Amphotropic and VSV-G-pseudotyped retroviral vectors transduce human hematopoietic progenitor cells with similar efficiency

One restriction of retroviral gene transfer into hematopoietic stem cells is the low level of amphotropic virus receptor. In the present study, we examined whether retroviral vectors pseudotyped with the G-protein of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) can overcome this restriction. Human progenitor cells purified by magnetic beads and cell sorting were transduced with an amphotropic or VSV-G-pseudotyped retroviral vector containing the truncated human nerve growth factor receptor as a marker gene. Cells were prestimulated with flt-3 ligand, stem cell factor, and interleukin-3 and transduced on fibronectin. Marker gene expression was analyzed by flow cytometry. Transduction efficiencies of amphotropic and VSV-G-pseudotyped virus for CD34+ cells did not differ significantly. Gene transfer into CD34+CD38- cells, which are enriched in more immature progenitors, was not restricted and transfer efficiencies for this subset were also similar for both pseudotypes. The addition of fibronectin improved gene transfer with the amphotropic vector considerably (5- to 19.3-fold, mean 12.6), while the effect on the VSV-G-pseudotype was far less pronounced (1- to 3.9-fold, mean 2.1, P = 0.04). In conclusion, high levels of gene transfer to human hematopoietic progenitors were achieved with an optimized transduction protocol, and transduction efficiencies could not be improved further by the use of VSV-G-pseudotypes.     

Gene transfer into murine hematopoietic stem cells with helper-free foamy virus vectors

Gene transfer into hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) is an ideal treatment strategy for many genetic and hematologic diseases. However, progress has been limited by the low HSC transduction rates obtained with retroviral vectors based on murine leukemia viruses. This study examined the potential of vectors derived from the nonpathogenic human foamy virus (HFV) to transduce human CD34(+) cells and murine HSCs. More than 80% of human hematopoietic progenitors present in CD34(+) cell preparations derived from cord blood were transduced by a single overnight exposure to HFV vector stocks. Mice that received transduced bone marrow cells expressed the vector-encoded transgene long term in all major hematopoietic cell lineages and in over 50% of cells in some animals. Secondary bone marrow transplants and integration site analysis confirmed that gene transfer occurred at the stem cell level. Transgene silencing was not observed. Thus vectors based on foamy viruses represent a promising approach for HSC gene therapy. (Blood. 2001;98:604-609)     

Unaltered repopulation properties of mouse hematopoietic stem cells transduced with lentiviral vectors

Recent studies of retroviral-mediated gene transfer have shown that retroviral integrations themselves may trigger nonmalignant clonal expansion of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in transplant recipients. These observations suggested that previous conclusions of HSC dynamics based on gamma-retroviral gene marking should be confirmed with improved vectors having a more limited capacity to transactivate endogenous genes. Because of the low trans-activation activity of self-inactivating lentiviral vectors (LVs), we have investigated whether the LV marking of mouse HSCs induces a competitive repopulation advantage in recipients of serially transplants. As deduced from analyses conducted in primary and secondary recipients, we concluded that lentivirally transduced HSCs have no competitive repopulation advantages over untransduced HSCs. By linear amplification-mediated polymerase chain reaction (LAM-PCR) analysis, we characterized LV-targeted genes in HSC clones that engrafted up to quaternary recipients. Although 9 clones harbored integrations close to defined retroviral insertion sites, none was characterized as a common integration site, and none was present in HSC clones repopulating quaternary recipients. Taken together, our results show unaltered repopulation properties of HSCs transduced with LVs, and confirm early studies suggesting the natural capacity of a few HSC clones to generate a monoclonal or oligoclonal hematopoiesis in transplant recipients.     

Consistent, persistent expression from modified retroviral vectors in murine hematopoietic stem cells

Retroviral vectors based on the Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMuLV) have shown inconsistent levels and duration of expression as well as a propensity for the acquisition of de novo methylation in vivo. MoMuLV-based vectors are known to contain sequences that are capable of suppressing or preventing expression from the long terminal repeat. Previously, we constructed a series of modified retroviral vectors and showed that they function significantly better than MoMuLV-based vectors in vitro. To test the efficacy of the modified vectors in hematopoietic stem cells in vivo, we examined gene expression and proviral methylation in differentiated hematopoietic colonies formed in the spleens of mice after serial transplantation with transduced bone marrow (2°CFU-S). We found a significant increase in the frequency of expression with our modified vectors (>90% expression in vector DNA containing 2°CFU-S) over the frequency observed with the standard MoMuLV-based vector (28% expression in vector containing 2°CFU-S). Expression from the modified vectors was highly consistent, with expression in >50% of the vector-containing 2°CFU-S from all 20 transplant recipients analyzed, whereas expression from the standard MoMuLV-based vector was inconsistent, with expression in 0–10% of the vector containing 2°CFU-S from 8 recipients and expression in >50% of the vector-containing 2°CFU-S from 4 other recipients. In addition, we established that the modified vectors had a lower level of DNA methylation than the control vector. These findings represent significant advances in the development and evaluation of effective retroviral vectors for application in vivo.     

