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Biomedical subjects

Sudip Ghosh

Publications and source records attributed to Sudip Ghosh.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Endoscopic stapling diverticulotomy: an audit of difficulties, outcome, and patient satisfaction.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the procedure in terms of technical difficulties, patient satisfaction, symptom relief, recurrence, and further management. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study including 41 patients who underwent endoscopic stapling diverticulotomy. Clinical notes were reviewed, and patients were sent a patient satisfaction questionnaire. Statistical analysis was done using the chi(2) square test. SETTING: Teaching hospital. RESULTS: Larger pouches had the best results; 81.578% were satisfied with the surgery, and 86.84% had improved swallowing. Complications presented in 6 patients (15%), including a perforated pouch and an esophageal perforation. Complications were more frequent in small pouches. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: Endoscopic stapling diverticulotomy offers rapid recovery in most patients, with early oral intake and short hospital stay. There is a high degree of symptoms relief, and the patient's satisfaction rate is high. The assessment of the pharyngeal pouch size is an important factor when deciding the best management for a patient with a pharyngeal pouch.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

Expression and purification of the subunits of human translational initiation factor 2 (eIF2): phosphorylation of eIF2 alpha and beta.

Eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2) is a GDP-binding protein with three subunits: alpha, beta, and gamma. It delivers initiator tRNA (Met-tRNAi) to 40S ribosomes in a GTP-dependent manner. The factor regulates the translation of messenger RNAs through the phosphorylation of serine 51 residue in the small or alpha-subunit of eIF2 (eIF2alpha) and modulation of its interaction with a rate-limiting heteropentameric protein eIF2B. To understand the structural, functional, and regulatory roles of each of these subunits in the various activities of phosphorylated and unphosphorylated eIF2, such, as its ability to interact with GTP, Met-tRNAi, 40S ribosomes and with various proteins, we have for the first time over expressed all the three subunits of human eIF2 independently, and, also together in Sf9 cells using pFast Bac HT vector of baculovirus expression system. The expression of all subunits increased with increase in infection time up to 72 h. We have also over expressed three mutant forms of eIF2alpha viz, S51A, S51D, and S48A in which the serine at 51 or 48 position is replaced by an alanine or aspartic acid with 6x histidine tag at the N-terminus. Further, any of the two subunits or all the three subunits of eIF2 were coexpressed by multiple infection of cells with recombinant viruses. Purified alpha (wt and mutants) and beta subunits were found suitable to serve as substrates for different kinases. The recombinant subunits of eIF2alpha and beta-subunits were also phosphorylated in cultured insect cells. Phosphorylation of eIF2alpha in vitro was not significantly different in the presence and absence of the other subunits.

Amino Acid Substitution↗
PubMed2005

Human resistin stimulates the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-12 in macrophages by NF-kappaB-dependent pathway.

Resistin, a recently discovered 92 amino acid protein involved in the development of insulin resistance, has been associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes. The elevated serum resistin in human diabetes is often associated with a pro-inflammatory milieu. However, the role of resistin in the development of inflammation is not well understood. Addition of recombinant human resistin protein (hResistin) to macrophages (both murine and human) resulted in enhanced secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNF-alpha and IL-12, similar to that obtained using 5 microg/ml lipopolysaccharide. Both oligomeric and dimeric forms of hResistin were able to activate these cytokines suggesting that the inflammatory action of resistin is independent of its conformation. Heat denatured hResistin abrogated cytokine induction while treatment of recombinant resistin with polymyxin B agarose beads had no effect thereby ruling out the role of endotoxin in the recombinant hResistin mediated cytokine induction. The pro-inflammatory nature of hResistin was further evident from the ability of this protein to induce the nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB transcription factor as seen from electrophoretic mobility shift assays. Induction of TNF-alpha in U937 cells by hResistin was markedly reduced in the presence of either dominant negative IkappaBalpha plasmid or PDTC, a pharmacological inhibitor of NF-kappaB. A protein involved in conferring insulin resistance is also a pro-inflammatory molecule that has important implications.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Superior mediastinal and internal jugular venous thrombosis presenting to the otolaryngologist.

