杆状病毒对不同哺乳动物细胞基因转移及表达效率的研究

研究已证实杆状病毒可进入某些哺乳动物细胞,这提示了可将重组杆状病毒作为一种对哺乳动物细胞的新型基因转移载体。利用已构建的重组杆状病毒BacV-CMV-EGFPA,以含病毒的Sf9细胞培养上清同时孵育多种哺乳动物细胞,利用流式细胞术检测报告基因在不同细胞株中的转移效率及表达效率。共使用了20种哺乳动物细胞株,其中有12种人类组织细胞,7种小鼠组织细胞,1种猴组织细胞。实验结果显示携带CMV启动子的重组杆状病毒可有效进入多数哺乳动物细胞,其中对人、猴来源细胞的基因转移效率显著高于对鼠源细胞,对贴壁细胞的基因转移效率显著高于对悬浮细胞。同时,通过脂质体LipofectAMINE将携带有CMV启动子和EGFP基因的哺乳动物细胞表达质粒pCDNA3-1-EGFP分别转染部分特别是被认为杆状病毒进入能力较低的细胞株,结果显示CMV启动子在这些细胞中均可有效引导EGFP基因的表达,因此认为携带了CMV启动子的重组杆状病毒对不同哺乳动物细胞基因转移效率能基本反映出杆状病毒对不同种哺乳动物细胞的进入能力。通过综合比较携带CMV启动子的杆状病毒对不同种属及组织来源细胞的基因转移及表达效率,可看出杆状病毒对灵长类动物贴壁细胞的基因转移及表达效果是较好的,而对小鼠来源的细胞及悬浮培养细胞却并不十分理想,这表明将重组杆状病毒作为一种对哺乳动物细胞的基因转移工具,仍有其局限性,不一定对所有的细胞都合适,在应用时应予以充分考虑。     

杆状病毒用于哺乳动物细胞快速高效表达外源基因的研究

现已发现杆状病毒可进入某些培养的哺乳动物细胞,这提示可将杆状病毒作为一种对哺乳动物细胞的新型基因转移载体。对杆状病毒转移载体的改造及对哺乳动物细胞的基因转移方式进行了进一步的研究。以绿色荧光蛋白基因为报告基因,利用Bac-to-Bac系统构建了分别含有正向和反向CMV启动子表达盒的两种重组杆状病毒。可观察到CMV启动子在Sf9细胞中可启动报告基因的表达,但表达效率较低。用重组杆状病毒感染后Sf9细胞的培养上清直接与HepG2细胞作用,以流式细胞术检测基因转移效率及荧光表达强度,发现这两种病毒在相同的感染复数下对HepG2细胞具有相似的基因转移及表达效率。同时,利用流式细胞术进一步研究了直接使用重组杆状病毒感染4d后Sf9细胞的培养上清对哺乳动物细胞进行基因转移的方法。通过对HepG2细胞的实验结果显示,将带毒Sf9细胞培养上清(1.2×10⁷PFU/mL)用哺乳动物细胞培养基1倍稀释后,37℃下孵育靶细胞12h(moi=50),可达到较高的基因转移及表达效率,同时不会对细胞造成明显损伤。将重组杆状病毒与脂质体和逆转录病毒这两种系统对HepG2及CV1细胞的基因转移效率进行了比较,结果发现在同样未经浓缩等特殊处理的条件下重组杆状病毒对这两种细胞的基因转移效率是最高的。因此可以认为,经过适当改造后的Bac-to-Bac重组杆状病毒系统可作为一种对哺乳动物细胞简便高效的基因转移表达载体。     

杆状病毒介导外源基因在哺乳动物细胞中表达的研究进展

杆状病毒(Baculovirus)是一种以昆虫为唯一宿主的病毒, 可用做生物杀虫剂或作为表达载体在昆虫细胞中大量表达外源蛋白, 制备疫苗。研究发现, 在哺乳动物细胞中携带哺乳动物启动子的重组杆状病毒能启动下游外源基因的表达但病毒不能在哺乳动物细胞中增值, 对细胞毒性小, 转导成功的细胞可以稳定传代并有效表达外源基因, 哺乳动物细胞比昆虫细胞对蛋白质具有更好的翻译后修饰, 表达出的蛋白结构更接近天然蛋白。因此, 杆状病毒可作为一种新型的哺乳动物细胞基因转移载体, 用于表达外源基因及作为一种基因治疗载体, 具有巨大潜力, 日益受到人们的关注。本文对杆状病毒作为一种表达载体在哺乳动物细胞中表达的研究进展进行了综述。     