A method to enrich mouse hematopoietic stem cells

Hematopoietic stem cells form colonies in the spleens of lethally irradiated mice. The number of colonies is indicative of the number of stem cells present in the inoculum. In this article, a technique is presented for effecting a seven-fold enrichment of spleen colony- forming cells. Bone marrow cells are first segregated into "red" and "white" cell populations by centrifugation on Ficoll-Paque. Centrifugation of the "white" cell fraction in 75% Percoll concentrates the colony-forming cells in the top one-third of the gradient. The ability of these cells to repopulate and to cure the anemia of WBB6F1- W/Wv mice indicates that long-term functional pluripotent stem cells have not been destroyed or lost during the fractionation procedures. The segregation procedures enrich the colony-forming cell population from thalassemic as well as from normal mice.     

The marrow homing efficiency of murine hematopoietic stem cells remains constant during ontogeny

OBJECTIVE: Several recent studies have established the potential clinical utility of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) not only for marrow rescue but also for regenerating diseased or damaged nonhematopoietic tissues. These findings have focused renewed interest in understanding the in vivo trafficking patterns of HSCs from different sources. Previous experiments have suggested that the half-life of HSCs in the circulation is short, although the actual proportion that return to the bone marrow (BM) following transplantation has not been previously quantitated. The present study was undertaken to measure this fraction and compare the values obtained for functionally defined HSCs from adult murine BM and day-14 fetal liver (FL). METHODS: The number of HSCs that could be recovered from the BM of lethally irradiated mice 24 hours after intravenous injection of Ly-5 congenic BM or FL cells was determined by limiting-dilution competitive repopulating unit (CRU) assays in secondary mice. RESULTS: The marrow seeding efficiency of both adult BM- and FL-CRU able to produce lymphoid and myeloid progeny for 5-26 weeks posttransplant was approximately 10%. FL-CRU generated clones that were approximately threefold larger than those produced by BM-CRU. Interestingly, clones produced by "homed" HSCs were approximately twofold smaller than those produced by freshly isolated HSCs. Differences were also seen in the proportions of lymphoid vs myeloid progeny generated by fresh and homed HSCs. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest common mechanisms regulating the BM homing of long-term repopulating HSCs throughout ontogeny despite subtle differences in the size and composition of the clones they generate.     

HIV, but not murine leukemia virus, vectors mediate high efficiency gene transfer into freshly isolated G0/G1 human hematopoietic stem cells

Recent studies have opened the possibility that quiescent, G₀/G₁ hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) can be gene transduced; lentiviruses (such as HIV type 1, HIV) encode proteins that permit transport of the viral genome into the nucleus of nondividing cells. We and others have recently demonstrated efficient transduction by using an HIV-1-based vector gene delivery system into various human cell types including human CD34⁺ cells or terminally differentiated neurons. Here we compare the transduction efficiency of two vectors, HIV-based and murine leukemia virus (MuLV)-based vectors, on untreated and highly purified human HSC subsets that are virtually all in G₀/G₁. The HIV vector, but not MuLV vector supernatants, transduced freshly isolated G₀/G₁ HSC from mobilized peripheral blood. Single-step transduction using replication-defective HIV resulted in HSC that expressed the green fluorescent protein (GFP) transgene while retaining their stem cell phenotype; clonal outgrowths of these GFP⁺ HSC on bone marrow stromal cells fully retained GFP expression for at least 5 weeks. MuLV-based vectors did not transduce resting HSC, as measured by transgene expression, but did so readily when the HSC were actively cycling after culture in vitro for 3 days in a cytokine cocktail. These results suggest that resting HSC may be transduced by lentiviral-based, but not MuLV, vectors and maintain their primitive phenotype, pluripotentiality, and at least in vitro, transgene expression.     