Venous thromboembolic disease has an estimated annual incidence of one in 1000 people. However, thrombosis of the superior mediastinum and neck veins is less frequent and it is usually due to direct trauma to the neck by intravenous catheters, drug abusers or neck dissection surgery. Local or distant malignancy (Trousseau's syndrome) is also an important cause. Thrombosis of the superior mediastinal and internal jugular veins is rarely a cause of primary referral to the otolaryngologist. On these rare occasions, it can present as a painful neck mass, but may also present with stridor, dysphonia or dysphagia. The four patients presented here illustrate different ways of presentation. Different imaging techniques such as ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and venogram, will produce a diagnosis of thrombosis, occasionally with a mass, but only a biopsy will confirm or rule-out malignancy. Spontaneous thrombophlebitis can be the first manifestation of an occult neoplasm and any investigation into venous thrombosis must include a thorough general examination and follow up.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

Pulmonary adenocarcinoma is associated with poor long-term survival after surgical resection. Effect of allogeneic blood transfusion.

BACKGROUND: The significance of allogeneic blood transfusion in the prognosis of patients with nonsmall lung carcinoma (NSCLC) remains controversial. Reports have suggested that patients with adenocarcinoma have a worse prognosis from cancer than patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), but this evidence is lacking in NSCLC. The objective of the current study was to elucidate the correlation between perioperative allogeneic blood transfusion and the prognosis in patients with adenocarcinoma and SCC. METHODS: The study group comprised 329 consecutive patients (172 men and 157 women) with a mean age of 67 years who underwent lung resection between 1996 and 2003 in 1 unit. The clinicopathologic and survival data were compared between 62 patients (42.7%) with adenocarcinoma and 58 patients (48.3%) with SCC who received a perioperative blood transfusion and 83 patients (57.3 %) with adenocarcinoma and 126 patients (61.3%) with SCC who did not. RESULTS: The overall surgical mortality rate was 3.9% (13 deaths). The median surgical blood loss was 380 mL (range, 125-4500 mL). The mean blood transfusion received was 1.9 U (range, 0-8 U). The overall actuarial 1, 3, and 5-year survival rates in the adenocarcinoma and SCC groups were 82.3%, 49.6%, and 19.4% and 87.9%, 71.7%, and 32.7%, respectively (P = 0.021). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the factors that appeared to be independent prognostic factors in both groups were T-classification (P < 0.001), lymph node metastasis (P < 0.001), and postoperative complications (P = 0.029). Perioperative blood transfusion was not an independent prognostic indicator in either group. CONCLUSIONS: The current study demonstrated that long-term survival in patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung was significantly worse compared with patients with SCC, but was independent of allogeneic perioperative blood transfusion. The results reaffirmed the importance of tumor invasion and lymph node involvement in the overall poor prognosis of these patients.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2004

Dimerization of human recombinant resistin involves covalent and noncovalent interactions.

Resistin, an adipocyte secreted cysteine rich hormone has been implicated as molecular link between obesity and type 2 diabetes in a murine model. Although, at the protein level mouse and human resistin show remarkable similarities with respect to conserved cysteine residues, the physiological role of human resistin is not yet clear. In the present study we describe the purification and refolding of human recombinant resistin using two different refolding processes. Gel filtration analysis of protein refolded by both the methods revealed that human recombinant resistin, like mouse resistin, has a tendency to form dimers. Interestingly, dimerization of resistin appears to be mediated by both covalent (disulfide bond mediated) and non-covalent interactions as seen on reducing and non-reducing SDS-PAGE. Circular dichroism spectral analysis revealed that human resistin peptide backbone is a mixture of alpha-helical and beta-sheet conformation with significant amounts of unordered structure, similar to the mouse resistin. It is likely that the first cysteine (Cyst22) of human resistin, which is equivalent to mouse Cyst26, may be involved in stabilizing the dimers through covalent interaction.

Adipocytes↗
PubMed2004

Off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery.

