High expression of exogenous cDNAs directed by HIV-1 long terminal repeat in human cells constitutively producing HIV-1 tat and adenovirus E1A/E1B

A eukaryotic vector-host cell system is described where the additive transactivating effects of HIV-1 tat and adenovirus E1A on HIV-1 long terminal repeat (LTR) are exploited to increase expression of exogenous cDNAs. Human 143B and 293 cells, the latter constitutively producing E1A, were used as host cell lines. The bacterial gene chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) and the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBs-Ag) gene were employed as reporter genes inserted in pRPneoU3R, an episomal vector containing BK virus replication origin and early region, where cDNAs are expressed under control of HIV-1 LTR. The 293 cells were transformed by tat expression vectors to constitutively express tat. Stable cell clones of 293tat cells, constitutively expressing CAT after transformation with pRPneoU3R-CAT, show a CAT activity 600-fold higher than normal 293 transformed cells. CAT expression obtained in normal 293 cells can be transiently increased 10-fold by transfection by vectors expressing tat. The 293tat cells transformed by pRPneoU3R-HBs, an episomal vector expressing HBs-Ag from HIV LTR, yielded stable cell clones secreting HBs-Ag in the culture medium at a concentration up to 744 ng/ml or 44 ng/10(6) cells/24 h, 48-fold more than normal 293 cells. The use of this system for constitutive or inducible expression of sequences under control of HIV-1 LTR is discussed in view of possible applications for diagnostic, vaccinal and therapeutic purposes.     

Inhibition of HIV-LTR gene expression by oligonucleotides targeted to the TAR element.

All human immunodeficiency virus mRNAs contain a sequence known as TAR (trans-activating responsive sequence). The TAR element forms a stable RNA stem-loop structure which binds the HIV tat (trans-activator) protein and mediates increased viral gene expression. In principle, molecules which bind to the TAR RNA structure would inhibit trans-activation by perturbing the native RNA secondary structure. We have constructed a series of phosphodiester and phosphorothioate antisense oligonucleotides which specifically bind to the HIV TAR element. Specific binding to the TAR element was demonstrated in vitro with enzymatically synthesized TAR RNA. The TAR-directed phosphorothioates inhibited trans-activation in a sequence-dependent fashion in a cell culture model using an HIV LTR/human placental alkaline phosphatase gene fusion and tat protein supplied in trans. The molecules also inhibited HIV replication in both acute and chronically infected viral assays, but without sequence specificity. We have constructed a series of vectors consisting of the MMTV promoter and 5'-untranslated region of four different mRNAs, including the TAR region, to study the effect of TAR on gene expression in heterologous systems. The results suggest that, in the absence of the HIV LTR, the TAR element has a repressive effect on gene expression, which is relieved by tat.     

多聚TAR-CoreRNA诱饵对人免疫缺陷病毒1型Tat蛋白活性的抑制作用

为了抑制Ｔａｔ蛋白的反式激活作用,在细胞内大量表达外源ＴＡＲＲＮＡ使其与Ｔａｔ蛋白结合,从而竞争性抑制其与ＨＩＶ－１ＬＴＲ的ＴＡＲＲＮＡ元件结合．构建了以ＨＩＶ－１ＬＴＲＹＬ１５８（－１５８～＋１８０）为启动子,分别含有４,８和１５个拷贝的ＴＡＲ－ＣｏｒｅＲＮＡ诱饵（ｄｅｃｏｙ）表达质粒;以荧光酶基因为报告基因,检测了瞬时共转染体系中含不同拷贝数的ＴＡＲ－ＣｏｒｅＤＮＡ转录产物对Ｔａｔ蛋白反式激活作用的影响．结果证明,ＴＡＲ－ＣｏｒｅＲＮＡ诱饵对Ｔａｔ蛋白活性具有很强的抑制作用,其抑制程度与ＴＡＲ－ＣｏｒｅＤＮＡ串联体的拷贝数有关．     

Modulation of T-cell activation through protein kinase C- or A-dependent signalling pathways synergistically increases human immunodeficiency virus long terminal repeat induction by cytomegalovirus immediate-early proteins.