Homing and conversion of murine hematopoietic stem cells to lung

The hematopoietic stem cell population, lineage negative-Sca positive (HSC), displays a homing defect into bone marrow (BM) after 48-h exposure to interleukin (IL)-3, IL-6, IL-11, and steel factor [J. Hematother. Stem Cell Res. 11 (2002) 913]. Cytokine treatment of murine marrow leads to reversible alterations in adhesion protein expression, which may explain the changes in homing. We evaluated 3 h homing to nonhematopoietic organs of marrow cells exposed to cytokines for 0, 18, 24, 40 and 48 h. HSC cells from C57BL/6J mice were cultured and labeled with the cytoplasmic fluorescent dye CFSE. We found homed events from uncultured cells in spleen, liver and lung, but no events were seen in duodenum or anterior tibialis muscle. Culture in cytokines led to decreased homing to marrow at 24 and 48 h with parallel changes in spleen homing. There was little variability of homing to liver, however the number, of homed events in lung was markedly increased when 24-h cultured cells were assessed. This was approximately a 10-fold increase compared to the 0 h time point (flow cytometry). Homing was determined by evaluation of frozen section (8 microm) by fluorescent microscopy for spleen, liver, duodenum, anterior tibialis and lung. Data were confirmed by flow cytometry from each organ including marrow. These data indicate the presence of a lung homing "hotspot" at 24 h of cytokine culture; this is a time when the stem progenitors cells are in mid S-phase. Altogether these data suggest that homing of marrow cell to nonmarrow organs may fluctuate with cell cycle transit and that there is a lung homing hotspot in mid-S.     

Highly efficient gene transfer in naive human T cells with a murine leukemia virus-based vector

Retroviral vectors based on the Moloney murine leukemia virus (MuLV) have become the primary tool for gene delivery into hematopoietic cells, but clinical trials have been hampered by low transduction efficiencies. Recently, we and others have shown that gene transfer of MuLV-based vectors into T cells can be significantly augmented using a fibronectin-facilitated protocol. Nevertheless, the relative abilities of naive (CD45RA(+)) and memory (CD45RO(+)) lymphocyte subsets to be transduced has not been assessed. Although naive T cells demonstrate a restricted cytokine profile following antigen stimulation and a decreased susceptibility to infection with human immunodeficiency virus, it was not clear whether they could be efficiently infected with a MuLV vector. This study describes conditions that permitted gene transfer of an enhanced green fluorescent protein-expressing retroviral vector in more than 50% of naive umbilical cord (UC) blood and peripheral blood (PB) T cells following CD3/CD28 ligation. Moreover, treatment of naive T cells with interleukin-7 resulted in the maintenance of a CD45RA phenotype and gene transfer levels approached 20%. Finally, it was determined that parameters for optimal transduction of CD45RA(+) T cells isolated from PB and UC blood differed: transduction of the UC cells was significantly increased by the presence of autologous mononuclear cells (24.5% versus 56.5%). Because naive T cells harbor a receptor repertoire that allows them to respond to novel antigens, the development of protocols targeting their transduction is crucial for gene therapy applications. This approach will also allow the functions of exogenous genes to be evaluated in primary nontransformed naive T cells.     

Proliferative capacity of murine hematopoietic stem cells.

The present study demonstrates a decrease in self-renewal capacity with serial transfer of murine hematopoietic stem cells. Production of differentiated cell progeny is maintained longer than stem cell self-renewal. In normal animals the capacity for self-renewal is not decreased with increasing donor age. The stem cell compartment in normal animals, both young and old, appears to be proliferative quiescent. After apparent recovery from the alkylating agent busulfan, the probability of stem cell self-renewal is decreased, there is a permanent defect in the capacity of the bone marrow for serial transplantation, and the stem cells are proliferatively active. These findings support a model of the hematopoietic stem cell compartment as a continuum of cells with decreasing capacities for self-renewal, increasing likelihood for differentiation, and increasing proliferative activity. Cell progress in the continuum in one direction and such progression is not reversible.     

Increased efficiency of gene transfer with retroviral vectors in neonatal hematopoietic progenitor cells

The retroviral vector N2, which is derived from the Moloney murine leukemia retrovirus, was used to transfer the bacterial NeoR gene (conferring resistance to the neomycin analogue G418) into hematopoietic progenitor cells from fetal, neonatal, and adult dogs and cats. Infection of canine and feline bone marrow cells with the N2 vector resulted in resistance of granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming units (CFU-GM) to G418. Approximately 2%-4% of fetal liver, fetal bone marrow, and adult bone marrow day-7 CFU-GM were resistant to 1.75 mg/ml G418, a dose toxic to cells not expressing the NeoR gene, after infection with the N2 retrovirus. In sharp contrast to the low rate of infectivity of both fetal and adult marrow samples, the mean +/- SD of G418-resistant CFU-GM was 11.7% +/- 14.1% and 14.0% +/- 18.1% for neonatal dog and cat marrow samples, respectively. The neomycin phosphotransferase enzyme activity was detected in G418-resistant CFU-GM, confirming that G418-resistant CFU-GM expressed the NeoR gene. The increased efficiency of retroviral vector-mediated gene transfer into neonatal hematopoietic progenitor cells was not due to an increased fraction of actively dividing cells, as determined by tritiated thymidine suicide. Understanding the basis for increased gene transfer into neonatal hematopoietic progenitor cells may be helpful in designing effective retroviral vectors/gene transfer protocols for gene therapy.     

