基因治疗中关于非病毒载体的最新设计策略

基因转移的非病毒技术近来发展迅速,与病毒转染细胞的方法相比,非病毒转移方法比较简便,安全,毒性小。这种方法大体可分为两种：完全非病毒方法和病毒增强的转移方式。本文主要介绍一些最近两三年来新兴的技术方案的优点和不足。     

非病毒型载体介导基因转染

基因载体是制约基因转移技术发展的关键。近年来,非病毒载体由于其安全、低毒、低免疫原性等特点而备受青睐。文章以脂质体和聚乙烯亚胺为代表,介绍了非病毒载体的性质、介导转染的机制。随着人们对细胞转染机制了解的深入以及生物材料科学的迅速发展,非病毒型载体将有望实现高效、低毒、靶向特异等特点,从而成为基因治疗中的理想载体。     

非病毒载体的研究现状

非病毒载体在基因表达质粒,反义寡核苷酸或反义表达质粒直核细胞的靶向转移中,有着病毒载体不可替代的作用,对这方面的研究人们投入了很大的精力,以期在基因治疗方面有所突破。本文综述了近年来非病毒载体的研究现状,分别阐明了质粒DNA肌肉注射,脂质体载体、多聚阳离子载体、多肽导向载体以及嵌合载体,指出了非病毒载体亟需发展这外以及病毒载体与非病毒载体联合发展的必要性。     

口蹄疫病毒非结构蛋白定量检测ELISA方法的建立

目的：利用口蹄疫病毒非结构蛋白3B单克隆抗体建立液相阻断ELISA检测方法,进行定量检测口蹄疫病毒培养液中的非结构蛋白含量。方法：首先将工作浓度的3B单抗与待测病毒培养液过夜结合反应,然后取结合液转移至用3B蛋白包被好的酶标板上,用标准3B蛋白做12个梯度做对照,同时设阴性对照和空白对照。通过回归分析算出口蹄疫病毒培养液中的非结构蛋白3B含量。结果： 回归曲线呈典型的S形,符合4参数logit曲线拟合,相关系数R =0.99,检测范围为5~1500ng/ml,半数抑制浓度(Ic50)为130ng/ml。结论：该方法能特异、敏感的检测到病毒培养液中的非结构蛋白3B成分,并进行定量。     

基于序列非依赖性扩增技术发现未知病毒的研究进展

随着第二代测序技术的发展,组学技术在微生物学领域的运用变得广泛,其中病毒宏基因组学技术在发现未知病毒和病毒检测方面发挥了越来越重要的作用。序列非依赖性扩增是病毒宏基因组学研究中最关键的一步,它直接影响目的序列的获得及后续实验的展开。本文主要介绍和归纳了几种常用的序列非依赖性扩增技术在病毒宏基因组学中的应用,比较、分析了几种序列非赖依性扩增的差别和优缺点,为读者使用此技术提供参考。     

转位肽和转位蛋白在非病毒基因转移中的应用

利用非病毒载体转运目的基因时，转位肽和转位蛋白能够促进外源DNA通过内吞体膜屏障，实现高效的基因转移。转位结构域存在于一些病毒蛋白、毒素蛋白和合成肤中。     

基因枪技术及其在基因治疗中的应用进展

目前基因转染载体主要分为病毒型载体和非病毒型载体,病毒载体虽转染率较高、表达时间长,但其安全性令人担忧,非病毒载体中基因枪的优势最为明显,临床化趋势最强。通过分析非病毒基因转染技术面临的障碍,介绍了基因枪技术的产生和原理及其显著的优势,并总结了当前基因枪技术在基因治疗中的应用,指出了基因枪技术发展面临的问题和发展方向。     

