Gene transfer of adenosine deaminase into primitive human hematopoietic progenitor cells.

The inherited deficiency in adenosine deaminase (ADA), which results in severe combined immunodeficiency, is generally regarded as an optimal model for the development of human somatic gene therapy. The ideal target for the correction of ADA deficiency and other lympho-hematopoietic disorders would be the hematopoietic stem cell. We have used a combination of recombinant human interleukins-3 and -6 to stimulate the proliferation of primitive human hematopoietic progenitor cells during a period of co-cultivation with irradiated cells producing high titers of an ADA-transducing retroviral vector packaged in amphotropic particles. In a series of nine experiments, an average of 83% of the clonogenic progenitors (CFU-E and CFU-GM) were found to have acquired the transferred sequence as determined by polymerase chain reaction analysis. In addition, in two experiments, 24-44% of the clonogenic progenitors derived from long-term myeloid cultures 9 weeks post-transduction were found to contain vector sequence. The latter cells are derived from so-called "long-term culture-initiating cells" (LTC-IC), which are primitive cells probably related to hematopoietic stem cells. Moreover, the transduced ADA enzyme was found to be expressed in both normal and ADA-deficient erythroid colonies, and in the nonadherent cells of long-term bone marrow culture for at least 2 weeks at levels that approximate the endogenous ADA levels of normal erythroid cells. These results indicate that the ADA coding sequence can efficiently be introduced by retroviral gene transfer into both committed and primitive human hematopoietic progenitor cells, and that this will result in adequate expression of the transduced enzyme in the progeny of committed hematopoietic progenitors.     

Bone marrow extracellular matrix molecules improve gene transfer into human hematopoietic cells via retroviral vectors.

Direct contact between hematopoietic cells and viral packaging cell lines or other sources of stroma has been shown to increase the efficiency of retroviral-mediated gene transfer into these target cells compared with infection with viral supernatant. We have investigated the role of defined bone marrow extracellular matrix molecules (ECM) in this phenomenon. Here we report that infection of cells adhering to the carboxy-terminal 30/35-kD fragment of the fibronectin molecule (30/35 FN), which contains the alternatively spliced CS-1 cell adhesion domain, significantly increases gene transfer into hematopoietic cells. Two retroviral vectors differing in recombinant viral titer were used. Gene transfer into committed progenitor cells and long-term culture-initiating cells, an in vitro assay for human stem cells, was significantly increased when the cells were infected while adherent to 30/35 FN-coated plates compared with cells infected on BSA-coated control plates or plates coated with other bone marrow ECM molecules. Although gene transfer into committed progenitor cells and to a lesser degree into long-term culture-initiating cells was increased on intact fibronectin as well, increased gene transfer efficiency into hematopoietic cells on 30/35 FN was dependent on CS-1 sequence since infection on a similar FN fragment lacking CS-1 (42 FN) was suboptimal. 30/35 FN has previously been shown by our laboratory and other investigators to mediate adhesion of primitive murine and human hematopoietic stem cells to the hematopoietic microenvironment. Additional studies showed that neither soluble 30/35 FN nor nonspecific binding of hematopoietic cells to poly-L-lysine-coated plates had any appreciable effect on the infection efficiency of these cells. Our findings indicate that hematopoietic stem cell adhesion to specific ECM molecules alters retroviral infection efficiency. These findings should aid in the design of gene transfer protocols using hematopoietic progenitor and stem cells for somatic gene therapy.     

