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E Gilboa

Publications and source records attributed to E Gilboa.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Significance of DNase I-hypersensitive sites in the long terminal repeats of a Moloney murine leukemia virus vector.

A Moloney murine leukemia virus-derived retroviral vector (N4) carrying the bacterial neomycin resistance gene (neo) was used to study the chromatin configuration of integrated proviral DNA in NIH 3T3-derived cell lines containing one copy of the vector DNA per cell. Three independently obtained cell lines were examined. In two of these cell lines, the vector was introduced by viral infection, while in the third the construct was introduced by DNA transfection. Such transfected cell lines (including the one examined) usually express 10- to 50-fold less virus-specific RNA than do cell lines obtained by viral infection. All three cell lines exhibited similar patterns of DNase I-hypersensitive (HS) sites. Two strong DNase I HS sites were detected in the 5' long terminal repeat, which contains signals required for proper and efficient initiation of viral transcription. One of these sites was found to overlap the viral enhancer sequences, while the other site mapped very close to the start site for viral transcription. A third HS site was detected in nearby internal viral sequences. Only one HS site was found in the 3' long terminal repeat, which contains the signal(s) required for proper addition of a poly(A) tail to viral transcripts. This HS site was located in the region of the viral enhancer. Several weak DNase I HS sites were also found in the cellular sequences adjacent to the integration sites, at different locations in each cell line analyzed. No common pattern of cellular DNase I HS sites was found. These observations suggest that the 5' and 3' long terminal repeats of integrated retroviral proviruses exhibit different chromatin conformations, possibly reflecting the different functions encoded by the otherwise identical sequences, and the DNase I HS sites detected in these studies reflect only a potential for transcription and are not a reflection of the high transcriptional activity characteristic of retroviruses.

Animals↗

Effect of internal viral sequences on the utility of retroviral vectors.

Expression of the human ADA cDNA encoded by the Moloney murine leukemia virus spliced RNA form is enhanced by intron-contained sequences. The presence of sequences corresponding to the viral gag gene in a Moloney murine leukemia virus-based vector results in the generation of 10- to 40-fold higher titers of virus.

Adenosine Deaminase↗

Self-inactivating retroviral vectors designed for transfer of whole genes into mammalian cells.

A retrovirus-derived vector called self-inactivating (SIN) vector was designed for the transduction of whole genes into mammalian cells. SIN vectors contain a deletion of 299 base pairs in the 3' long terminal repeat (LTR), which includes sequences encoding the enhancer and promoter functions. When viruses derived from such vectors were used to infect NIH 3T3 cells, the deletion was transferred to the 5' LTR, resulting in the transcriptional inactivation of the provirus in the infected cell. Introduction of a hybrid gene (human metallothionein-promoted c-fos) into cells via a SIN vector was not associated with rearrangements and led to the formation of an authentic mRNA transcript, which in some cases was induced by cadmium. SIN vectors should be particularly useful in gene transfer experiments designed to study the regulated expression of genes in mammalian cells. Absence of enhancer and promoter sequences in both LTRs of the integrated provirus should also minimize the possibility of activating cellular oncogenes and may provide a safer alternative to be used in human gene therapy.

Chromosome Deletion↗

Gene expression in mice after high efficiency retroviral-mediated gene transfer.

A retroviral expression vector (N2) containing the selectable gene, neoR, has been used to determine the optimal conditions for infecting murine hematopoietic progenitor cells at high efficiency. After infected bone marrow cells were introduced into lethally irradiated mice, the presence, stability, and expression of the vector DNA sequences were analyzed either in individual spleen foci 10 days later or in the blood, bone marrow, and spleens of mice 4 months later. When bone marrow cells were cultured in medium containing virus with titers of more than 10(6) colony-forming units per milliliter in the presence of purified murine interleukin-3, more than 85 percent of the resulting foci contained vector DNA. This proviral vector DNA was intact. Efficient expression of the neoR gene was demonstrated in most of the DNA-positive foci examined. The spleens of reconstituted animals (over a long term) contained intact "vector DNA" and the blood and bone marrow expressed the neoR gene in some animals. Thus, a retroviral vector can be used to introduce intact exogenous DNA sequences into hematopoietic stem cells with high efficiency and with substantial expression.

Animals↗

Isolation of embryonal carcinoma cell lines that express integrated recombinant genes flanked by the Moloney murine leukemia virus long terminal repeat.