鸡痘病毒NX10株TK基因在病毒复制中不是完全非必需的

【目的】禽痘病毒(FPV)是痘病毒科禽痘病毒属的成员。FPV因其基因组庞大,含有大量复制非必需区,目前作为活病毒载体在禽类和哺乳动物中广泛使用。重组位点的选择是禽痘病毒载体构建的先决条件,外源基因的插入不影响病毒复制是筛选插入位点的前提。因此,鉴定可供外源基因插入的复制非必需位点将为重组病毒的构建提供更多选择。本研究拟鉴定FPV NX10株胸苷激酶(TK)基因在病毒复制中的必要性。【方法】以TK基因作为靶基因,增强型绿色荧光蛋白(EGFP)为筛选标记构建转移载体,FPV NX10株为亲本病毒,通过同源重组筛选重组病毒r FPV-ΔTK-EGFP。通过在CEF细胞培养物中添加5-溴脱氧尿苷(BUd R)验证TK基因在FPV复制中的作用。【结果】构建了转移载体p UC19-TK AB-EGFP。在转染后重组病毒克隆纯化过程中,蚀斑克隆中绿色荧光病变所占的比例逐渐增加,但在荧光蚀斑的边缘能观察到不带荧光病变的存在。对第9-15轮随机选取的蚀斑克隆的Western blot分析表明,重组病毒中插入的EGFP基因均能够正确表达,但PCR结果显示在重组病毒中始终存在野生型病毒。在细胞培养液中添加BUd R后,重组病毒不能继续生长。【结论】FPV NX10毒株TK基因在该病毒的复制中不是完全非必需的。     

昆虫杆状病毒系统表达口蹄疫病毒3ABC基因

以O型口蹄疫病毒为研究对象,经过RTPCP扩增得到非结构蛋白3ABC基因,克隆到转移载体pFastbacHT,将其转入含穿梭载体Bacmid的DH10Bac,与Bacmid发生位点特异性转座作用,得到3ABC的重组穿梭载体Bacmid3ABC,再将其转染昆虫细胞HiFive。PCR鉴定证实3ABC基因正确地插入到病毒基因组的多角体蛋白基因启动子下游,经过SDSPAGE和Westernblot检测,3ABC基因在昆虫细胞中表达了大小约为50kDa的蛋白条带,3ABC基因在BactoBac系统中的成功表达为建立以基因工程产品为抗原、鉴别诊断自然感染和免疫动物的方法提供了技术条件。     

非天然氨基酸正交翻译技术：一种新型基因工程活病毒疫苗研发技术

非天然氨基酸正交翻译技术利用外源的非天然氨基酸氨酰tRNA合成酶(aaRS)基因和对应的tRNA基因构建非天然氨基酸正交翻译系统(Orthogonal translation system)。该正交翻译系统能利用终止密码子在蛋白翻译过程中将非天然氨基酸定点插入目标多肽链中。该技术不但是一种新的蛋白质生化研究工具,在新型基因工程病毒疫苗研究中更具有划时代的意义。利用人为构建的具有非天然氨基酸正交翻译系统的转基因细胞,通过在病毒复制的关键基因中引入提前终止密码子构建的突变病毒,在添加非天然氨基酸的情况下该基因仍能完整表达从而完成病毒的复制和传代,但该突变病毒在正常细胞(无非天然氨基酸正交翻译系统的宿主细胞)中因复制关键基因不能完整表达而无法复制传代,因而是一种复制缺陷型病毒。这种复制缺陷型病毒用作疫苗时兼具了减毒活疫苗免疫效果良好与灭活疫苗安全性高的优点,是一种较为理想的活病毒疫苗。文中简要综述了非天然氨基酸正交翻译技术在新型复制缺陷活病毒疫苗研究中的应用及其前景。     

From deep sequencing to viral tagging: Recent advances in viral metagenomics

Culture‐independent high‐throughput sequencing has provided unprecedented insights into microbial ecology, particularly for Earth's most ubiquitous and diverse inhabitants – the viruses. A plethora of methods now exist for amplifying the vanishingly small amounts of nucleic acids in natural viral communities in order to sequence them, and sequencing depth is now so great that viral genomes can be detected and assembled even amid large concentrations of non‐viral DNA. Complementing these advances in amplification and sequencing is the ability to physically link fluorescently labeled viruses to their host cells via high‐throughput flow sorting. Sequencing of such isolated virus–host pairs facilitates cultivation‐independent exploration of the natural host range of viruses. Within the next decade, as these technologies become widespread, we can expect to see a systematic expansion of our knowledge of viruses and their hosts.     