Long-term repopulating ability of telomerase-deficient murine hematopoietic stem cells

Telomere length must be tightly regulated in highly proliferative tissues, such as the lymphohematopoietic system. Under steady-state conditions, the levels and functionality of hematopoietic-committed or multipotent progenitors were not affected in late-generation telomerase-deficient mice (mTerc(-/-)) with critically short telomeres. Evaluation of self-renewal potential of mTerc(-/-) day-12 spleen colony-forming units demonstrated no alteration as compared with wildtype progenitors. However, the replating ability of mTerc(-/-) granulocyte-macrophage CFUs (CFU-GMs) was greatly reduced as compared with wildtype CFU-GMs, indicating a diminished capacity of late-generation mTerc(-/-) committed progenitors when forced to proliferate. Long-term bone marrow cultures of mTerc(-/-) bone marrow (BM) cells show a reduction in proliferative capacity; this defect can be mainly attributed to the hematopoietic, not to the stromal, mTerc(-/-) cells. In serial and competitive transplantations, mTerc(-/-) BM stem cells show reduced long-term repopulating capacity, concomitant with an increase in genetic instability compared with wildtype cells. Nevertheless, in competitive transplantations late-generation mTerc(-/-) precursors can occasionally overcome this proliferative impairment and reconstitute irradiated recipients. In summary, our results demonstrate that late-generation mTerc(-/-) BM cells with short telomeres, although exhibiting reduced proliferation ability and reduced long-term repopulating capacity, can still reconstitute myeloablated animals maintaining stem cell function.     

Non-side-population hematopoietic stem cells in mouse bone marrow

Most hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are assumed to reside in the so-called side population (SP) in adult mouse bone marrow (BM). We report the coexistence of non-SP HSCs that do not significantly differ from SP HSCs in numbers, capacities, and cell-cycle states. When stained with Hoechst 33342 dye, the CD34(-/low) c-Kit(+)Sca-1(+)lineage marker(-) (CD34(-)KSL) cell population, highly enriched in mouse HSCs, was almost equally divided into the SP and the main population (MP) that represents non-SP cells. Competitive repopulation assays with single or 30 SP- or MP-CD34(-)KSL cells found similar degrees of repopulating activity and frequencies of repopulating cells for these populations. Secondary transplantation detected self-renewal capacity in both populations. SP analysis of BM cells from primary recipient mice suggested that the SP and MP phenotypes are interconvertible. Cell-cycle analyses revealed that CD34(-)KSL cells were in a quiescent state and showed uniform cell-cycle kinetics, regardless of whether they were in the SP or MP. Bcrp-1 expression was similarly detected in SP- and MP-CD34(-)KSL cells, suggesting that the SP phenotype is regulated not only by Bcrp-1, but also by other factors. The SP phenotype does not specify all HSCs; its identity with stem cell function thus is unlikely.     

Human embryonic stem cells with biological and epigenetic characteristics similar to those of mouse ESCs

Human and mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are derived from blastocyst-stage embryos but have very different biological properties, and molecular analyses suggest that the pluripotent state of human ESCs isolated so far corresponds to that of mouse-derived epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs). Here we rewire the identity of conventional human ESCs into a more immature state that extensively shares defining features with pluripotent mouse ESCs. This was achieved by ectopic induction of Oct4, Klf4, and Klf2 factors combined with LIF and inhibitors of glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK1/2) pathway. Forskolin, a protein kinase A pathway agonist which can induce Klf4 and Klf2 expression, transiently substitutes for the requirement for ectopic transgene expression. In contrast to conventional human ESCs, these epigenetically converted cells have growth properties, an X-chromosome activation state (XaXa), a gene expression profile, and a signaling pathway dependence that are highly similar to those of mouse ESCs. Finally, the same growth conditions allow the derivation of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells with similar properties as mouse iPS cells. The generation of validated “naïve” human ESCs will allow the molecular dissection of a previously undefined pluripotent state in humans and may open up new opportunities for patient-specific, disease-relevant research.