin on endogenous genes and recipient cell function is relatively unexplored. To investigate hepatocellular effects of transgenic insulin expression, we evaluated intermediary glucose metabolism in primary cultured hepatocytes treated with HIGT. METHODS Rat hepatocytes were transduced with adenovirus expressing a glucose-responsive human insulin transgene and cultured in high-glucose and high-insulin conditions. We determined glycogen content in cell cultures and intact liver directly. Glycogenolysis was compared using glucose production of cultured cells. Glucose uptake, oxidative, and glycolytic processing were determined by radiotracer analysis or direct end-product assessment. Quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was used to determine expression of glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2) and glucokinase genes. GLUT2 protein abundance was determined by Western blot analysis. RESULTS HIGT-treated hepatocytes contained significantly less glycogen than either untreated hepatocytes or those treated with an empty virus. Glucose release owing to glycogenolysis remained normal. However, HIGT treatment significantly impaired glucose uptake and processing. Metabolic synthetic processes were not generally inhibited, as indicated by enhanced beta-hydroxybutyrate secretion. While preserving cell viability, HIGT treatment diminished expression of both glucokinase and GLUT2. In HIGT-treated streptozocin-treated diabetic rats, total liver glycogen was intermediate between diabetic animals and normal controls. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest gene-specific effects in recipient hepatocytes following HIGT treatment and underscore the need for expanded studies examining host cell responses to the transfer of metabolically active transgenes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marty H Porter
- Department of Internal Medicine and Metabolism Section, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Decatur, GA, USA
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47
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Burns JS, Abdallah BM, Guldberg P, Rygaard J, Schrøder HD, Kassem M. Tumorigenic Heterogeneity in Cancer Stem Cells Evolved from Long-term Cultures of Telomerase-Immortalized Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells. Cancer Res 2005; 65:3126-35. [PMID: 15833842 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-04-2218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Long-term cultures of telomerase-transduced adult human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) may evolve spontaneous genetic changes leading to tumorigenicity in immunodeficient mice (e.g., hMSC-TERT20). We wished to clarify whether this unusual phenotype reflected a rare but dominant subpopulation or if the stem cell origin allowed most cells to behave as cancer stem cells. Cultures of the hMSC-TERT20 strain at population doubling 440 were highly clonogenic (94%). From 110 single-cell clones expanded by 20 population doublings, 6 underwent detailed comparison. Like the parental population, each clone had approximately 1.2 days doubling time with loss of contact inhibition. All retained 1,25-(OH)(2) vitamin D(3)-induced expression of osteoblastic markers: collagen type I, alkaline phosphatase, and osteocalcin. All shared INK4a/ARF gene locus deletion and epigenetic silencing of the DBCCR1 tumor suppressor gene. Despite in vitro commonality, only four of six clones shared the growth kinetics and 100% tumorigenicity of the parental population. In contrast, one clone consistently formed latent tumors and the other established tumors with only 30% penetrance. Changing the in vitro microenvironment to mimic in vivo growth aspects revealed concordant clonal heterogeneity. Latent tumor growth correlated with extracellular matrix entrapment of multicellular spheroids and high procollagen type III expression. Poor tumorigenicity correlated with in vitro serum dependence and high p27(Kip1) expression. Aggressive tumorigenicity correlated with good viability plus capillary morphogenesis on serum starvation and high cyclin D1 expression. Thus, hMSC-TERT20 clones represent cancer stem cells with hierarchical tumorigenicity, providing new models to explore the stem cell hypothesis for cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jorge S Burns
- Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism and Institute of Pathology, Odense University Hospital, Medical Biotechnology Center, Winsløwparken 25, DK-5000 Odense C, Denmark.
