非病毒性载体在肝脏疾病基因治疗中的研究进展

基因治疗肝脏疾病的新策略已引起高度关注,在肝病的基因治疗中,最关键的是如何将治疗基因特异性地导入肝细胞中并适当表达.在过去的二十多年里,受体介导的基因给药系统广泛用于肝靶向基因递送,但一些非病毒载体的基因传递效率不高.本文综述了目前最常用的非病毒载体,包括其理化性质、优点和局限性,基因递送作用机理以及修饰后在肝靶向基因治疗中的应用,并综述了在肝细胞基因传递中常用的电穿孔技术和流体力学注射法等物理方法以及如何实现其最优化的转染率.     

用慢病毒转染RNAi技术沉默胆固醇7α羟化酶的基因表达，降低肝细胞中胆汁酸的分泌

为了降低生物人工肝(bioartificial liver system)中肝细胞胆汁酸的分泌,构建了胆固醇7α羟化酶慢病毒RNA干涉载体,并转染人肝脏细胞(L-02).根据绿色荧光蛋白的表达评估转染效率后进行流式分选,获得高表达慢病毒干涉载体的细胞,并以野生型L-02细胞和仅转染pSicoR空载体的L-02细胞作对照,观察肝细胞胆固醇7α羟化酶的表达以及培养上清中总胆汁酸含量.利用半定量PCR、实时荧光定量PCR及Western-blot等实验方法检测了转染细胞中基因的干涉效果,结果显示:与对照组相比,在mRNA水平,转染慢病毒siRNA载体的L-02细胞,其胆固醇7α羟化酶基因的表达量仅为野生型L-02细胞表达量的31.2%,为转染pSicoR空载体的L-02细胞的34.1%,干涉效率分别为68.8%和65.9%,均具有显著差异(P＜0.05);Western-blot结果显示胆固醇7α羟化酶在蛋白质水平表达也明显受到抑制,表明转染慢病毒siRNA下调了肝细胞中胆固醇7α羟化酶基因的表达,减少了胆汁酸的分泌.以上研究结果表明,利用RNAi技术可以获得低表达胆固醇7α羟化酶基因的肝细胞,并有效降低肝细胞中胆汁酸的分泌,为临床上生物人工肝的构建及应用奠定基础.     

自噬在肝再生中的作用

自噬是存在于真核细胞内的一种溶酶体依赖性的降解途径,在肝脏生理和病理过程中发挥着重要作用。肝脏具有强大的再生能力,在受到急、慢性损伤时,残肝细胞将会被激活进入细胞周期进行细胞增殖,以补偿丢失的肝组织和恢复肝功能。文章阐述了各种类型损伤之后的肝再生与自噬的关系。在物理性、酒精、食源性等因素引起的肝损伤中,肝脏通过启动自噬来促进肝再生;在化学性损伤的肝再生模型中,自噬在其中的作用仍然有争议;在病毒感染之后的肝再生中,一些嗜肝病毒（如丙肝病毒和乙肝病毒等）反而利用自噬来促进病毒颗粒复制,抑制肝再生。对自噬和肝再生机制的研究,将有助于进一步阐明再生过程,为治疗肝脏疾病提供新方法。     

Pri-miRNA21/23a重组病毒载体的构建及其在肝细胞中的表达鉴定

目的:构建Pri-miRNA-21/23A基因的重组病毒载体,并在L-02肝细胞中获得表达。方法:设计并合成Pri-miRNA-21/23a的基因产物,插入含绿色荧光蛋白Zsgreen基因的真核表达载体pCI Mamma Lian中,以重组质粒为模板,设计扩增含Zsgreen基因的Pri-miRNA序列产物,并将其与pCDH-CMV-MCS-EF1-Puro病毒载体连接,将Pri-miRNA重组病毒载体转染293T细胞后进行病毒包装,病毒上清转染L-02肝细胞后用荧光显微镜及实时荧光定量PCR确认转染效果。结果:荧光定量PCR结果显示重组病毒上清转染L-02肝细胞感染效果良好,经荧光显微镜观察,证实重组病毒载体能在细胞中表达蛋白。结论:构建了Pri-miRNA21/23a重组病毒表达载体并在L-02肝细胞中表达,奠定了miRNA进一步功能研究的基础。     

慢病毒载体pITA-HBP1的构建及感染效率的测定

慢病毒载体是目前基因治疗中研究较多的载体, 与通常使用的逆转录病毒载体和腺病毒载体比较, 它有感染非分裂期细胞及容纳大片段外源性目的基因等优点.本文应用基因重组的方法,构建了1种新型的慢病毒载体,并将转录因子HBP1基因插入到这一载体上,成为pITA-HBP1.检测其在人的肿瘤细胞和正常细胞中的转染效率,发现转染效率明显增加,Western 印迹证实外源基因得到高效表达.这一结果,对今后实验室提高基因的转染效率、表达水平,以及研究基因的表达调控,都提供了重要的技术方案.     

