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Biomedical subjects

D Dreyer

Publications and source records attributed to D Dreyer.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

In vitro and in vivo biology of recombinant adenovirus vectors with E1, E1/E2A, or E1/E4 deleted.

Isogenic, E3-deleted adenovirus vectors defective in E1, E1 and E2A, or E1 and E4 were generated in complementation cell lines expressing E1, E1 and E2A, or E1 and E4 and characterized in vitro and in vivo. In the absence of complementation, deletion of both E1 and E2A completely abolished expression of early and late viral genes, while deletion of E1 and E4 impaired expression of viral genes, although at a lower level than the E1/E2A deletion. The in vivo persistence of these three types of vectors was monitored in selected strains of mice with viral genomes devoid of transgenes to exclude any interference by immunogenic transgene-encoded products. Our studies showed no significant differences among the vectors in the short-term maintenance and long-term (4-month) persistence of viral DNA in liver and lung cells of immunocompetent and immunodeficient mice. Furthermore, all vectors induced similar antibody responses and comparable levels of adenovirus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes. These results suggest that in the absence of transgenes, the progressive deletion of the adenovirus genome does not extend the in vivo persistence of the transduced cells and does not reduce the antivirus immune response. In addition, our data confirm that, in the absence of transgene expression, mouse cellular immunity to viral antigens plays a minor role in the progressive elimination of the virus genome.

Adenovirus E1 Proteins

Gene therapy with recombinant adenovirus vectors: evaluation of the host immune response.

E1, E3-deleted, replication-deficient recombinant adenoviruses are widely studied as vectors for their capacity to transfer therapeutic genes in vivo. They can infect a wide variety of dividing and quiescent cells from different organs and possess a large packaging capacity. One of the major limitations in the use of these vectors for gene therapy is the transient expression of the transgene in vivo and the poor transduction efficiency when re-administered. Despite the deletion of the viral E1 region, low level of early and late viral genes are expressed in vivo. Thus, viral antigens plus those derived from transgene expression in transduced cells contribute to cellular immune responses leading to the destruction of these cells. Production of anti-adenovirus antibodies, the cellular immune response as well as the early non-specific clearance of the vectors, constitute barriers to successful gene therapy. New vectors have been derived with additional deletions in the E2a or the E4 regions. Such second generation vectors were evaluated in vivo. These studies have revealed the complexity of the immune mechanisms elicited by these vectors and the importance of several parameters in these evaluations (i.e. mouse strains, nature of the transgene, route of administration...). In order to inhibit the production of neutralizing antibodies to adenovirus that prevent from further readministration of the vectors, immunosuppressive strategies were undertaken. Treatment regimens with immunosuppressive drugs (cyclophosphamide, FK506) or with monoclonal antibodies that block either the T cell receptor or costimulation pathways allow prolonged transgene expression and/or readministration of adenoviral vectors. In addition, transduction efficiencies may be increased by transiently inhibiting non-specific immune mechanisms that lead to the dramatic early clearance of the vectors. Taken together, these strategies may improve further gene therapy protocols by decreasing the host immune response to adenoviral vectors.

Adenoviruses, Human

Novel complementation cell lines derived from human lung carcinoma A549 cells support the growth of E1-deleted adenovirus vectors.

Replication-defective E1-deleted adenoviruses are attractive vectors for gene therapy or live vaccines. However, manufacturing methods required for their pharmaceutical development are not optimized. For example, the generation of E1-deleted adenovirus vectors relies on the complementation functions present in 293 cells. However, 293 cells are prone to the generation of replication competent particles as a result of recombination events between the viral DNA and the integrated adenovirus sequences present in the cell line. We report here that human lung A549 cells transformed with constitutive or inducible E1-expression vectors support the replication of E1-deficient adenoviruses. E1A transcription was elevated in most of the cell lines, and E1A proteins were expressed at levels similar to those of 293 cells. However, the levels of expression of E1A did not correlate with the efficiencies of complementation of E1-deleted viruses in A549 clones, since some clones complemented replication in the absence of induction of E1A expression. In addition, complementation of E1-deficient adenoviruses did not require expression of the E1B 55-kDa protein. Although these cell lines contain the coding and cis-acting regulatory sequences of the structural protein IX gene, they are not able to complement viruses in which this gene has been deleted. In contrast to 293 cells, such new complementation cell lines do not contain the left end of the adenoviral genome and thus represent a significant improvement over the currently used 293 cells, in which a single recombination event is sufficient to yield replication competent adenovirus.