By using human CD4+ lymphoblastoid T cells transiently cotransfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV), we tested whether modulation of T-cell activation through the protein kinase C (PKC) or the protein kinase A (PKA) pathway synergized with CMV immediate-early (IE) proteins in HIV long terminal repeat (LTR) transactivation. Stimulation with phorbol myristate acetate, tumor necrosis factor, or cross-linked antibodies to CD3 and CD28 resulted in modest enhancement (two- to fourfold) of the activity of a luciferase expression vector under control of the HIV LTR. Cotransfection of a vector expressing the CMV IE1 and IE2 proteins under the control of their own promoter enhanced HIV LTR activity 16- to 49-fold. Combination of any one of the above stimuli and CMV IE expression amplified HIV LTR activity 99- to 624-fold. Stimulation of PKA-dependent pathways with forskolin, 8-bromo cyclic AMP, or prostaglandin E2 had a minimal effect on HIV LTR activity, whereas such stimuli resulted in synergistic amplification in cells cotransfected with CMV IE (three- to fivefold increases over the effects of CMV IE alone). This synergism was independent of the NF-kappa B binding motifs within the HIV LTR. CMV IE2, but not IE1, protein induced HIV transactivation and synergized with signals modulating T-cell activation. The intense synergism observed was superior to the increase in IE protein expression following PKC activation by phorbol myristate acetate. Treatment of cells with PKC inhibitor GF109203X blocked most of the observed synergism.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Jembrana disease virus Tat can regulate human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) long terminal repeat-directed gene expression and can substitute for HIV Tat in viral replication

Jembrana disease virus (JDV) is a bovine lentivirus genetically similar to bovine immunodeficiency virus; it causes an acute and sometimes fatal disease in infected animals. This virus carries a very potent Tat that can strongly activate not only its own long terminal repeat (LTR) but also the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) LTR. In contrast, HIV Tat cannot reciprocally activate the JDV LTR (H. Chen, G. E. Wilcox, G. Kertayadnya, and C. Wood, J. Virol. 73:658-666, 1999). This indicates that in transactivation JDV Tat may utilize a mechanism similar to but not the same as that of the HIV Tat. To further study the similarity of JDV and HIV tat in transactivation, we first tested the responses of a series of HIV LTR mutants to the JDV Tat. Cross-transactivation of HIV LTR by JDV Tat was impaired by mutations that disrupted the HIV type 1 transactivation response element (TAR) RNA stem-loop structure. Our results demonstrated that JDV Tat, like HIV Tat, transactivated the HIV LTR at least partially in a TAR-dependent manner. However, the sequence in the loop region of TAR was not as critical for the function of JDV Tat as it was for HIV Tat. The competitive inhibition of Tat-induced transactivation by the truncated JDV or HIV Tat, which consisted only of the activation domain, suggested that similar cellular factors were involved in both JDV and HIV Tat-induced transactivation. Based on the one-round transfection assay with HIV tat mutant proviruses, the cotransfected JDV tat plasmid can functionally complement the HIV tat defect. To further characterize the effect of JDV Tat on HIV, a stable chimeric HIV carrying the JDV tat gene was generated. This chimeric HIV replicated in a T-cell line, C8166, and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, which suggested that JDV Tat can functionally substitute for HIV Tat. Further characterization of this chimeric virus will help to elucidate how JDV Tat functions and to explain the differences between HIV and JDV Tat transactivation.     

Inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus replication by the herpes simplex virus virion host shutoff protein.