We have used a producer NIH 3T3 cell line that secretes, together with the helper Moloney murine leukemia virus (Mo-MuLV), a transducing recombinant virus containing the neomycin-resistance gene linked to the Mo-MuLV long terminal repeat (LTR). By infecting three embryonal carcinoma cell lines, PCC4.aza1R, F9tk-, and Nulli-SCC1, with this recombinant virus, we have isolated many transductant clones that stably express the integrated neomycin-resistance gene. These clonal transductant lines consist of undifferentiated embryonal carcinoma cells as judged by morphology, tumorigenicity in 129/Sv mice, and cell-surface antigenic markers. Analysis of the integrated recombinant viral genes by Southern blot hybridization revealed that some of the lines have single copies, whereas others have multiple copies, probably in multiple sites. Although these transductant lines contained many copies of helper Mo-MuLV integrated in the cellular genome, expression of these helper viruses was not detected either by reverse transcriptase activity or by X-C plaque assay. Two F9tk--derived, G418-resistant transductant lines were superinfected with a second recombinant transducing virus that contains the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene flanked by the Mo-MuLV LTR. The frequency of transduction to yield clones able to grow in hypoxanthine/aminopterin/thymidine medium was similar to that of the parental F9tk- cells. These results suggest that the expression of the neomycin-resistance gene, linked to MoMuLV LTR in the transductant embryonal carcinoma cell clones, is due to a cisacting mechanism(s).

Animals↗

Mechanism of RNA primer removal by the RNase H activity of avian myeloblastosis virus reverse transcriptase.

The single-stranded DNA containing the Moloney murine leukemia virus origin for plus-strand synthesis was cloned in M13mp2 and used as a template for avian myeloblastosis virus reverse transcriptase in the presence of Moloney RNA which had been treated with pancreatic RNase A. The RNA pieces containing the polypurine stretch near the plus-strand origin were processed, presumably by RNase H, to generate primers for DNA synthesis which initiated both at the correct origin site and at one nucleotide downstream from the correct site. Approximately 50% of the labeled DNA fragments synthesized under these conditions retained the priming RNA on their 5' ends. When the isolated fragments were hybridized back to the template DNA and again treated with the reverse transcriptase, all of the RNA was removed from the labeled DNA. By using 5'-end-labeled pancreatic RNase A-resistant fragments, it was possible to show that the RNA primers were removed intact. It appears from these results that the RNase H activity associated with the enzyme shows a preference for cutting at the junction between the RNA and DNA moieties of such complexes and therefore is ideally suited for removing RNA primers.

Animals↗

Expression of genes introduced into cells by retroviral infection is more efficient than that of genes introduced into cells by DNA transfection.

Calcium phosphate-mediated DNA transfection and retroviral infection are two alternative gene transfer techniques designed to introduce specific DNA fragments into the chromosomes of recipient cells. To compare the efficiency of expression of genes introduced into cells by either of these two techniques, a retrovirus-derived vector was constructed from the genome of Moloney murine leukemia virus by replacing the coding sequences of the envelope gene with the bacterial Neor gene derived from Tn5, termed rEnv-Neor. Expression of the hybrid Neor gene in NIH 3T3 cells after DNA transfection or retroviral infection was determined by measuring the steady-state levels of the corresponding cytoplasmic polyadeylated RNA species. Cells containing one copy of the integrated rEnv-Neor DNA introduced into cells by retroviral infection expressed 10- to 50-fold-higher levels of vector-specific RNA compared with cells harboring one copy of the same DNA derived by DNA transfection. Analysis of the integrated rEnv-Neor DNA with the methylation-sensitive restriction enzyme SmaI has shown that DNA integrated after DNA transfection but not after viral infection is partially methylated, predominantly in the 5' long terminal repeat, the region involved in initiation of transcription.

Animals↗

Role of intron-contained sequences in formation of moloney murine leukemia virus env mRNA.

Formation of the Moloney murine leukemia virus envelope mRNA involves the removal of a 5,185-base pair-long intron. Deletion analysis of two Moloney murine leukemia virus-derived expression vectors revealed the existence of two short regions within the viral intron which are required for the efficient formation of the spliced RNA species. One region was present upstream from the 3' splice junction, extended at least 85 nucleotides beyond the splice site, and was not more than 165 nucleotides long. As yeast polymerase II introns, the Moloney murine leukemia virus intron contains the sequence 5'-TACTAAC-3' 15 nucleotides upstream from the 3' splice site. A second region located in the middle of the intron, within a 560-nucleotide-long sequence, was also essential for formation of the spliced RNA species. The efficient splicing of the env mRNA in the absence of expression of viral genes raises the possibility that similar mechanisms are used to remove introns of (some) cellular genes.

Base Sequence↗

Construction of a mammalian transducing vector from the genome of Moloney murine leukemia virus.

A 0.9-kilobase DNA fragment from the genome of Moloney murine leukemia virus, including the viral long terminal repeat, was covalently linked to the herpes simplex virus I thymidine kinase (tk) gene whose promoter was previously removed. The hybrid DNA structure was introduced into the chromosome of tk- mouse cells at single copy numbers, via transfection procedures. Cells expressing the newly introduced tk gene were identified by the HAT selection procedure and analyzed for tk- and moloney murine leukemia virus-specific DNA and RNA sequences by blot hybridization procedures. Expression of the tk gene is dependent on function(s) provided in cis by the viral DNA fragment. Vectors derived from this region are termed rGag (rG) vectors.