Off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery has been adopted enthusiastically worldwide. However, despite more than 6 years' experience and refinement, many surgeons use it only sporadically and some hardly at all. This reluctance persists despite support for the procedure because of the lack of properly designed risk models and/or randomized studies. Although it has not been overwhelmingly shown that off-pump surgery is superior to the conventional on-pump procedure, the technique has its place in our specialty. It has been shown to be better for noncritical end points in selected patients in the hands of selected surgeons. That there are differences in surgical skill among surgeons is something we all know but rarely discuss in public. Until now, disparities in skill have been most salient with uncommon and extraordinarily challenging operations. Perhaps the off-pump procedure should be regarded as the "challenging" aspect of coronary artery bypass surgery, and self-restraint may need to remain in force if we are to continue to achieve the highest level of clinical excellence.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed2004

Method for enhancing solubility of the expressed recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli.

The production of correctly folded protein in Escherichia coli is often challenging because of aggregation of the overexpressed protein into inclusion bodies. Although a number of general and protein-specific techniques are available, their effectiveness varies widely. We report a novel method for enhancing the solubility of overexpressed proteins. Presence of a dipeptide, glycylglycine, in the range of 100 mM to 1 M in the medium was found to significantly enhance the solubility (up to 170-fold) of the expressed proteins. The method has been validated using mycobacterial proteins, resulting in improved solubilization, which were otherwise difficult to express as soluble proteins in E. coli. This method can also be used to enhance the solubility of other heterologous recombinant proteins expressed in a bacterial system.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed2004

Beating-heart mitral valve surgery in patients with poor left ventricular function.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY: Mitral valve surgery in the presence of poor left ventricular (LV) function is associated with higher mortality. One surgeon's (S. K. N.) evolving practice of mitral valve surgery on the beating heart using normothermic cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) in a cohort of patients is described. METHODS: Between July 2000 and December 2002, 23 patients (13 men, 10 women; mean age 68.6 +/- 4.8 years; range: 54-81 years) with mitral regurgitation and LV ejection fraction <30% undergoing isolated mitral valve repair (n = 4) or replacement (n = 19) were investigated. All patients received maximal drug therapy. Among patients, 17 were in NYHA class III, and six in class IV. RESULTS: The mean duration of follow up was 17 +/- 14 months, and was complete for all survivors. The visual field of the on-pump beating heart was equal to that of conventional valvular surgery, and technical accuracy was not compromised. The mean ICU and hospital stays were 2.4 +/- 1.3 days and 8.9 +/- 2.6 days, respectively. Mean CPB time was 74.3 +/- 14.8 min. Thirty-day mortality was significantly lower (8.7%) when compared to mean Euroscore-predicted mortality for this high-risk group (16.9%; p <0.001). The medium-term one- and two-year survivals were 87% and 78%, respectively. Mean NYHA class was improved, from 3.6 +/- 0.5 preoperatively to 1.9 +/- 0.7 at follow up (p = 0.037). CONCLUSION: On-pump, beating-heart mitral valve surgery is a good option in patients with poor LV function, and is advantageous as conditions for the heart are more physiological with a beating tonus than with cardioplegia.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Human recombinant resistin protein displays a tendency to aggregate by forming intermolecular disulfide linkages.

Resistin, a small cysteine rich protein secreted by adipocytes, has been proposed to be a link between obesity and type II diabetes by modulating the insulin signaling pathway and thus inducing insulin resistance. Resistin protein, with 11 cysteine residues, was not significantly homologous at the amino acid level to any other known cysteine rich proteins. Resistin cDNA derived from human subcutaneous adipose tissue was expressed in Escherichia coli as an N-terminal six-His-tag fusion protein. The overexpressed recombinant resistin was purified to homogeneity from inclusion bodies, after solubilization in 8 M urea, using a metal affinity column. While MALDI-TOF mass spectrometric analysis of the purified protein generated a single peak corresponding to the estimated size of 11.3 kDa, the protein exhibited a concentration-dependent oligomerization which is evident from size exclusion chromatography. The oligomeric structure was SDS-insensitive but beta-mercaptoethanol-sensitive, pointing to the importance of disulfide linkages in resistin oligomerization. Estimation of free cysteine residues using the NBD-Cl assay revealed a concentration- and time-dependent increase in the extent of formation of disulfide linkages. The presence of intermolecular disulfide bond(s), crucial in maintaining the global conformation of resistin, was further evident from fluorescence emission spectra. Circular dichroism spectra revealed that recombinant resistin has a tendency to reversibly convert from alpha-helical to beta-sheet structure as a direct function of protein concentration. Our novel observations on the biophysical and biochemical features of human resistin, particularly those shared with prion proteins, may have a bearing on its likely physiological function.