Adenovirus E1 Proteins

Trans-complementation of E1-deleted adenovirus: a new vector to reduce the possibility of codissemination of wild-type and recombinant adenoviruses.

Treatment of cystic fibrosis by gene therapy will require the development of vectors capable of efficient and safe transfer of a functional cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) cDNA to airway epithelia. To achieve this goal, replication-deficient (E1-) adenoviruses (Ad) are promising vectors. We have previously demonstrated efficient CFTR gene delivery to the airways of cotton rats and rhesus monkeys using a replication-deficient adenovirus, Ad-CFTR. Here, we have investigated an important safety issue, the interaction between the vector and wild-type virus which can provide the missing E1 function in trans. We show that Ad5 can mobilize the defective Ad-CFTR genome in vitro and in cotton rats. However, the extent of the complementation in vivo by wild-type virus is limited because no additional spreading or shedding of Ad-CFTR to trachea, lungs, and stools is elicited. To attenuate Ad-CFTR further, a mutation was introduced in the cis-acting regulatory sequences that control the encapsidation of the viral genome. We demonstrate that when cells are coinfected with wild-type virus and the new attenuated vector, the viral DNA containing the natural encapsidation sequences is preferentially packaged, leading to a rapid dilution of the recombinant virus.

Adenoviridae

Transient induction of a peroxidase gene in Medicago truncatula precedes infection by Rhizobium meliloti.

Although key determinative events of the Rhizobium-legume symbiosis are likely to precede bacterial infection, no plant genes have been identified that are expressed strongly prior to infection and nodule morphogenesis. A subtractive hybridization-polymerase chain reaction technique was used to enrich for genes induced during the early phases of the R. meliloti-Medicago truncatula symbiosis. One gene so identified encodes a putative plant peroxidase protein, which we have named Rip1 for Rhizobium-induced peroxidase. The accumulation of rip1 transcript was rapidly and transiently induced by R. meliloti and by the corresponding lipooligosaccharide signal molecule Nod factor RmIV, which was both necessary and sufficient for rip1 induction. The duration of maximal rip1 expression coincided with the preinfection period: transcript levels for rip1 were near maximal by 3 hr postinoculation and declined by 48 hr, coincident with early infection events and the onset of nodule morphogenesis. Furthermore, although rip1 induction preceded bacterial infection by at least 24 hr, the transcript was localized to epidermal cells in the differentiating root zone that was subsequently infected by Rhizobium. Thus, a defining feature of the Rhizobium infection court is the prior induction of rip1 expression.

Amino Acid Sequence

An efficient procedure to select and recover recombinant adenovirus vectors.

Adenoviruses are efficient gene transfer vectors for a variety of cell types. To date, the most widely used methods to construct recombinant adenoviruses involve either in vitro ligation or recombination between one-half of the virus genome, previously cloned in a plasmid vector and engineered to contain the desired expression cassette, and the other half of the virus genome prepared from virions. Although quite effective, these approaches produce viral progeny containing a mixture of recombinant and parental background virus. Thus the recovery of the recombinant virus can be difficult, especially when it grows more slowly than the parental virus. To improve selection and recovery of recombinant adenoviruses, we have constructed an adenovirus vector, AdTG6553, in which the E1 region has been replaced by the thymidine kinase (tk) gene of herpes simplex virus type 1. We show that infection of cells with AdTG6553 in the presence of the nucleoside analog ganciclovir (GCV) prevents viral replication. The conditional lethal phenotype introduced in AdTG6553 makes it a valuable tool to counter-select parental background virus in the presence of GCV and isolate replication-deficient recombinant adenoviruses in which the tk expression cassette has been replaced by a new gene.

Adenoviridae

Elevated basal AP-1 DNA binding activity in developing rat brain.

Nuclear extracts from hippocampi, striata and hypothalami of postnatal day (P) 7 rats contained elevated basal levels of AP-1 DNA binding activity and c-jun protein, which decreased to the low basal levels observed in the adult by P21. In contrast to the AP-1 DNA binding complex in the adult brain, the fos-related antigens were not a major component of the P7 AP-1 DNA binding activity.