Translating Sleeping Beauty transposition into cellular therapies: Victories and challenges

Recent results confirm that long‐term expression of therapeutic transgenes can be achieved by using a transposon‐based system in primary stem cells and in vivo. Transposable elements are natural DNA transfer vehicles that are capable of efficient genomic insertion. The latest generation, Sleeping Beauty transposon‐based hyperactive vector (SB100X), is able to address the basic problem of non‐viral approaches – that is, low efficiency of stable gene transfer. The combination of transposon‐based non‐viral gene transfer with the latest improvements of non‐viral delivery techniques could provide a long‐term therapeutic effect without compromising biosafety. The new challenges of pre‐clinical research will focus on further refinement of the technology in large animal models and improving the safety profile of SB vectors by target‐selected transgene integration into genomic “safe harbors.” The first clinical application of the SB system will help to validate the safety of this approach.     

Delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 for therapeutic genome editing

The clustered, regularly‐interspaced, short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)‐associated nuclease 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) is emerging as a promising genome‐editing tool for treating diseases in a precise way, and has been applied to a wide range of research in the areas of biology, genetics, and medicine. Delivery of therapeutic genome‐editing agents provides a promising platform for the treatment of genetic disorders. Although viral vectors are widely used to deliver CRISPR/Cas9 elements with high efficiency, they suffer from several drawbacks, such as mutagenesis, immunogenicity, and off‐target effects. Recently, non‐viral vectors have emerged as another class of delivery carriers in terms of their safety, simplicity, and flexibility. In this review, we discuss the modes of CRISPR/Cas9 delivery, the barriers to the delivery process and the application of CRISPR/Cas9 system for the treatment of genetic disorders. We also highlight several representative types of non‐viral vectors, including polymers, liposomes, cell‐penetrating peptides, and other synthetic vectors, for the therapeutic delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 system. The applications of CRISPR/Cas9 in treating genetic disorders mediated by the non‐viral vectors are also discussed.     

Non‐viral nucleic acid delivery to the central nervous system and brain tumors

Gene therapy is a rapidly emerging remedial route for many serious incurable diseases, such as central nervous system (CNS) diseases. Currently, nucleic acid medicines, including DNAs encoding therapeutic or destructive proteins, small interfering RNAs or microRNAs, have been successfully delivered to the CNS with gene delivery vectors using various routes of administration and have subsequently exhibited remarkable therapeutic efficiency. Among these vectors, non‐viral vectors are favorable for delivering genes into the CNS as a result of their many special characteristics, such as low toxicity and pre‐existing immunogenicity, high gene loading efficiency and easy surface modification. In this review, we highlight the main types of therapeutic genes that have been applied in the therapy of CNS diseases and then outline non‐viral gene delivery vectors.     

Relationships between proteasomes and viral gene products

The interrelationships between proteasomes and viral gene products are very complex. 20S proteasomes associate with a number of viral mRNAs which are cleaved by proteasome's associated endonuclease activity. In addition proteasome's endopeptidase activities are involved in the presentation of viral antigens. Viral proteins of different origin associate with the 20S and 26S complexes and interfere with their enzymatic activities. A major part of this review deals with the interactions between 20S proteasomes and the gene products of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which has been studied in detail by our group.     

Defects in intracellular trafficking and endocytic/vacuolar acidification determine the efficiency of endocytotic DNA uptake in yeast

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a standard model system to study endocytosis. Here we describe the examination of a representative subset of deletion mutants to identify and locate steps in endocytic transport, endosomal/lysosomal acidification and in intracellular transport of hydrolases in non‐viral transfection processes. When transport in late endocytosis is inhibited, transfection efficiency is significantly enhanced. Similarly, transfection efficiency is enhanced when the pH‐value of the endosomal/vacuolar system is modified. Transfection efficiency is furthermore elevated when the Na⁺/K⁺ transport in the endosomal system is disturbed. Finally, we observe enhanced transfection efficiency in mutants disturbed in the CVT/autophagy pathway and in hydrolase transport to the vacuole. In summary, non‐viral transfection efficiency can be significantly increased by either (i) inhibiting the transport of endocytosed material before it enters the vacuole, or (ii) inducing a non‐natural pH‐value of the endosomal/vacuolar system, or (iii) slowing down degradative processes by inhibiting vacuolar hydrolases or the transport between Golgi and late endosome/vacuole. J. Cell. Biochem. 106: 327–336, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

