Specific and efficient targeting of adenovirus vectors to macrophages: application of a fusion protein between an adenovirus-binding fragment and avidin, linked to a biotinylated oligonucleotide

BACKGROUND: The application of serotype 5 adenoviruses (Ad5) in macrophages is hampered by the absence of the endogenous coxsackie adenovirus receptor (CAR). METHODS: To overcome this limitation, we first generated a linker protein consisting of the virus-binding domain of CAR and the C-terminus of avidin. Second, to target macrophages, this linker protein was equipped with the biotinylated (bio) oligonucleotide dA6G10, which was previously shown to display a high affinity for the scavenger receptor A (SR-A). RESULTS: As compared to nontargeted virus, the linker protein equipped with bio-dA6G10 showed a 500-fold increased reporter gene expression in mouse macrophage RAW264.7 cells. A linker protein equipped with a bio-dA16 control oligonucleotide was inactive. Moreover, the bio-dA6G10-equipped linker showed a 390-fold increased luciferase expression in the macrophage cell line J774 and 276- and 150-fold increased reporter gene expression in primary peritoneal and bone marrow (BM)-derived macrophages, respectively. Using BM-derived macrophages from SR-A knockout mice, it was shown that the dA6G10-mediated uptake is predominantly SR-A-mediated. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, we have developed a novel tool to link biotinylated ligands to a virus-binding fragment of CAR and have exploited this linker protein to extend the applicability of Ad5 to infect transformed and primary macrophages.     

Complementation cell lines for viral vectors to be used in gene therapy

Viral vectors provide a highly efficient method for the transfer of foreign genes into a variety of quiescent or dividing eukaryotic cells from many animal origins. While recombinant vectors derived from an increasing number of mammalian viruses (herpes simplex virus, autonomous and non-autonomous parvoviruses, poxviruses, retroviruses, adenoviruses available today, vectors based on murine retroviruses and human adenoviruses constitute preferential candidates for the delivery of marker or therapeutic genes into human somatic cells. The availability of such vectors has made possible the recent transition of human gene therapy from laboratory benches to clinical settings. Most current recombinant vectors have been generated by deleting essential viral genes in order to make space available for the introduction of passenger genes. Such vectors are therefore unable to replicate in the absence of these critical gene products and their production relies on the development of stable complementation cell lines providingin trans the missing viral functions. Although complementation (or packaging) cell lines are available for both adenovirus and retrovirus vectors, their respective drawbacks still limit their use to research applications and phase I clinical trials. The future success or failure of human gene therapy will therefore rely on the production of improved generations of packaging cell lines that can produce safer and more efficient vectors which are fully adapted to large scale production and clinical applications.     

Retargeting polymer-coated adenovirus to the FGF receptor allows productive infection and mediates efficacy in a peritoneal model of human ovarian cancer

BACKGROUND: Transductional targeting of adenovirus following systemic or regional delivery remains one of the most difficult challenges for cancer gene medicine. The numerical excess and anatomical advantage of normal (non-cancer) cells in vivo demand far greater detargeting than is necessary for studies using single cell populations in vitro, and this must be coupled with efficient retargeting to cancer cells. METHODS: Adenovirus (Ad5) particles were coated with reactive poly[N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide] copolymers, to achieve detargeting, and retargeting ligands were attached to the coating. Receptor-mediated infection was characterised in vitro and anticancer efficacy was studied in vivo. RESULTS: Polymer coating prevented the virus binding any cellular receptors and mediated complete detargeting in vitro and in vivo. These fully detargeted vectors were efficiently retargeted with the model ligand FGF2 to infect FGFR-positive cells. Specific transduction activity was the same as parental virus, and intracellular routing appeared unaffected. Levels of transduction were up to 100-fold greater than parental virus on CAR negative cells. This level of specificity permitted good efficacy in intraperitoneal cancer virotherapy, simultaneously decreasing peritoneal adhesions seen with parental virus. Following intravenous delivery FGF2 mediated unexpected binding to erythrocytes, improving circulation kinetics, but preventing the targeted virus from leaving the blood stream. CONCLUSIONS: Polymer cloaking enables complete adenovirus detargeting, providing a versatile platform for receptor-specific retargeting. This approach can efficiently retarget cancer virotherapy in vivo. Ligands should be selected carefully, as non-specific interactions with non-target cells (e.g. blood cells) can deplete the pool of therapeutic virus available for targeting disseminated disease.     