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48
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Hlavaty J, Portsmouth D, Stracke A, Salmons B, Günzburg WH, Renner M. Effects of sequences of prokaryotic origin on titer and transgene expression in retroviral vectors. Virology 2005; 330:351-60. [PMID: 15527860 DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2004.09.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2004] [Revised: 08/19/2004] [Accepted: 09/13/2004] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Transcriptionally targeted MLV-based ProCon vectors allow expression of the transduced gene in a promoter-specific manner by replacement of the viral U3 region with a heterologous promoter. In order to evaluate the effects of sequence elements present in ProCon vectors on transgene expression (enhanced green fluorescence protein, EGFP), a series of deletion constructs mimicking the situation in proviral DNA following promoter conversion, where expression of the EGFP gene is driven by three different constitutive promoters (MLV U3, mCMV, and hCMV) in the context of a 5'LTR, respectively, were generated and tested in transient transfection experiments. We discovered that modifications in the 3'LTR have only marginal effects on the EGFP expression and the sequence between the promoter and the transgene did not influence EGFP expression at all. On the other hand, EGFP expression was reduced by up to 17-fold in cells transfected with constructs containing SV40neo and/or pBR322ori sequences. To study this effect in transduced cells, we generated a series of retroviral vectors in which these elements were deleted in various combinations and found that an increase in EGFP expression and viral titer was also consistently obtained using vectors lacking these elements, although this was much smaller than that observed using the expression constructs. A vector containing the gene for puromycin resistance (pac) in place of the neomycin resistance gene (neo) was also tested, and found to result in improved vector titers and transgene expression. We conclude that, where possible, the inclusion of neo and ori sequences in retroviral vectors should be avoided, and that, if selection of infected cells is necessary, the pac, rather than neo gene should be used.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juraj Hlavaty
- Research Institute for Virology and Biomedicine, University of Veterinary Medicine, A-1210 Vienna, Austria
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49
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Bajaj B, Behshad S, Andreadis ST. Retroviral gene transfer to human epidermal keratinocytes correlates with integrin expression and is significantly enhanced on fibronectin. Hum Gene Ther 2002; 13:1821-31. [PMID: 12396615 DOI: 10.1089/104303402760372927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Human epidermal keratinocytes are an important target for gene therapy because they can be easily expanded in culture and used to generate skin substitutes for the treatment of wounds, genetic diseases of the skin, and for delivery of proteins to the systemic circulation. Although retroviral transduction results in permanent genetic modification, differentiation and loss of transduced cells from the epidermis results in temporary transgene expression. To ensure permanent genetic modification, epidermal stem cells must be transduced with high efficiency. We evaluated gene transfer on two different substrates and found that the efficiency of gene transfer is substantially higher on a substrate of recombinant fibronectin (FN), when compared to tissue culture plastic (TCP). The rate of retroviral transduction on FN is four times faster than transduction on tissue culture plates and is independent of polybrene (PB). The transduction efficiency correlates with the levels of expression of integrin subunits alpha5, alpha2, and beta1, which have been shown to correlate with stem cell phenotype. Notably, cells that adhere rapidly to FN are transduced more efficiently than slowly adherent cells. In addition, integrin-blocking antibodies decrease the efficiency of gene transfer in a dose-dependent manner. Our results suggest that FN may enhance retroviral gene transfer to the least differentiated cells, thereby increasing the potential of genetically modified keratinocytes to treat short- and long-term disease states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bharat Bajaj
- Bioengineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Amherst, NY 14260, USA
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50
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Denaro M, Kolber-Simonds D, Schad V, Muthukumar S, Germana S, White-Scharf ME, Banerjee PT, LeGuern C, Andersson G. Expression of xenogeneic MHC class II molecules in HLA-DR(+) and -DR(-) cells: influence of retrovirus vector design and cellular context. Xenotransplantation 2002; 9:115-24. [PMID: 11897004 DOI: 10.1034/j.1399-3089.2002.1o038.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
We recently established that molecular chimeras of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules, created via retroviral transfer of allogeneic class II cDNAs into bone marrow cells (BMCs), alleviated complications associated with mixed BMC chimeras while leading to T cell tolerance to renal grafts sharing the transferred class II. Initially demonstrated for allogeneic transplants in miniature swine, this concept was extended to T-dependent antibody (Ab) responses to xenogeneic antigens (Ags) in the pig --> baboon combination. Successful down-regulation of T cell responses appeared, however, to be contingent on a tight lineage-specific expression of transferred class II molecules. The present studies were, therefore, designed to evaluate the influence of construct design and cellular environment on expression of retrovirally transferred xenogeneic class II cDNAs. Proviral genomes for pig class II SLA-DR expression, differing only at the marker neo(r) or enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) gene, showed increased membrane SLA-DR density on HLA-DR(-) fibroblasts as well as HLA-DR(+), TF-1 erythroleukemia cells. More importantly, HLA-DR(+) human B cell lines, although efficiently transduced with pig DR retroviruses, exhibited unstable surface pig DR. Surface pig DR- B cells, nevertheless, stimulated autologous human T cells pre-sensitized to pig Ags, a proliferation likely occurring through presentation of class II-derived peptides. Collectively, these data suggest that surface expression of transferred class II molecules is not related to the ability of recipient cells to synthesize xenogeneic class II molecules but rather to their Ag processing capacities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Denaro
- BioTransplant Incorporated, Charlestown Navy Yard, Charlestown, MA, USA
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