Circular Dichroism↗
PubMed2003

The genomic organization of mouse resistin reveals major differences from the human resistin: functional implications.

The resistin gene is a potential candidate for the etiology of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes and has been implicated as the molecular link between type 2 diabetes and obesity. Unlike the mouse resistin, expression of the human resistin appears to be regulated differently. We report comparative analyses of the mouse and human genomic fragments encoding the resistin gene. At the amino acid level the two proteins exhibit 59% identity. While at the mRNA level the human resistin shows 64.4% sequence identity with its mouse counterpart, the mouse resistin genomic sequence displays only 46.7% sequence identity with the human resistin and is almost three times bigger than the human resistin. The intronic sequences per se displayed the least identities (28.7%), however the intron boundaries were highly conserved between human and mouse. The mouse resistin carries a very large intron in the 3' UTR, which has a number of regulatory sequences possibly involved in differential gene expression. Of particular significance is the presence of a PPAR/RXR heterodimer binding site within intron X (IntX-PPRE) which may possibly confer TZD responsiveness. Oligonucleotides carrying the authentic PPAR/RXR binding element (Aco-PPRE) as well as IntX-PPRE specifically bound factors (PPAR/RXR heterodimers) present in differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocyte cells in an electrophoretic mobility shift assay. IntX-PPRE oligonucleotide modulated the expression of the luciferase reporter gene in transient transfection assays using 3T3-L1 cells.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed2003

Pneumonectomy for stage I (T1N0 and T2N0) nonsmall cell lung cancer has potent, adverse impact on survival.

BACKGROUND: Surgically treated, stage I (T1N0 and T2N0) nonsmall cell lung cancer has a relatively favorable prognosis. Our aim was to determine whether performing a pneumonectomy in this group of patients has an impact on survival. METHODS: Four hundred eighty-five patients with stage I nonsmall cell lung cancer undergoing lung resection between 1991 and 2000 were studied. Three hundred seventy-four patients underwent a smaller resection than a pneumonectomy and 111 had a pneumonectomy. RESULTS: Patients undergoing less extensive resections were older (mean age, 65 vs 63 years) (p = 0.01); these patients were also more likely to have a history of chronic obstructive airway disease (9% vs 2%) (p = 0.01) or asthma (10% vs 3%) (p = 0.04), nonsquamous cell type (56% vs 27%) (p < 0.0001), and T1 tumor stage (66% vs 17%) (p = 0.002) than patients having a pneumonectomy. Operative mortality was 2.4% versus 8% (p = 0.01). Overall 1-, 3-, and 5-year Kaplan-Meier survival rates (95% confidence interval [CI]) after less extensive resections were 85% (CI, 82% to 90%), 63% (CI, 56% to 69%), and 50% (CI, 42% to 57%), respectively, and after pneumonectomy the survival rates were 66% (CI, 53% to 73%), 47% (CI, 35% to 57%), and 44% (CI, 32% to 55%), respectively (p = 0.0006). When the Cox proportional hazards model was applied to all study patients (n = 485), pneumonectomy (p = 0.001), T2 stage (p = 0.006), older age (p = 0.03), and male gender (p = 0.03) were independent adverse predictors of survival. When the analysis was limited to the patients having T1N0 disease (n = 145), pneumonectomy (p = 0.0008), older age (p = 0.05), and nonsquamous cell type (p = 0.02) were independent adverse determinants of survival. When only the patients with T2N0 disease were analyzed (n = 340), male gender (p = 0.0005) and pneumonectomy (p = 0.01) were independent negative predictors of survival. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the patients who underwent pneumonectomy for stage T1N0 or T2N0 nonsmall cell lung cancer had a significantly poorer survival than those patients who underwent smaller lung resections.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2003

Protection of the human heart with ischemic preconditioning during cardiac surgery: role of cardiopulmonary bypass.