Production of helper-dependent adenovirus vector relies on helper virus structure and complementing

Background

The helper‐dependent (HD) adenoviral (Ad) vector relies on a helper virus to provide viral proteins for vector amplification. HD‐Ad vectors can significantly increase therapeutic gene expression and improve safety. However, the yield of an HD‐Ad vector is generally lower than that of an E1‐deleted first‐generation vector, likely due to the alterations in viral E3 or packaging regions of a helper virus that attenuate its replication and complementing for an HD‐Ad vector.

Methods

To study this question and improve HD‐Ad vector production, we have generated four different helper viruses with a wild‐type or deleted E3 region, and with a relocated loxP. We have also constructed a first‐generation vector with a wild‐type E3 region and without the loxP site. We compared the replication of these viruses in Cre‐positive and ‐negative cells and studied their complementing for HD‐Ad vector production.

Results

Viruses with deleted E3 formed smaller plaques and produced lower titer compared with viruses containing the E3 region. The site where a loxP is inserted can also affect virus replication. Higher yield of HD‐Ad vector was obtained when a helper virus with wild‐type E3 was used. We also showed that deletion of the packaging signal in a helper virus through loxP/Cre interaction decreased the viral DNA complementing ability.

Conclusions

Although the E3 region is not essential for adenovirus replication in vivo, deletion of this region attenuates virus replication. Production of HD‐Ad vector can be further improved by modifications in helper virus structure. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

     

Aerosol delivery of an enhanced helper-dependent adenovirus formulation to rabbit lung using an intratracheal catheter

BACKGROUND: Poor transduction of the ciliated airway epithelium and inefficient airway delivery of viral vectors are common difficulties encountered in lung gene therapy trials with large animals and humans. METHODS: We delivered a helper-dependent adenovirus vector, incorporating a human epithelial cell-specific expression cassette, to rabbit lung. An intratracheal device was used to aerosolize a moderate dose of virus (5 x 10(11) particles), mixed with the enhancing agent LPC (L-alpha-lysophosphatidylcholine), directly into the airways. Lung mechanics, body weight and temperature, transgene expression and histopathology were studied at day 5. RESULTS: Transgene expression was seen in the epithelium of large and small airways, from trachea to terminal bronchioles, with a strong tendency toward the right lung. All cell types of the surface epithelium were transduced. Extensive transduction of the epithelium (66% of cells in trachea) was obtained using virus formulated in isotonic 0.1% LPC, while virus formulated in 0.01% LPC transduced fewer cells (24% in trachea). A transient decrease in dynamic lung compliance was observed immediately following aerosol delivery. Fever and mild-to-moderate patchy pneumonia without edema were also observed. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate a strategy for efficient and effective transduction of airway epithelium in a large animal.     

Gutted adenoviral vector growth using E1/E2b/E3-deleted helper viruses

Background

Helper‐dependent, or gutted, adenoviruses (Ad) lack viral coding sequences, resulting in reduced immunotoxicity compared with conventional Ad vectors. Gutted Ad growth requires a conventional Ad to supply replication and packaging functions in trans. Methods that allow high‐titer growth of gutted vectors while reducing helper contamination, and which use safer helper viruses, will facilitate the use of gutted Ad vectors in vivo.

Methods

Replication‐defective helper viruses were generated that are deleted for Ad E1, E2b and E3 genes, but which contain loxP sites flanking the packaging signal. Complementing Ad packaging cell lines (C7‐cre cells) were also generated by transfecting 293 cells with the Ad E2b genes encoding DNA polymerase and pre‐terminal protein, and with a cre‐recombinase plasmid.

Results

We show that C7‐cre cells allow efficient production of gutted Ad using ΔE1 + ΔE2b + ΔE3 helper viruses whose growth can be limited by cre‐loxP‐mediated excision of the packaging signal. Gutted Ad vectors carrying ～28 kb cassettes expressing full‐length dystrophin were prepared at high titers, similar to those obtained with E2b+ helpers, with a resulting helper contamination of <1%.