A three plus three parameters mechanistic model for viral filtration

Viral filtration is an expensive regulatory requirement in downstream processing of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). This process step is typically operated with an overdesigned filter in order to account for any batch to batch variability in the filter, as well as the feed characteristics. Here, we propose a simple, six‐parameter mechanistic model for viral filtration where three parameters are membrane‐specific while the other three depend on feed characteristics and membrane‐feed interactions. Viruses are considered as passive particles which are retained by the membrane on the basis of size exclusion. The model envisages that the viral filter contains two kind of pores: virus‐retentive, small‐sized pores and non‐retentive, large‐sized pores. The small‐sized pores get blocked during filtration resulting in decrease in active membrane area, while the large‐sized pores get constricted during filtration. The length of constricted part increases during filtration and contributes to increase in hydraulic resistance of the filter. Rate of these processes (blocking and constriction) are assumed to be proportional to the instantaneous rate of retention of the viral particles. The general nature of the model is validated with the experimental data on viral filtration for four different commercial membranes used in biotech industries as well as different model viruses. The proposed model has been demonstrated to describe the behavior of filters with very good accuracy. The best‐fit model parameter values indicate about the various phenomena that are responsible for differences in the behavior of the membranes as well as change in retention and flux with feed concentration. The proposed model can be used for improving design of virus filters as well as in appropriate sizing of the filters during processing. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:1538–1547, 2017     

Virus factories: associations of cell organelles for viral replication and morphogenesis

Genome replication and assembly of viruses often takes place in specific intracellular compartments where viral components concentrate, thereby increasing the efficiency of the processes. For a number of viruses the formation of 'factories' has been described, which consist of perinuclear or cytoplasmic foci that mostly exclude host proteins and organelles but recruit specific cell organelles, building a unique structure. The formation of the viral factory involves a number of complex interactions and signalling events between viral and cell factors. Mitochondria, cytoplasmic membranes and cytoskeletal components frequently participate in the formation of viral factories, supplying basic and common needs for key steps in the viral replication cycle.     

Evolution of viral structure

Viruses vastly outnumber their host cells and must present a huge selective pressure. It is also becoming evident that only a small percent of the eukaryotic genome codes for molecules involved in cellular structures and functions, and that much of the remainder may have a viral origin. Viruses clearly play a central role in the biosphere, but how is this viral world organized? Classification was originally based on virus morphology and the particular host infected, but now there is an increasing trend to rely on sequence information. The type of genome (e.g., RNA or DNA, single- or double-stranded) provides fundamental classification criteria, while sequence comparisons can provide fine mapping for closely related viruses. However, it is currently very difficult to identify long-range evolutionary relationships. We present here a different approach, based on the idea that each virus has an innate "self." When the structures and functions characteristic of this "self" are identified, then they uncover relationships beyond those accessible from sequence information alone. The new approach is illustrated by sketching some possible viral lineages. We propose that urviruses were present before the division of cellular life into its current domains, and that the viral world has lineages that can be traced back to the root of the universal tree of life.     

Early Viral Entry Assays for the Identification and Evaluation of Antiviral Compounds

Cell-based systems are useful for discovering antiviral agents. Dissecting the viral life cycle, particularly the early entry stages, allows a mechanistic approach to identify and evaluate antiviral agents that target specific steps of the viral entry. In this report, the methods of examining viral inactivation, viral attachment, and viral entry/fusion as antiviral assays for such purposes are described, using hepatitis C virus as a model. These assays should be useful for discovering novel antagonists/inhibitors to early viral entry and help expand the scope of candidate antiviral agents for further drug development.