OBJECTIVE: Studies on the effects of ischemic preconditioning in the human heart have yielded conflicting results and therefore remain controversial. This study investigated whether ischemic preconditioning was able to protect against myocardial tissue damage in patients undergoing coronary artery surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass and on the beating heart. METHODS: A total of 120 patients were studied and divided into 3 groups: group I: cardiopulmonary bypass with intermittent crossclamp fibrillation; group II: cardiopulmonary bypass with cardioplegic arrest using cold blood cardioplegia; group III: surgery on the beating heart. In each group (n = 40), patients were randomly subdivided (n = 20/subgroup) into control and preconditioning groups (1 cycle of 5 minutes of ischemia/5 minutes reperfusion before intervention). Ischemic preconditioning was induced by clamping the ascending aorta in groups I and II or by clamping the coronary artery in group III. Serial venous blood levels of troponin T were analyzed before surgery and at 1, 4, 8, 24, and 48 hours after termination of ischemia. In addition, in vitro studies using right atrial specimens obtained before the institution of cardiopulmonary bypass, and then again 10 minutes after initiation of bypass, were performed. The specimens were equilibrated for 30 minutes before being allocated to 1 of the following 2 groups (n = 6 per group): (1) ischemia alone (90 minutes of ischemia followed by 120 minutes of reoxygenation) or (2) preconditioning with 5 minutes of ischemia and 5 minutes of reoxygenation before the long ischemic insult. Creatine kinase leakage (U/g wet weight) and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide reduction (mmol/l per gram wet weight), an index of cell viability, were assessed at the end of the experiment. RESULTS: There were no perioperative myocardial infarctions or deaths in any of the groups studied. The total release of troponin T was similar in groups I and II (patients undergoing surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass) and in the release profile; they were unaffected by ischemic preconditioning. In contrast, the total troponin T release for the first 48 hours was significantly reduced by ischemic preconditioning in group III (patients undergoing surgery without cardiopulmonary bypass) from 3.1 +/- 0.1 to 2.1 +/- 0.2 ng. h. mL. Furthermore, the release profile that peaked at 8 hours in the control group shifted to the left at 1 hour. In the in vitro studies, the atrial muscles obtained before cardiopulmonary bypass were protected by ischemic preconditioning (creatine kinase = 2.6 +/- 0.2 and 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide reduction = 152 +/- 24 vs creatine kinase = 5.4 +/- 0.6 and 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide reduction = 87 +/- 16 in controls; P <.05); however, the muscles obtained 10 minutes after initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass were already protected (creatine kinase = 0.8 +/- 0.1 and 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide reduction = 316 +/- 38), and ischemic preconditioning did not result in further improvements. CONCLUSIONS: Ischemic preconditioning is protective in patients undergoing coronary artery surgery on the beating heart without the use of cardiopulmonary bypass, but it offers no additional benefit when associated with bypass regardless of the mode of cardioprotection used, because cardiopulmonary bypass per se induces preconditioning.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

The aging human myocardium: tolerance to ischemia and responsiveness to ischemic preconditioning.