Aging

Low-conductance chloride channels in IEC-6 and CF nasal cells expressing CFTR.

The properties of the cystic fibrosis gene product (CFTR) were studied by expression of cloned cDNA in different cell systems. Infection of both simian fibroblast (Vero) cells and immortalized CF nasal polyp cells (NCF3A) with a vaccinia virus encoding CFTR induced forskolin-induced Cl- permeability and low-conductance (8 pS) Cl- channels. By stable transfection of the rat intestinal crypt-derived cell line IEC-6 we have isolated a clone, IEC-CF7, which expresses CFTR mRNA and antigen. IEC-CF7 cells, but not IEC-6, display forskolin-induced Cl- permeability and multiple linear low-conductance (+/- 8 pS) Cl- channels in cell-attached membrane patches. In excised patches of IEC-CF7 cells, low-conductance Cl- channels could be activated by addition of the catalytic subunit of the adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) plus ATP. During bath fluid replacement studies, the activated low-conductance channel remained active in the absence of ATP at room temperature and showed saturation kinetics. Rectifying (32 pS) Cl- channels were not observed in either IEC-6 cells or IEC-CF7 cells, indicating that there is no relation between CFTR expression and the incidence of this channel. Our data strongly support the conclusion that CFTR can act as a low-conductance Cl- channel, gated by PKA. The IEC-6-derived cell line IEC-CF7 may prove to be a useful model in the study of CFTR function because of the absence of 32-pS Cl- channel activity and its potential for differentiation.

Adenosine Triphosphate

Localization of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator in airway secretory glands.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is caused by mutations in the gene coding for the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). From human normal tracheal submucosal gland cells in culture, we identified endogenous CFTR as a 170 kDa protein, consistent with that of fully glycosylated, mature CFTR molecule. This observation led to the hypothesis that airway secretory glands could be an important site for the CFTR expression. Using anti-human CFTR polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies, we examined the cellular and subcellular localization of the CFTR protein in airway submucosal glands from human and bovine tracheal tissues as well as in tracheal gland cell cultures. In human tracheal tissue, CFTR immunolabelling was present along both the apical and basolateral plasma membranes of glandular mucous cells. In contrast, CFTR was associated with the secretory granules of glandular serous cells. Using immunogold electron microscopy, we demonstrated that CFTR protein was more specifically associated with the membrane of serous cell secretory granules. In bovine tracheal tissue CFTR labelling was also identified in the secretory granules of glandular serous cells. In contrast, when bovine and human tracheal gland cells were cultured, no mature secretory granules were present, but a predominantly intracytoplasmic distribution of CFTR was observed. Our data thus suggest that in airway tissues, CFTR could be involved in intracellular processes of the mucus exocytosis in submucosal secretory glands.

Animals

Immunocytochemical analysis reveals differences between the subcellular localization of normal and delta Phe508 recombinant cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is caused by mutations in the gene coding for the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). The most common mutation responsible for CF is the deletion of amino acid residue Phe508, with an average allelic frequency of 70%. We have isolated an anti-CFTR monoclonal antibody which specifically recognizes recombinant normal and delta Phe508-CFTR produced by a vaccinia virus expression system. Immunocytochemical analysis of L cells expressing either normal or delta Phe508-CFTR showed a marked difference in subcellular distribution. Normal CFTR had a distinct localization in the perinuclear area and was also associated with the plasma membrane. delta Phe508-CFTR essentially lacked the membrane-associated distribution and was present throughout the cytoplasm. This heterologous expression system thus provides a model system for studying the subcellular localization of different mutant forms of CFTR.

Animals

Differential localization of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator in normal and cystic fibrosis airway epithelium.

Deletion of the amino acid residue Phe 508 of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein represents the most common mutation identified in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. A monoclonal and a polyclonal antibody directed against different regions of CFTR were used to localize the CFTR protein in normal and CF airway epithelium derived from polyps of non-CF and CF subjects homozygous for the delta Phe 508 CFTR mutation. To identify the cellular and subcellular localization of CFTR, immunofluorescent light microscopy, confocal scanning microscopy, and immunogold transmission electron microscopy were performed on cryofixed tissue. A markedly different subcellular distribution was identified between normal and CF airway epithelial cells. In normal epithelium, labeling was restricted to the surface apical compartment of the ciliated cells. In contrast, in the epithelium from homozygous delta Phe 508 CF patients, CFTR markedly accumulated in the cytosol of all the epithelial cells. These findings are consistent with the concept that the CFTR delta Phe 508 mutation modifies the intracellular maturation and trafficking of the protein, leading to an altered subcellular distribution of the delta Phe 508 mutant CFTR.