Toward gene therapy for Gaucher disease

We are studying the transfer and expression by retroviral vectors of the human glucocerebrosidase (GC) gene into bone marrow cells as a model of gene therapy for genetic diseases of hematopoietic cells. A simple retroviral vector (G2) was developed that contains a normal human GC cDNA under the control of the Moloney murine leukemia virus long-terminal repeat (LTR) enhancer/promoter. Murine bone marrow was transduced with the G2 vector and maintained in long-term bone marrow culture (LTBMC). Expression of the human GC gene in the transduced murine LTBMC cells exceeded the level of endogenous murine GC mRNA. Murine bone marrow cells were also transduced with G2 and transplanted into irradiated syngeneic recipients. High levels of GC gene transfer and expression were seen in day-12 CFU-S foci, and to a lesser extent in the hematopoietic organs 4 months after gene transfer/bone marrow transplant (BMT). Human bone marrow, from a patient with Gaucher disease, was also used in studies of GC gene transduction. Gene transfer into 35-40% of the Gaucher hematopoietic progenitor cells was achieved, following prestimulation of the marrow with recombinant hematopoietic growth factors. Equal rates of gene transfer were obtained using either total marrow mononuclear cells or progenitor cells enriched 100-fold by immunomagnetic bead separation. GC gene transduction corrected the enzymatic deficiency of the Gaucher marrow. Our results demonstrate the potential utility of retroviral vector-mediated gene transfer for gene therapy of Gaucher disease. Current efforts are aimed at achieving more consistent in vivo GC expression in the murine BMT model and demonstrating transduction of pluripotent human hematopoietic stem cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Retroviral-mediated transfer of the human glucocerebrosidase gene into cultured Gaucher bone marrow.

Gaucher disease, a lysosomal glycolipid storage disorder, results from the genetic deficiency of an acidic glucosidase, glucocerebrosidase (GC). The beneficial effects of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for Gaucher disease suggest that GC gene transduction and the transplantation of autologous hematopoietic stem cells (gene therapy) may similarly alleviate symptoms. We have constructed a retroviral vector, L-GC, produced by a clone of the amphotropic packaging cell line PA317, which transduces the normal human GC cDNA with high efficiency. Whole-marrow mononuclear cells and CD34-enriched cells from a 4-yr-old female with type 3 Gaucher disease were transduced by the L-GC vector and studied in long-term bone marrow culture (LTBMC). Prestimulation of marrow with IL-3 and IL-6, followed by co-cultivation with vector-producing fibroblasts, produced gene transfer into 40-45% of the hematopoietic progenitor cells. The levels of GC expression in progeny cells (primarily mature myelomonocytic) produced by the LTBMC were quantitatively analyzed by Northern blot, Western blot, and glucocerebrosidase enzyme assay. Normal levels of GC RNA, immunoreactive protein, and enzymatic activity were detected throughout the duration of culture. These studies demonstrate that retroviral vectors can efficiently transfer the GC gene into long-lived hematopoietic progenitor cells from the bone marrow of patients with Gaucher disease and express physiologically relevant levels of GC enzyme activity.     

SDF-1alpha/CXCL12 enhances retroviral-mediated gene transfer into immature subsets of human and murine hematopoietic progenitor cells

Genetic modification of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells has the potential to treat diseases affecting blood cells. Oncoretroviral vectors have been used for gene therapy; however, clinical success has been limited in part by low gene transfer efficiencies. We found that the presence of stromal-derived factor 1 (SDF-1alpha)/CXCL12 during retroviral transduction significantly enhanced, in a dose-dependent fashion, gene transfer into immature subsets of high proliferative human and murine hematopoietic progenitor cells. Murine mononuclear bone marrow cells and purified c-Kit(+)Lin(-) bone marrow cells were prestimulated and transduced with the bicistronic retroviral vector MIEG3 on Retronectin-coated surfaces in the presence and absence of SDF-1. SDF-1 enhanced gene transduction of murine bone marrow and c-Kit(+)Lin(-) cells by 35 and 29%, respectively. Moreover, SDF-1 enhanced transduction of progenitors in these populations by 121 and 107%, respectively. SDF-1 also enhanced transduction of human immature subsets of high proliferative progenitors present in either nonadherent mononuclear or CD34(+) umbilical cord blood cells. Transduction of hematopoietic progenitors was further increased by preloading Retronectin-coated plates with retrovirus using low-speed centrifugation followed by increasing cell-virus interactions through brief centrifugation during the transduction procedure. These results may be of clinical relevance.     