BACKGROUND: Increasing age has been recognized as a cause for adverse prognosis in the setting of myocardial infarction, coronary angioplasty, and cardiac surgery. This is attributed to a greater susceptibility of the senescent heart to ischemic injury and to a lower response to protective interventions. This study investigated the effect of aging on the tolerance to ischemia of the human myocardium and its response to ischemic preconditioning. METHODS: Right atrial specimens from 128 patients undergoing elective heart surgery were collected, sliced, and equilibrated for 30 minutes before being randomized into 3 study protocols: (1) 210 minutes of aerobic incubation (time-matched control), (2) 90 minutes of simulated ischemia and 120 minutes of reoxygenation, and (3) ischemic preconditioning with 5 minutes of ischemia and 5 minutes of reoxygenation before 90 minutes of ischemia and 120 minutes of reoxygenation. Patients were subdivided into 3 age groups: 30 to 49 years, 50 to 69 years, and 70 to 90 years. At the end of each protocol, tissue injury and viability were assessed by the leakage of creatine kinase and the reduction of 3-(4,5 dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide to insoluble formazan dye. RESULTS: There were no differences among the 3 groups of patients in their comorbid conditions or their cardiac medications. Ischemic injury was similar in all 3 groups (creatine kinase = 4.1 +/- 0.7, 3.6 +/- 1.0, and 4.3 +/- 1.1 U/g wet weight, respectively; 3-(4,5 dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide = 64.7 +/- 31.3, 96.3 +/- 32.0, and 61.0 +/- 30.4 mM/g wet weight, respectively, P = not significant in all cases), and ischemic preconditioning equally protected against ischemia at all ages (creatine kinase = 1.9 +/- 0.5, 1.8 +/- 0.4, and 2.1 +/- 0.6 U/g wet weight, respectively; 3-(4,5 dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide = 157.9 +/- 31.5, 170.7 +/- 35.3, and 138.4 +/- 43.8 mM/g wet weight, respectively; P <.05 in all cases vs ischemia alone). CONCLUSION: Age does not influence the tolerance of the human myocardium to ischemia or the protective effect of ischemic preconditioning. These results indicate the need for a reevaluation of the importance of age in risk scoring in cardiac surgery.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Long term results of surgery versus continuous hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy (CHART) in patients aged >70 years with stage 1 non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Patients with T1N0 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are preferably treated by anatomic lobectomy. However, not all such patients are suitable for lobectomy due to their age or co-morbidity. Our aim was to determine the results obtained following lobectomy, wedge resection (WR) or continuous hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy (CHART) in patients aged >70 years. PATIENTS: Two hundred and fifteen consecutive patients aged >70 years, with pathologic stage 1 NSCLC in our unit between 1991 and 2001 were studied. Of these patients, 149 had a lobectomy, 47 had a WR and 19 had CHART. Follow-up was 100% complete. RESULTS: Analysis demonstrated the WR and CHART patients to have reduced pulmonary function (FEV(1) 59% and 52%, respectively, of predicted vs. 76%, P<0.001) when compared to the lobectomy group but there were no differences among the groups with regard to mean age and histologic tumour type. There were no operative mortality among patients after WR; however, a 2.7% 30-day operative mortality among patients undergoing lobectomy (P=0.29). Kaplan-Meier survival curves at 1 and 5 years for patients undergoing WR, lobectomy and CHART was 98% and 74% vs. 97% and 68% vs. 80% and 39%, respectively (P=0.0484). The frequency of local/regional recurrence in the WR group (19.1%) was not significantly higher than in the lobectomy group (18.4%, P=0.38) when compared to the CHART group (27%, P=0.07). CONCLUSION: Loco-regional recurrence and survival after WR and lobectomy in elderly patients with stage I NSCLC are comparable. Although the numbers are small, these data suggest that CHART is a reasonable treatment option for those who are not suitable candidates for surgery.

Aged↗
PubMed2002

Baculovirus as mammalian cell expression vector for gene therapy: an emerging strategy.

The monopoly of insect cells to host baculovirus Autographa californica multiple nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV) as a eukaryotic gene expression system has been shattered with the growing evidence that it also infects mammalian cells in culture. Although AcMNPV fails to replicate in vertebrate cells, it does express alien genes with levels of expression that are dependent on the strength of the promoter used to drive transcription of the foreign gene. It also has been reported that the recombinant AcMNPV enters human hepatic cells in culture preferentially and specifically in comparison with the other mammalian cells of different origin and sources. This has resulted in the use of AcMNPV as a potent mammalian cell delivery system as a xenovector for gene therapy, more precisely liver-specific gene delivery in vitro and in vivo.

Animals↗