Animals↗

Genome structure of Abelson murine leukemia virus variants: proviruses in fibroblasts and lymphoid cells.

We have prepared full-length DNA clones of the Abelson murine leukemia virus (A-MuLV) genome. A specific probe homologous to the central portion of the A-MuLV genome was prepared by nick translation of a subcloned restriction fraction from the cloned DNA. The probe was used to examine the genome structure of several A-MuLV variants. The conclusions are: (i) three viruses coding for Abelson-specific proteins of molecular weight 120,000, 100,000, and 90,000 had genomes indistinguishable in size, suggesting that the shorter proteins are the result of early translational termination; (ii) compared with the genome encoding the 120,000-dalton (120K) protein, a genome coding for a 160K protein was 0.8 kilobase larger in the A-MuLV-specific region; and (iii) a genome coding for a 92K protein had a 700-base pair deletion internal to the coding region. This mutant was transformation defective: its 92K protein lacked the protein kinase activity normally associated with the A-MuLV protein, and cells containing the virus were not morphologically transformed. In addition, we determined the number of A-MuLV proviruses in each of several transformed fibroblast and lymphoid cells prepared by infection in vitro. These experiments show that a single copy of the A-MuLV provirus is sufficient to transform both types of cells and that nonproducer cells generally have only one integrated provirus.

Abelson murine leukemia virus↗

Structure of the Abelson murine leukemia virus genome and the homologous cellular gene: studies with cloned viral DNA.

Circular double-stranded DNA produced after infection of mouse cells with Abelson murine leukemia virus (A-MuLV) was isolated and cloned in the phage vector Charon 21A. The resulting clones of the A-MuLV genome show homology to the ends of Moloney MuLV and to a 3.5 kb central region containing sequences unique to Abelson virus. A 2.3 kb restriction fragment containing only A-MuLV-specific sequences was subcloned in the plasmid vector pBR322 and used as a probe for the cellular gene that had been acquired by the virus. DNA from all inbred mouse lines examined contains an identical region of homology spread out over 11 to 20 kb. The cellular gene contains intervening sequences which are lacking in the viral genome. Rat, Chinese hamster, rabbit, chicken and human DNA also show homology to the viral probe.

Abelson murine leukemia virus↗

Structure of a cloned circular Moloney murine leukemia virus DNA molecule containing an inverted segment: implications for retrovirus integration.

Closed circular Moloney murine leukemia virus (M-MuLV) DNA was prepared from recently infected cells and cloned in a lambda vector. Four classes of cloned M-MuLV inserts were found: Class I, full length 8.8-kilobase (kb) inserts with two tandem long terminal repeats (LTRs) of 600 base pairs; class 2, 8.2-kb inserts with a single copy of a LTR; class 3, M-MuLV DNA inserts with various portions deleted; and class 4, an 8.8-kb insert with an internal sequence inversion. Determination of nucleotide sequence at the junction between the two LTRs from a class 1 insert suggested that circularization occurred by blunt-end ligation of an 8.8-kb linear DNA. The class 4 molecule had an inversion that was flanked by inverted LTRs, each of which had lost two terminal base pairs at the inversion end points. Also, four base pairs that were present only once in standard M-MuLV DNA were duplicated at either end of the inversion. This molecule was interpreted as resulting from an integrative inversion in which M-MuLV DNA has integrated into itself. Its analysis thus provided explicit information concerning the mechanism by which retrovirus DNA integrates into host cell DNA. Models of retrovirus integration based on bacterial DNA transposition mechanisms are proposed.

Bacteriophage lambda↗

In vitro synthesis of a 9 kbp terminally redundant DNA carrying the infectivity of Moloney murine leukemia virus.

Detergent-disrupted virions of Moloney murine leukemia virus synthesize a 9 kbp double-stranded infectious DNA. It contains mainly full-length, single-stranded DNA, and its infectivity and size are insensitive to digestion by the single-strand-specific S1 nuclease. Analysis of fragmentation of the DNA using restriction endonucleases has shown that it is indistinguishable from the linear double-stranded DNA synthesized in infected cells. On the basis of the positions of the cleavage sites for a number of enzymes, the 9 kbp DNA has a 575 base direct terminal repetition. It is longer than the viral RNA at both ends, evidently due to repetitive copying of segments of the RNA. Virions also synthesize an 8.4 kbp double-stranded circular DNA that lacks one copy of the terminal repetition, as well as viral DNA longer than 9 kbp. The enzymatic machinery in the virions of retroviruses therefore appears to be responsible for all the steps involved in making fully double-stranded linear and one form of circular DNA.

Base Sequence↗