The herpes simplex virus (HSV) virion host shutoff gene (vhs) encodes a protein which nonspecifically accelerates the degradation of mRNA molecules, leading to inhibition of protein synthesis. This ability to inhibit a critical cellular function suggested that vhs could be used as a suicide gene in certain gene therapy applications. To investigate whether vhs might be useful for treatment of AIDS, we tested the ability of both HSV type 1 (HSV-1) and HSV-2 vhs to inhibit replication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Replication of HIV was substantially inhibited when an infectious HIV proviral clone was cotransfected into HeLa cells together with vhs under the control of the cytomegalovirus (CMV) immediate-early promoter. HSV-2 vhs was more active than HSV-1 vhs in these experiments, consistent with previously published studies on these genes. Since expression of vhs from the CMV promoter is essentially unregulated, we also tested the ability of vhs expressed from the HIV long terminal repeat (LTR) promoter to inhibit HIV replication. Wild-type HSV-1 vhs inhibited HIV replication more than 44,000-fold in comparison to a mutant vhs gene encoding a nonfunctional form of the Vhs protein. Production of Vhs in transfected cells was verified by Western blot assays. A larger amount of Vhs was observed in cells transfected with plasmids expressing vhs from the HIV LTR than from the CMV promoter, consistent with the greater inhibition of HIV replication observed with these constructs. Mutant forms of Vhs were expressed at higher levels than wild-type Vhs, most likely due to the ability of wild-type Vhs to degrade its own mRNA. The strong inhibitory activity of the vhs gene and its unique biological properties make vhs an interesting candidate for use as a suicide gene for HIV gene therapy.     

三种连接子多肽对抗癌融合蛋白翻译后剪切效果比较研究

IL-24和Smac为靶向癌症的多基因治疗研究中重要的候选基因.在构建IL-24和Smac双基因表达载体过程中,选择一个稳定高效的连接子非常关键.利用三个不同的连接子多肽序列IETD、EEED、F2A构建三个真核表达质粒pcDNA3.1(+)-IL-24-IETD-Smac、pcDNA3.1(+)-IL-24-EEED-Smac、pcDNA3.1(+)-IL-24-F2A-Smac,并联合5-氟尿嘧啶(5-FU)处理研究各连接子介导的融合蛋白剪切效果.上述实验结果表明,在三种IL-24-linker-Smac双基因表达载体中,F2A连接子剪切效果最佳且与caspase活性成正相关.IETD、EEED连接子介导的融合蛋白都有一定的剪切,但IETD/EEED多肽影响了上游IL-24蛋白的半衰期,加速了剪切后IL-24蛋白的泛素化降解.本研究为构建靶向癌症应用的双基因或多基因载体提供了设计参考.     

Soluble human interleukin-6-receptor modulates interleukin-6-dependent N-glycosylation of alpha 1-protease inhibitor secreted by HepG2 cells.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) induces changes in gene expression and the N-glycosylation pattern of acute-phase proteins in hepatocytes. IL-6 exerts its action via a cell surface receptor complex consisting of an 80 kDa IL-6 binding protein (gp80) and a 130 kDa glycoprotein (gp130) involved in signal transduction. A genetically engineered gp80-derived soluble human IL-6-receptor (shIL-6-R) significantly enhanced the IL-6 effect on N-glycosylation changes (revealed by reactivity with the lectin-concanavalin A) of a1-protease inhibitor (PI) secreted by human hepatoma cells (HepG2). Stable transfection of IL-6-cDNA into HepG2 cells (HepG2-IL-6) resulting in constitutive secretion of 2 micrograms of IL-6 per 10(6) cells in 24 h led to a down-regulation of surface-bound gp80 and subsequent homologous desensitization of HepG2-IL-6 cells towards IL-6. Soluble human IL-6-R functionally substituted membrane-bound gp80 resulting in a reconstitution of responsiveness of HepG2-IL-6 cells.     

TAR independent activation of the human immunodeficiency virus in phorbol ester stimulated T lymphocytes.

Multiple regulatory elements in the human immunodeficiency virus long terminal repeat (HIV LTR) are required for activation of HIV gene expression. Previous transfection studies of HIV LTR constructs linked to the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene indicated that multiple regulatory regions including the enhancer, SP1, TATA and TAR regions were important for HIV gene expression. To characterize these regulatory elements further, mutations in these regions were inserted into both the 5' and 3' HIV LTRs and infectious proviral constructs were assembled. These constructs were transfected into either HeLa cells, Jurkat cells or U937 cells in both the presence and absence of phorbol esters which have previously been demonstrated to activate HIV gene expression. Viral gene expression was assayed by the level of p24 gag protein released from cultures transfected with the proviral constructs. Results in all cell lines indicated that mutations of the SP1, TATA and the TAR loop and stem secondary structure resulted in marked decreases in gene expression while mutations of the enhancer motif or TAR primary sequence resulted in only slight decreases. However, viruses containing mutations in either the TAR loop sequences or stem secondary structure which were very defective for gene expression in untreated Jurkat cells, gave nearly wild-type levels of gene expression in phorbol ester-treated Jurkat cells but not in phorbol ester-treated HeLa or U937 cells. High level gene expression of these TAR mutant constructs in phorbol ester-treated Jurkat cells was eliminated by second site mutations in the enhancer region or by disruption of the tat gene.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Improved neuronal transgene expression from an AAV-2 vector with a hybrid CMV enhancer/PDGF-beta promoter