重组杆状病毒：一种新型哺乳动物细胞基因转移载体

昆虫杆状病毒表达载体系统已广泛应用于表达重组蛋白。近年来研究显示,含有哺乳动物细胞启动子元件的重组杆状病毒可有效地转导多种哺乳动物原代和传代细胞。借助于杆状病毒载体,已成功实现了外源基因在哺乳动物细胞内的瞬时或稳定表达;而在体内,杆状病毒可被血清中的补体成份所灭活,从而抑制了转导效率,但是通过对杆状病毒进行修饰（如伪型杆状病毒）,可以抵抗补体的灭活作用。研究人员对杆状病毒转导机制进行了探索,但是至今尚未完全弄清。杆状病毒基因转移系统最大特点是,杆状病毒能在昆虫细胞内大量繁殖,而不能在哺乳动物细胞内复制,因而具有很高的生物安全性;同时,此系统还具有操作简便、插入外源基因容量大等优点,使得杆状病毒作为哺乳动物细胞的基因传递载体,具有广泛的应用前景。     

昆虫杆状病毒应用于哺乳动物基因治疗的研究进展

杆状病毒是一类宿主特异性的昆虫病毒。昆虫杆状病毒表达系统是一个高效的真核表达系统,被广泛用于在昆虫细胞或昆虫幼虫中生产外源蛋白质。杆状病毒不能感染哺乳动物,却可以进入不同物种和组织来源的多种哺乳动物细胞,并在合适的哺乳动物启动子控制下表达外源基因。杆状病毒在哺乳动物细胞中不能复制,对细胞没有毒性,加上杆状病毒本身具有基因组大、可操作性好等优点,作为哺乳动物基因治疗的载体,将治疗基因传递给哺乳动物细胞已受到了广泛关注。在此就杆状病毒作为基因治疗载体的最新研究进展进行了阐述并探讨其发展趋势。     

核衣壳蛋白VP39融合TAT转导肽对杆状病毒转导哺乳动物细胞的影响

为了提高昆虫杆状病毒在哺乳动物细胞中转导基因的效率,构建了重组杆状病毒AcRed-tat和AcRed。两者都能在哺乳动物细胞内表达红色荧光蛋白作为报告基因。同时,AcRed-tat带有HIV-1Tat转导肽、病毒主要衣壳蛋白基因vp39及增强型绿色荧光蛋白(egfp)三者的融合基因,并由杆状病毒多角体启动子表达,能够在昆虫细胞中表达该Tat融合蛋白,并掺入子代病毒粒子。而AcRed作为相应的对照病毒,带有多角体启动子表达vp39和egfp的融合基因。2株病毒分别转导哺乳动物细胞后,利用流式细胞仪检测报告基因的表达水平,发现在CHO和Vero细胞中AcRed-Tat介导的报告基因表达水平明显高于AcRed,而在HEK293细胞中2株病毒介导的报告基因表达水平差异不显著。结果表明Tat转导肽可以提高杆状病毒对一部分哺乳动物细胞的转导效率,为改进杆状病毒-哺乳动物细胞转导载体提供了新的思路。     

杆状病毒表达系统及其应用进展

杆状病毒是节肢动物门的专性寄生病毒,20世纪80年代被开发为表达载体以来,由于其真核表达环境等优点,受到了广泛的重视和研究,短短不到30年的时间里,杆状病毒表达体系的重组载体构建技术,筛选技术得到了很大程度的改进和简化,成为与大肠杆菌、酵母、哺乳动物相并列的四大表达体系之一。在表面展示,类病毒颗粒表达,哺乳动物基因转移,RNA干扰等方面取得了重要的成果。就杆状病毒表达系统的发展及其应用作一个综述。     