Cystic Fibrosis

Characterization of trans-immortalized hepatic cell lines established from transgenic mice.

Hepato-specific regulatory (promoter/enhancer) DNA sequences were used for targeting the expression of onc genes, such as murine c-myc and Simian Virus 40 T Antigen, to hepatocytes of transgenic mice which subsequently developed hepatocellular carcinomas after a variable period of time (depending on the type of onc gene employed). Several trans-immortalized cell lines were established and compared with respect to the expression of adult hepatic markers and response to growth factors. Despite the morphological differences observed between trans-hepatomas, owing to the expression of the two different onc genes, all tumor-derived cell lines behaved in a comparable fashion during long-term culture displaying an adult hepatic phenotype for at least 40 passages. They differed, however, in response to epidermal growth factor. When the gene coding for human alpha 1-antitrypsin was placed under the control of the same hepato-specific promoter/enhancer, high levels of the human recombinant protein could be harvested from the supernatants of trans-hepatoma-derived cell lines.

Acute-Phase Proteins

Basic fibroblast growth factor prevents ontogenetic neuron death in vivo.

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is a mitogen and a potent neurotrophic protein for ciliary ganglionic (CG) neurons in vitro. Recombinant bFGF was administered to the chorionic-allantoic membrane of chick embryos during the period of ontogenetic neuron death in the cholinergic CG between embryonic days (E) 8 and E14. Neuronal losses in untreated chicks and in embryos that received the vehicle only (phosphate-buffered saline plus cytochrome c) amounted to 44%. Basic FGF permitted the survival of 87% of the neurons present at E8. There were no apparent differences in the size and number of non-neuronal cells in CG. These data add to the increasing body of evidence that bFGF is an important multifunctional growth factor with a neurotrophic capacity.

Animals

A new 5'-non-coding region for human placental insulin-like growth factor II mRNA expression.

A human placenta cDNA library was screened for insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II). Four clones were selected, which exhibited an IGF-II cDNA coding sequence identical to those previously described for human adult liver IGF-II cDNA. Extensive sequence diversity was observed in the 5'-non-coding region, probably resulting from differential intron splicing.

Amino Acid Sequence

Complete characterization of the human IGF-I nucleotide sequence isolated from a newly constructed adult liver cDNA library.

A full-size cDNA sequence coding for insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) was isolated from a human liver library. For the construction of this bank, a new method was developed which anneals dG-tailed cDNA with a synthetic adaptor 5'-AATTCCCCCCCCCCC-3' followed by ligation into the EcoRI site of a lambda immunity-insertion vector. Based on the sequence analysis of the complete IGF-I messenger we concluded that the protein is synthesized as a precursor containing a signal peptide of 22 or 25 amino acid residues. In addition, the sequence extended in the 3'-direction and showed the presence of multiple polyadenylation sites in the IGF-I message.

Amino Acid Sequence

The influence of mRNA primary and secondary structure on human IFN-gamma gene expression in E. coli.

Parameters influencing the efficiency of expression of the human immune interferon (IFN-gamma) gene in E. coli were studied by comparing a series of eight in vitro-derived gene variants. These contained all possible combinations of silent mutations in the first three codons of the mature IFN-gamma polypeptide coding sequence. Expression levels varied up to 50-fold among the different constructions. Comparison of messenger RNA secondary structure models for each variant suggested that the presence of stem-loop structures blocking the translation initiation signals could drastically decrease the efficiency of IFN-gamma synthesis. With variants displaying no stable mRNA secondary structure in the region, a C----U transition at position +11 after the AUG resulted in a 5-fold increase in expression indicating that RNA primary structure also plays an important role in expression. In addition we demonstrate that, in this system, a spacing of 8 nucleotides between the Shine-Dalgarno region and AUG was optimal for gene expression and that the steady-state production level of IFN-gamma rose exponentially with increasing rate of synthesis.

Base Sequence