慢病毒载体pITA-HBP1的制备及感染效率的测定

慢病毒载体是目前基因治疗中研究较多的载体,与通常使用的逆转录病毒载体和腺病毒载体比较,它有感染非分裂期细胞及容纳大片段外源性目的基因等优点.本文应用基因重组的方法,构建了1种新型的慢病毒载体,并将转录因子HBP1基因插入到这一载体上,成为pITA-HBP1.检测其在人的肿瘤细胞和正常细胞中的转染效率,发现转染效率明显增加,Western印迹证实外源基因得到高效表达.这一结果,对今后实验室提高基因的转染效率、表达水平,以及研究基因的表达调控,都提供了重要的技术方案.     

不同肝脏损伤模型下新生肝细胞来源研究进展

肝脏是执行很多重要生理功能的器官,它具有强大的再生能力,在损伤后可以迅速恢复到原本的体积。它的再生特性得益于肝细胞和胆管上皮细胞在损伤后的快速增殖;然而,在极端急性损伤或长期慢性损伤的情况下,肝脏可能无法再生或再生不佳。有众多研究表明,不同的肝损伤模型会动员不同的细胞亚群促进肝再生。该文主要介绍了五种不同的肝脏损伤模型,并对在不同损伤情况下新生肝细胞的来源、胆管上皮细胞与肝细胞的互相转换等方面进行了总结,为肝脏后续相关研究和疾病治疗提供了借鉴。     

ProTracer示踪组织器官稳态、修复与再生中的细胞增殖

在多细胞生物中,细胞增殖是一个基本的过程,它是器官发育、组织稳态、组织修复和再生所必需的。目前检测体内细胞增殖的方法大多存在局限性,为了克服这一技术瓶颈,中国科学院分子细胞科学卓越创新中心周斌研究团队利用双同源重组酶技术开发了增殖示踪(proliferation tracer, ProTracer)技术,可以在各个器官的整体细胞水平上长时间不间断地记录细胞增殖事件。肝小叶作为构成肝脏的基本单位,是具有区域性的,肝小叶中不同区域的肝细胞是异质性的。稳态下肝细胞的来源一直是充满争议的科学问题。科学家利用ProTracer技术发现在肝脏稳态下肝小叶中央区域的肝细胞具有更强的增殖能力。未来,ProTracer的应用将有利于监测器官发育、生长、再生和疾病中的细胞增殖过程,推动众多科学领域基础研究的发展。     

CDC6靶向RNA干扰质粒载体的构建及生物活性鉴定

目的:构建小鼠CDC6基因的RNAi真核表达载体PGCsilencer TM u6/Neo/GFP/RNAi,观察其转染小鼠肝细胞前后CDC6的表达变化。方法:根据GenBank中CDC6的序列,设计特异性siRNA序列,将模板序列克隆至PGCsilencer U6/Neo/GFP质粒中,通过测序鉴定后,用脂质体将重组子转染至正常小鼠肝细胞中,用RT-PCR检测CDC6的mRNA的表达及用Western blot方法检测CDC6蛋白水平的表达,并比较转染前后其表达水平的变化。结果:经测序,模板序列与设计序列完全正确,经过RT-PCR及Western blot方法检测,转染干扰质粒后,小鼠肝细胞中CDC6表达在mRNA及蛋白水平都有明显的下降。结论:成功构建了CDC6基因的RNAi真核表达载体并转染至小鼠肝细胞中,为下一步探讨CDC6在肝再生的作用奠定了基础。     

治疗肝坏损有了新希望

移植肝细胞对损坏的肝脏有暂时的帮助。但肝细胞不易在培养物中生长,没有可供移植的足够的量。用基因疗法可以大量生产这种细胞。首先使细胞感染上传送“长生不老基因”修饰过的反转录病毒,从而使细胞的量每48小时翻一番,但这样快的细胞繁殖可能造成癌变。于是研究人员又引入第二个反转录病毒,将第一个反转录病毒消除。把这样改造过的细胞移植给小鼠后,能有效地治疗急性肝坏死。科学家对减缓肝坏死还提出了另一个建议。有异常短的染色体端粒的小鼠比正常的小鼠在肝脏受伤后更易得肝硬化。当研究人员用基因疗法恢复了小鼠端粒酶的功能后,这些…     