构建基于杆状病毒的BV-T7杂合表达体系及利用其在哺乳动物和禽类细胞中表达eGFP基因

【目的】研究重组杆状病毒BV-T7杂合表达体系能否有效转导禽类细胞并在禽类细胞中表达外源基因(eGFP),从而构建能在禽类细胞中高效稳定表达外源基因的重组杆状病毒表达系统。【方法】本研究利用Bac-to-Bac杆状病毒表达系统,结合T7表达系统,通过对eGFP表达水平的调控来把握噬菌体T7 RNA聚合酶(T7 RNAP)的功能。利用两支重组杆状病毒,pFastBac-CMV-T7 RNAP重组杆状病毒为哺乳动物细胞启动子CMV调控的噬菌体T7 RNA聚合酶的cDNA;pFB-T7pro-IRES-GFP-T7ter重组杆状病毒为T7启动子控制的eGFP报告基因。将两支重组杆状病毒共同侵染哺乳动物OL(oligodendrocyte)细胞、鸡胚成纤维细胞和鸡胚骨骼肌细胞。【结果】两支重组杆状病毒利用T7启动子和T7 RNAP,在OL细胞、鸡胚成纤维细胞和鸡胚骨骼肌细胞中成功表达eGFP报告基因,而且未引起细胞病变,但在鸡胚原代细胞中eGFP的表达相对弱于在OL细胞中的表达。在OL细胞中重组杆状病毒对细胞的转导效率为59.5%,在鸡胚成纤维细胞和鸡胚骨骼肌细胞中转导效率分别为23.2%和33.1%。【结论】本研究构建的基于杆状病毒、T7RNA聚合酶、T7启动子(BV-T7)杂合表达体系能够在哺乳类细胞及禽类细胞中表达T7 RNAP,并利用T7RNAP继续高效而稳定地表达外源基因。这为难于体外操作的RNA病毒提供了有效的研究方法,并对新型基因工程疫苗的研制提供了一个高效而稳定的表达载体系统。     

An OriP/EBNA-1-based baculovirus vector with prolonged and enhanced transgene expression

BACKGROUND: The baculovirus Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) has been explored as a gene delivery vehicle for a variety of mammalian cell lines. However, the transient expression nature due to its incapability to replicate in mammalian cells and insufficient transduction efficiency limit its application. METHODS: Recombinant baculovirus vectors containing genetic elements from Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), OriP and EBNA-1, which are essential for the episomal maintenance of the EBV genome in latently infected cells, were constructed and tested for their ability to sustain and express transgene (enhanced green fluorescence protein (egfp)) in mammalian cells. RESULTS: The recombinant baculovirus containing OriP and EBNA-1 genes driven by the cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter was capable of persisting in a significant proportion of infected mammalian cells, HEK293, Vero, Cos-7, and Hone-1, without any selective pressure. In HEK293, the expression of EGFP lasted for 60 days with markedly enhanced expression level. The persistence of baculovirus genome correlated with the expression of EBNA-1. CONCLUSIONS: The improved baculovirus vector could mediate prolonged and enhanced foreign gene expression in some mammalian cells. Furthermore, an adequate level of the EBNA-1 protein was essential for the maintenance of the OriP-containing baculovirus genome. The new vector has potential for use in gene therapy.     

Recombinant baculoviruses as mammalian cell gene-delivery vectors

The baculovirus expression system has been used extensively for the expression of recombinant proteins in insect cells. Recently, recombinant baculovirus vectors engineered to contain mammalian cell-active promoter elements, have been used successfully for transient and stable gene delivery in a broad spectrum of primary and established mammalian cells. The application of modified baculoviruses for in vivo gene delivery has also been demonstrated. In contrast to other commonly used viral vectors, baculoviruses have the unique property of replicating in insect cells while being incapable of initiating a replication cycle and producing infectious virus in mammalian cells. The viruses can be readily manipulated, accommodate large insertions of foreign DNA, initiate little to no microscopically observable cytopathic effect in mammalian cells and have a good biosafety profile. These attributes will undoubtedly lead to the increased application and continued development of this system for efficient gene delivery into mammalian cells. Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks?     