Conclusions

These new packaging cell lines and helper viruses offer several significant advantages for gutted Ad vector production. They allow gutted virus amplification using a reduced number of passages, which should reduce the chances of selecting rearranged products. Furthermore, the residual helper contamination in gutted vector preparations should be less able to elicit immunological reactions upon delivery to tissues, since E2b‐deleted vectors display a profound reduction in viral gene expression. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

     

腺病毒载体介导的重组蛋白sTNFRII-gAD快速表达和制备

利用腺病毒载体高效感染哺乳动物细胞及表达外源基因的特性,建立一种快速高效表达及制备重组蛋白的方法,并用该方法获得sTNFRII-gAD (可溶性肿瘤坏死因子受体II-脂联素球部融合蛋白) 蛋白纯品。首先用携带EGFP基因的腺病毒载体rAd5-EGFP以不同的腺病毒用量 (MOI) (0~1 000) 感染BHK21c022细胞,观察比较其转导效率和细胞毒性。用AdMax腺病毒载体系统制备携带融合基因sTNFRII-gAD的重组复制缺陷型5型腺病毒rAd5-sTNFRII-gAD。用rAd5-sTNFRII-gAD以不同的MOI (0~1 000) 感染BHK21c022细胞,收取上清进行Western blotting分析,比较上清中sTNFRII-gAD蛋白的表达量。在此基础上,用rAd5-sTNFRII-gAD以MOI 100感染大量培养的BHK21c022细胞,在无血清培养条件下反复多次收取培养上清,经过硫酸铵浓缩、分子筛柱层析、透析等步骤浓缩和纯化sTNFRII-gAD融合蛋白,并体外测定该融合蛋白拮抗TNFa的活性。结果获得了携带sTNFRII-gAD融合基因的重组腺病毒rAd5-sTNFRII-gAD;用rAd5-EGFP感染BHK21c022细胞结果表明,随着腺病毒用量的增高,表达EGFP蛋白的BHK21c022细胞数量和亮度明显增加;MOI在0~100之间被感染的BHK21c022细胞未表现出明显的细胞毒性,MOI为1 000时可观察到细胞变圆和少量死亡现象。Western blotting分析结果表明,随着腺病毒用量的增高,培养上清中sTNFRII-gAD融合蛋白表达量明显增加,以MOI为1 000时最高。在此基础上,我们用MOI为100的rAd5-sTNFRII-gAD感染5个转瓶培养的BHK21c022细胞以制备sTNFRII-gAD融合蛋白。每个转瓶加无血清培养液100 mL,每48 h收获上清1次并换液,反复6次收取培养上清共约3 L,经过纯化获得了约11 mg的sTNFRII-gAD融合蛋白。体外活性测定实验表明,获得的sTNFRII-gAD融合蛋白能有效拮抗TNFα对L929细胞的杀伤作用。腺病毒载体/BHK21细胞表达系统是一个简便、高效、通用的表达系统,利用该系统成功制备了有生物学活性的sTNFRII-gAD融合蛋白。该表达系统的特点是生产规模易于放大,适应无血清培养,可以反复多次收获目标蛋白。     

A highly efficient gene-targeting system for Aspergillus parasiticus

Aims: To establish a system that greatly increases the gene‐targeting frequency in Aspergillus parasiticus. Methods and Results: The ku70 gene, a gene of the nonhomologous end‐joining (NHEJ) pathway, was replaced by the nitrate reductase gene (niaD) in A. parasiticus RHN1 that accumulates O‐methylsterigmatocystin (OMST). The NHEJ‐deficient strain, RHΔku70, produced conidia, sclerotia and OMST normally. It had identical sensitivity as RHN1 to the DNA‐topoisomerase I complex inhibitor, camptothecin, and the DNA‐damaging agent, melphalan. For targeting an aflatoxin biosynthetic pathway gene, adhA, partial restriction enzyme recognition sequences in its flanking regions were manipulated to create homologous ends for integration. Using a linearized DNA fragment that contained Aspergillus oryzae pyrithiamine resistance gene (ptr) marker the adhA‐targeting frequency in RHΔku70 reached 96%. Conclusions: The homologous recombination pathway is primarily responsible for repair of DNA damages in A. parasiticus. The NHEJ‐deficient RHΔku70, easy creation of homologous ends for integration, and the ptr‐based selection form a highly efficient gene‐targeting system. It substantially reduces the time and workload necessary to obtain knockout strains for functional studies. Significance and Impact of the Study: The developed system not only streamlines targeted gene replacement and disruption but also can be used to target specific chromosomal locations like promoters or intergenic regions. It will expedite the progresses in the functional genomic studies of A. parasiticus and Aspergilllus flavus.     