Non-viral and hybrid vectors in human gene therapy: an update

Non-viral DNA vectors have several advantages over viral vectors. For example, virus production is expensive and there are safety concerns regarding viral manipulations. In addition, the size of the delivered plasmid is limited by the size of the viral capsid, whereas this is not a problem with non-viral vectors. The major disadvantage of using non-viral DNA delivery vectors, compared with their viral counterparts, is the low transfection efficiency. This has resulted in low levels of usage in clinical trials. Consequently, the majority of research into non-viral gene therapy has been focused on developing more efficient vectors.     

Nanotechnology for drug and gene therapy: the importance of understanding molecular mechanisms of delivery

Nanotechnology, although not a new concept, has gained significant momentum in recent years. This stems partly from the realization that nanosystems have significantly different biological properties from large-sized systems (e.g. implants or microparticles) that could be used effectively to overcome problems in drug and gene therapy. In drug therapy, we face the problems of inefficacy or nonspecific effects; hence, nanosystems are being developed for targeted drug therapy. In gene therapy using non-viral systems, the main issues are relatively transient gene expression and lower efficiency than viral vectors. Research efforts have focused on understanding the barriers in gene delivery so that non-viral systems can be developed that are as effective as viral systems in gene transfection. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie the interactions of nanosystems with the cell, their uptake properties and retention will be crucial for the successful development of these systems.     

Components of gene therapy experimentation that contribute to relative risk

Gene therapy is the purposeful delivery of genetic material to somatic cells for the purpose of treating disease or biomedical investigation. Either viral or non-viral vector methods can be used. The risk of collateral exposure of laboratory animal care personnel to gene therapy vectors is dependent on a number of factors. These factors are intrinsic to the gene therapy vector (the vehicle for genetic conveyance), product encoded by the genetic construct delivered, method of delivery, and immune status of the recipient. The component risks of gene therapy experiments can be analyzed to surmise the overall relative risk of the experiment. Knowledge of the components that contribute potential hazardous risk to a study can assist animal care staff in identifying area(s) where prudent practices should be focused. Gene therapy experiments involving viral vectors are generally performed at either biosafety level 2 or 3. The objective of this review is to report on various components of gene therapy experiments, focusing on characteristics of viral and non-viral vectors, to assist the laboratory animal science community in determining prudent biosafety practices.     

Recent patents in cationic lipid carriers for delivery of nucleic acids

Gene therapy is a medical technique intended for treatment of disorders caused by defective, missing, or overexpressing genes. Efficient delivery vectors are necessary in order to transport genetic material to the target cells. Such vectors include viral and non-viral carriers. Viral vectors transfect cells efficiently, however risks associated with their use have limited their clinical applications. Nonviral delivery systems are safer, easier to prepare, more versatile and cost effective. However, their transfection efficiency still falls behind that of the viral vectors. Considerable research into nonviral gene delivery has been conducted in the last two decades on synthetic soft materials such as cationic lipids, polymers, surfactants, and dendrimers as prospective nucleotide carriers for gene delivery. So far, cationic lipids are the most widely used constituents of nonviral gene carriers, with multiple strategies employed to improve their in vitro and in vivo transfection. Efforts in synthesizing new cationic lipids were not fully successful in closing the gap between the efficiency of the viral vectors and that of binary cationic lipid/DNA complexes. Current efforts for improving lipofection efficiency are focused on the development of multicomponent carriers including cationic lipids as key constituents. This review summarizes the recent patents on new cationic lipids as well as on multicomponent formulations enhancing their efficiency as nucleotide carriers.     

Design,preparation and application of nucleic acid delivery carriers

Gene delivery vectors must deliver their cargoes into the cytosol or the nucleus, where DNA or siRNA functions in vivo. Therefore it is crucial for the rational design of the nucleic acid delivery carriers. Compared with viral vectors, non-viral vectors have overcome some fatal defections in gene therapy. Whereas the most important issue for the non-viral vectors is the low transfection efficiency, which hinders the progress of non-viral carriers. Sparked by the structures of the virus and understanding of the process of virus infection, various biomimic structures of non-viral carriers were designed and prepared to improve the transfection issues in vitro and in vivo. However, less impressive results are achieved. In this review, we will investigate the evolution of the virus-mimicking carriers of nucleic acids for gene therapy, especially in cancer therapy; explore and discuss the relationship between the structures, materials and functions of the carriers, to provide guidance for establishing safe and highly efficient non-viral carriers for gene therapy.     