Membrane penetrating peptides greatly enhance baculovirus transduction efficiency into mammalian cells

The baculovirus group of insect viruses is widely used for foreign gene introduction into mammalian cells for gene expression and protein production; however, the efficiency of baculovirus entry into mammalian cells is in general still low. In this study, two recombinant baculoviruses were engineered and their ability to improve viral entry was examined: (1) cytoplasmic transduction peptide (CTP) was fused with baculovirus envelope protein, GP64, to produce a cytoplasmic membrane penetrating baculovirus (vE-CTP); and (2) the protein transduction domain (PTD) of HIV TAT protein was fused with the baculovirus capsid protein VP39 to form a nuclear membrane penetrating baculovirus (vE-PTD). Transduction experiments showed that both viruses had better transduction efficiency than vE, a control virus that only expresses EGFP in mammalian cells. Interestingly, vE-CTP and vE-PTD were also able to improve the transduction efficiency of a co-transduced baculovirus, resulting in higher levels of gene expression. Our results have described new routes to further enhance the development of baculovirus as a tool for gene delivery into mammalian cells.     

Innate Immune Response Induced by Baculovirus Attenuates Transgene Expression in Mammalian Cells

The baculovirus Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcNPV) has been widely used to achieve a high level of foreign gene expression in insect cells, as well as for efficient gene transduction into mammalian cells without any replication. In addition to permitting efficient gene delivery, baculovirus has been shown to induce host innate immune responses in various mammalian cells and in mice. In this study, we examined the effects of the innate immune responses on gene expression by recombinant baculoviruses in cultured cells. The reporter gene expression in IRF3-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) infected with the recombinant baculovirus was shown to be enhanced in accordance with the suppression of beta interferon (IFN-β) production. Furthermore, efficient gene transduction by the recombinant baculovirus was achieved in MEFs deficient for stimulator of interferon genes (STING), TANK binding kinase 1 (TBK1), IFN regulatory factor 3 (IRF3), or IFN-β promoter stimulator 1 (IPS-1), but not in those deficient for IRF7, MyD88, or Z-DNA binding protein 1 (ZBP1)/DAI. Enhancement of gene expression by the recombinant baculovirus was also observed in human hepatoma cell lines replicating hepatitis C virus (HCV), in which innate immunity was impaired by the cleavage of IPS-1 by the viral protease. In addition, infection with the recombinant baculovirus expressing the BH3-only protein, BIM_S, a potent inducer of apoptosis, resulted in a selective cell death in the HCV replicon cells. These results indicate that innate immune responses induced by infection with baculovirus attenuate transgene expression, and this characteristic might be useful for a selective gene transduction into cells with impaired innate immunity arising from infection with various viruses.     

Investigation of optimal transduction conditions for baculovirus-mediated gene delivery into mammalian cells

Although baculovirus-mediated gene delivery into mammalian cells has been documented in a wealth of the literature, systematic investigation of the optimal transduction conditions remains unavailable. In this work, a transduction protocol using unconcentrated baculovirus is proposed for simple and efficient gene delivery into HeLa cells. We found that approximately 75-85% of the cells could be readily transduced and express the reporter protein when virus transduction occurred for 4 h at 25 degrees C using Dulbecco's phosphate-buffered saline (D-PBS) as the surrounding solution. This method contrasts with previous protocols in which transduction occurs for 1 h at 37 degrees C using growth medium (e.g., DMEM) as the surrounding solution. Investigation of the physical parameters led to the findings that: 1) baculovirus uptake by HeLa cells continued for at least 4 h in the event of high virus dosage, which led to higher gene expression; 2) the half-life of baculovirus dramatically decreased at 37 degrees C; 3) EGTA pretreatment did not apparently facilitate the gene delivery when the cells grew to multilayers; and 4) lower transduction efficiency and gene expression were obtained when DMEM was used (in comparison with D-PBS and TNM-FH), suggesting that DMEM contains certain inhibitory factors for baculovirus transduction. Our data uncovered several aspects that were not investigated before and the optimized transduction conditions allowed for gene delivery as efficient as that by the protocols commonly employed by others, but eliminated the need for virus ultracentrifugation. The protocol not only represented a simpler approach, but also considerably reduced possible virus inactivation during ultracentrifugation, thus making it easier to convert the baculovirus/mammalian cell system to a tool for eukaryotic protein production on a larger scale.     