miR-29b2c重组腺病毒的构建及对胃癌细胞增殖和迁移的影响

构建了miR-29b2c重组腺病毒Ad-miR-29b2c,考察了其对HGC-27、MGC-803胃癌细胞增殖及迁移的抑制作用。采用PCR从基因组扩增miR-29b2c片段,并克隆至腺病毒穿梭载体pAdTrack-CMV中,构建穿梭质粒pAdT-29b2c,经酶切及测序鉴定。穿梭质粒经PmeⅠ线性化后与腺病毒骨架载体共转化BJ5183感受态,产生重组腺病毒质粒Ad-miR-29b2c,再经PacⅠ线性化后转染293A细胞进行包装。重组腺病毒扩增后感染HGC-27细胞,通过MTT及细胞迁移实验观察Ad-miR-29b2c对HGC-27、MGC-803细胞增殖及迁移的影响。采用Western blotting检测Ad-miR-29b2c对HGC-27、MGC-803细胞δ-catenin蛋白表达的影响。酶切、测序及荧光定量PCR结果表明重组腺病毒构建成功,miR-29b及miR-29c在HGC-27细胞过表达。MTT实验表明Ad-miR-29b2c能显著抑制HGC-27、MGC-803细胞增殖。细胞迁移实验表明Ad-miR-29b2c能显著抑制HGC-27、MGC-803细胞迁移。此外,Ad-miR-29b2c能显著降低HGC-27、MGC-803细胞δ-catenin蛋白表达水平。综上所述,构建了miR-29b2c的重组腺病毒,并发现其可以抑制胃癌细胞HGC-27和MGC-803的增殖及迁移,该作用可能与miR-29抑制HGC-27、MGC-803细胞δ-catenin蛋白表达有关。     

Effective repetitive dystrophin gene transfer into skeletal muscle of adult mdx mice using a helper-dependent adenovirus vector expressing the coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) and dystrophin

BACKGROUND: The helper-dependent adenovirus (HDAd) vector is less immunogenic and has a larger cloning capacity of up to 37 kb enough to carry the full-length dystrophin cDNA. However, high and long-term expression of dystrophin transduced to mature muscle still remains difficult. One of the main reasons for this is that the expression of the coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) is very low in mature muscle. METHODS: We have constructed two different HDAd vectors. One contains the LacZ and the murine full-length dystrophin expression cassette (HDAdLacZ-dys), and the other is a new, improved vector containing the CAR and the dystrophin expression cassette (HDAdCAR-dys). RESULTS: We initially demonstrated high dystrophin expression and prevention of the dystrophic pathology in mdx muscle injected during the neonatal phase with HDAdLacZ-dys. Furthermore, we demonstrated that repeated injections of HDAdCAR-dys into mature muscle led to approximately nine times greater dystrophin-positive fibers in number than a single injection, thereby recovering the expression of dystrophin-associated proteins. This data has also shown that HDAdCAR-dys enabled administration of adenovirus (Ad) vector to the host with pre-existing immunity to the same serotype of Ad. CONCLUSIONS: Repetitive injections of the HDAd vector containing the CAR and the dystrophin expression cassette could improve the efficiency of subsequent dystrophin gene transfer to mature mdx muscle. This result suggests that our new HDAd vector will provide a novel gene therapy strategy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, raising the prospects for gene therapy of other hereditary myopathies.     

选择性复制型腺病毒介导的自杀基因HSV -tk 在 肿瘤基因治疗中的应用

自杀基因治疗是肿瘤基因治疗的手段之一,治疗效果与自杀基因能否被高效、选择性的导入肿瘤细胞有关。肿瘤选择性复制型腺病毒（conditionally replication adenovirus,CRADs）可以特异性的在肿瘤细胞中复制,在复制的同时所携带的治疗基因也大量表达。由CRAds介导的自杀基因,实现了对肿瘤的病毒治疗和基因治疗的结合,提高了治疗效率和使用复制型腺病毒的安全性。