综述——纳米材料与药物输递：基因治疗药物输递系统的研究现状及发展趋势

基因治疗是一种有效的治疗方法,可用于治疗多种严重威胁人类健康的疾病．然而,裸露的基因治疗药物存在易被核酶降解、细胞内吞效果差和细胞靶向能力差等缺点．因此,需要寻求合适的载体,将基因治疗药物有效地输递到靶细胞,实现高效的基因治疗．本文主要综述了近年来基因治疗药物输递系统的研究进展,分别总结和阐述了病毒载体,脂质体、聚合物和树状大分子等非病毒载体,以及具有示踪功能的输递系统的特点及研究和发展现状．     

Gene therapy in The Netherlands: highlights from the Low Countries

Gene therapy is an active research area in The Netherlands and Dutch scientists involved in fundamental and clinical gene therapy research significantly contribute to the progresses made in this field. This ranges from the establishment of the 293, 911 and PER.C6 cell lines, which are used worldwide for the production of replication-defective adenoviral vectors, to the development of targeted viral vectors and T lymphocytes as well as of non-viral vectors. Several milestones have been achieved in Dutch clinical gene therapy trials, including the first treatment worldwide of patients with adenosine deaminase deficiency with genetically corrected hematopoietic stem cells in collaboration with French and British scientists. Until now, about 230 patients with various diseases have been treated with viral and non-viral gene therapy in this country. Ongoing and upcoming Dutch clinical trials focus on the translation of new developments in gene therapy research, including the restoration of genetic defects other than SCID, and the use of oncolytic adenoviruses and targeted T cells for the treatment of cancer. The growing commercial interest in Dutch clinical gene therapy is reflected by the involvement of two Dutch companies in ongoing trials as well as the participation of Dutch clinical centres in large phase III international multicenter immuno-gene therapy trials on prostate cancer sponsored by an American company. Translational gene therapy research in The Netherlands is boosted at a governmental level by the Dutch Ministry of Health via a dedicated funding programme. This paper presents an overview on milestones in Dutch basic gene therapy research as well as on past, present and future clinical gene therapy trials in The Netherlands.     

Limbal Approach-Subretinal Injection of Viral Vectors for Gene Therapy in Mice Retinal Pigment Epithelium

The eye is a small and enclosed organ which makes it an ideal target for gene therapy. Recently various strategies have been applied to gene therapy in retinopathies using non-viral and viral gene delivery to the retina and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Subretinal injection is the best approach to deliver viral vectors directly to RPE cells. Before the clinical trial of a gene therapy, it is inevitable to validate the efficacy of the therapy in animal models of various retinopathies. Thus, subretinal injection in mice becomes a fundamental technique for an ocular gene therapy. In this protocol, we provide the easy and replicable technique for subretinal injection of viral vectors to experimental mice. This technique is modified from the intravitreal injection, which is widely used technique in ophthalmology clinics. The representative results of RPE/choroid/scleral complex flat-mount will help to understand the efficacy of this technique and adjust the volume and titer of viral vectors for the extent of gene transduction.     

Gene therapy: progress and challenges.

Gene therapy is the delivery of new genetic material into a patient's somatic cells for the treatment of disease and is made possible through the development of viral and non-viral gene transfer vectors. In the first five years of gene therapy, clinical studies failed to yield efficacy data with the vectors available at that time. The lack of consistent clinical benefit prompted the United States National Institute of Health Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee to evaluate gene therapy research and conclude that substantial improvements in gene transfer vectors were needed in the areas of vector safety and control of the level and duration of gene expression, and to increase the understanding of the biological interaction of gene transfer vectors with the host. We will describe the progress in development of gene delivery technology, focusing on improvements in vector safety, analysis of vector biodistribution and GMP manufacturing of viral and non-viral gene transfer systems over the last six years since the report. Whereas 5 years ago, investigators tested every vector for every potential disease indication, the accumulated database now enables investigators to select a single vector based upon it's known performance in a wide number of animal models and human clinical studies. We will also highlight several directions investigators have taken to improve the safety and efficacy of gene therapy vectors.