Efficient gene delivery into mammalian cells mediated by a recombinant baculovirus containing a whispovirus ie1 promoter, a novel shuttle promoter between insect cells and mammalian cells

Recombinant baculoviruses have emerged as a new gene delivery vehicle for mammalian cells. Thus, a shuttle promoter that mediates gene expression in both insect and mammalian cells will facilitate the development of a baculovirus vector-based mammalian cell gene delivery vehicle. This study described the generation of three recombinant baculoviruses with an EGFP reporter gene under the control of the white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) ie1 promoter, or either of two control promoters, the baculovirus early-to-late (ETL) promoter and polyhedrin promoter. The resulting recombinant baculoviruses were used to infect insect Sf9 cells and transduce several mammalian cell lines to test the expression of EGFP. We found that the WSSV ie1 promoter displayed a strong promoter activity in both insect and mammalian cells, and showed a stronger promoter activity than the ETL promoter in some mammalian cell lines. The activity of the WSSV ie1 promoter, but not the ETL promoter, can be enhanced by sodium butyrate, a histone deacetylase inhibitor. A transient plasmid transfection assay indicated that the WSSV ie1 promoter activity in mammalian cells is independent of baculovirus gene expression, differing from the ETL promoter, which was shown to be baculovirus-dependent. This study demonstrates, for the first time, that the WSSV ie1 promoter can function as a baculovirus-independent shuttle promoter between insect cells and mammalian cells. This novel shuttle promoter will facilitate the application of baculovirus-based vectors in gene expression, gene therapy, and non-replicative vector vaccines.     

Enhancement and prolongation of baculovirus-mediated expression in mammalian cells: focuses on strategic infection and feeding

The baculovirus/insect cell system has been widely used for recombinant protein production. Since the finding that baculovirus was able to infect hepatocytes in 1995, various attempts to utilize baculovirus as a gene delivery vehicle into mammalian cells have been reported. In this study, we intended to explore the possibility of utilizing a baculovirus/mammalian cell system as a nonlytic, continuous protein production system. A recombinant baculovirus vector carrying enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) under the control of cytomegalovirus immediate-early (CMV-IE) promoter was constructed. This virus was used to infect four common mammalian cell lines, and HeLa was found to yield the highest expression level. Additions of butyrate and valproic acid both enhanced the expression level, but butyrate exhibited a more profound effect. More importantly, HeLa cells were found to be superinfected by baculovirus, a result not observed in the conventional baculovirus/insect cell system. The effects of multiplicity of infection (MOI) and infection timing were also compared. High MOI up to 800 increased the expression in the short term (4 days), but the relatively higher cell death and lower cell density compromised the overall protein yield thereafter. The highest overall expression for a long term was obtained at MOI = 200 when the cells were initially infected at the mid-exponential phase and superinfected with additional baculovirus (MOI = 200) together with a one-time supplement of butyrate. In summary, the strategic infection and feeding enhanced the expression level 9-fold (compared with unsuperinfected culture) and prolonged the duration of expression to 16 days. This study reveals that this baculovirus/mammalian cell system has great potential to become a novel continuous, nonlytic expression system.     

Genetic modification of baculovirus expression vectors

As a protein expression vector,the baculovirus demonstrates many advantages over other vectors.With the development of biotechnology,baculoviral vectors have been genetically modified to facilitate hig...     

6-O- and N-Sulfated Syndecan-1 Promotes Baculovirus Binding and Entry into Mammalian Cells

Baculoviruses are insect-specific viruses commonly found in nature. They are not able to replicate in mammalian cells but can transduce them when equipped with an appropriate mammalian cell active expression cassette. Although the viruses have been studied in several types of mammalian cells from different origins, the receptor that baculovirus uses to enter or interact with mammalian cells has not yet been identified. Due to the wide tropism of the virus, the receptor has been suggested to be a generally found cell surface molecule. In this article, we investigated the interaction of baculovirus and mammalian cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPG) in more detail. Our data show that baculovirus requires HSPG sulfation, particularly N- and 6-O-sulfation, to bind to and transduce mammalian cells. According to our results, baculovirus binds specifically to syndecan-1 (SDC-1) but does not interact with SDC-2 to SDC-4 or with glypicans. Competition experiments performed with SDC-1 antibody or recombinant SDC-1 protein inhibited baculovirus binding, and SDC-1 overexpression enhanced baculovirus-mediated transduction. In conclusion, we show that SDC-1, a commonly found cell surface HSPG molecule, has a role in the binding and entry of baculovirus in vertebrate cells. The results presented here reveal important aspects of baculovirus entry and can serve as a basis for next-generation baculovirus vector development for gene delivery.