BACKGROUND: Adeno-associated virus type 2 (AAV-2) vectors are highly promising tools for gene therapy of neurological disorders. After accommodating a cellular promoter, AAV-2 vectors are able to drive sustained expression of transgene in the brain. This study aimed to develop AAV-2 vectors that also facilitate a high level of neuronal expression by enhancing the strength of a neuron-specific promoter, the human platelet-derived growth factor beta-chain (PDGF) promoter. METHODS AND RESULTS: A hybrid promoter approach was adopted to fuse the enhancer of human cytomegalovirus immediately early (CMV) promoter to the PDGF promoter. In cultured cortex neurons, AAV-2 vectors containing the hybrid promoter augmented transgene expression up to 20-fold over that mediated by titer-matched AAV-2 vectors with the PDGF promoter alone and 4-fold over the CMV enhancer/promoter. Injection of AAV-2 vectors with the hybrid promoter into the rat striatum resulted in neuron-specific transgene expression, the level of which was about 10-fold higher than those provided by the two control AAV-2 expression cassettes at 4 weeks post-injection and maintained for at least 12 weeks. Gene expression in the substantia nigra through possible retrograde transport of the AAV-2 vectors injected into the striatum was not obvious. After direct injection of AAV-2 vectors into the substantia nigra, transgene expression driven by the hybrid promoter was observed specifically in dopaminergic neurons and its level was about 3 and 17 times higher than that provided by the PDGF promoter alone and the CMV enhancer/promoter, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Enhanced transgene capacity plus neuron-specificity of the AAV-2 vectors developed in this study might prove valuable for gene therapy of Parkinson's disease.     

A murine leukemia virus (MuLV) long terminal repeat derived from rhesus macaques in the context of a lentivirus vector and MuLV gag sequence results in high-level gene expression in human T lymphocytes

We constructed human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vectors that will allow higher levels of gene expression in T cells. Gene expression under the control of an internal cytomegalovirus (CMV) immediate-early promoter in a self-inactivating lentiviral vector (CSCG) is 4- to 15-fold lower in T-cell lines (SUPT1 and CEMX174) than in non-lymphoid-cell lines (HeLa and 293T). This is in contrast to a Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMLV)-based retrovirus vector (SRalphaLEGFP). We therefore replaced the internal CMV promoter of CSCG with three different murine oncoretroviral long terminal repeat (LTR) promoters-murine sarcoma virus (MSV), MoMLV (MLV), and the LTR (termed Rh-MLV) that is derived from the ampho-mink cell focus-forming (AMP/MCF) retrovirus in the serum of one rhesus macaque monkey that developed T-cell lymphoma following autologous transplantation of enriched bone marrow stem cells transduced with a retrovirus vector preparation containing replication-competent viruses (E. F. Vanin, M. Kaloss, C. Broscius, and A. W. Nienhuis, J. Virol. 68:4241-4250, 1994). We found that the combination of Rh-MLV LTR and a partial gag sequence of MoMLV (Deltagag(871-1612)) in CS-Rh-MLV-E gave the highest level of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) gene expression compared with MLV, MSV LTR, phosphoglycerate kinase, and CMV promoters in T-cell lines, as well as activated primary T cells. Interestingly, there was a further two- to threefold increase in EGFP expression (thus, 10-fold-higher expression than with CMV) when the Rh-MLV promoter and Deltagag(871-1612) were used in a self-inactivating-vector setting that has a further deletion in the U3 region of the HIV-1 LTR. These hybrid vectors should prove useful in gene therapy applications for T cells.