Adeno-associated virus 2-mediated high efficiency gene transfer into immature and mature subsets of hematopoietic progenitor cells in human umbilical cord blood

Recombinant adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV) virions were constructed containing a gene for resistance to neomycin (neoR), under the control of either the herpesvirus thymidine kinase (TK) gene promoter (vTK- Neo), or the human parvovirus B19 p6 promoter (vB19-Neo), as well as those containing an upstream erythroid cell-specific enhancer (HS-2) from the locus control region of the human beta-globin gene cluster (vHS2-TK-Neo; vHS2-B19-Neo). These recombinant virions were used to infect either low density or highly enriched populations of CD34+ cells isolated from human umbilical cord blood. In clonogenic assays initiated with cells infected with the different recombinant AAV-Neo virions, equivalent high frequency transduction of the neoR gene into slow-cycling multipotential, erythroid, and granulocyte/macrophage (GM) progenitor cells, including those with high proliferative potential, was obtained without prestimulation with growth factors, indicating that these immature and mature hematopoietic progenitor cells were susceptible to infection by the recombinant AAV virions. Successful transduction did not require and was not enhanced by prestimulation of these cell populations with cytokines. The functional activity of the transduced neo gene was evident by the development of resistance to the drug G418, a neomycin analogue. Individual high and low proliferative colony-forming unit (CFU)-GM, burst-forming unit-erythroid, and CFU- granulocyte erythroid macrophage megakaryocyte colonies from mock- infected, or the recombinant virus-infected cultures were subjected to polymerase chain reaction analysis using a neo-specific synthetic oligonucleotide primer pair. A 276-bp DNA fragment that hybridized with a neo-specific DNA probe on Southern blots was only detected in those colonies cloned from the recombinant virus-infected cells, indicating stable integration of the transduced neo gene. These studies suggest that parvovirus-based vectors may prove to be a useful alternative to the more commonly used retroviral vectors for high efficiency gene transfer into slow or noncycling primitive hematopoietic progenitor cells, without the need for growth factor stimulation, which could potentially lead to differentiation of these cells before transplantation.     

Expansion and fibronectin-enhanced retroviral transduction of primary human T lymphocytes for adoptive immunotherapy

Human lymphocytes remain among the most promising target cells for gene therapy. Gene-modified lymphocytes have been used successfully to treat adenosine deaminase (ADA)-deficient patients and to control GvHD after allogeneic BMT. Because activation and proliferation of T cells are necessary for efficient retrovirus-mediated gene transfer and subsequent selection of transduced cells, mononuclear cells (MNC) from steady-state and G-CSF-stimulated peripheral blood were activated by short exposure to the mitogen PHA, the anti-CD3 antibody OKT3, or both in the presence of different concentrations of recombinant IL-2. Using OKT3 (10 or 30 ng/ml) and IL-2 (100 U/ml), T cells expanded efficiently during a 14-day culture period. Cell expansion was similar under serum-free conditions. The immunophenotypic profile over time showed a marked increase in CD8+ cells, leading to a reversed CD4/CD8 ratio of 1:2 and a slight increase in CD56+ cells. Supernatant-based centrifugal transduction of primary human T lymphocytes was compared with supernatant transduction on the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin. Transduction with cell-free retrovirus-containing supernatant in tissue culture flasks coated with human plasma fibronectin led to significantly higher transduction efficiencies (20% +/- 7.5%) than centrifugal transduction in uncoated culture flasks (13.6% +/- 5.1%)(p = 0.041). To both rapidly characterize transduced cells and isolate these from residual nontransduced but biologically equivalent cells, an amphotropic Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMuLV)-based retroviral vector containing the intracytoplasmically truncated human low-affinity nerve growth factor receptor (deltaLNGFR) cDNA as a marker gene was used. FACS sorting of T cells after transduction resulted in >90% LNGFR+ cells and was much faster than enrichment of transduced cells through growth in G418-selection medium. These results show that supernatant-based retroviral gene transfer into primary human T lymphocytes can be enhanced by fibronectin. Ectopic expression of a cell surface protein can be used to rapidly and conveniently quantitate transduction efficiency through FACS analysis and to efficiently enrich transduced cells through FACS sorting.     

Evaluation of primitive murine hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell transduction in vitro and in vivo by recombinant adeno-associated virus vector serotypes 1 through 5

Conflicting data exist on hematopoietic cell transduction by AAV serotype 2 (AAV2) vectors, and additional AAV serotype vectors have not been evaluated for their efficacy in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell transduction. We evaluated the efficacy of conventional, single-stranded AAV serotype vectors 1 through 5 in primitive murine hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells in vitro as well as in vivo. In progenitor cell assays using Sca1+ c-kit+ Lin- hematopoietic cells, 9% of the colonies in cultures infected with AAV1 expressed the transgene. Coinfection of AAV1 with self-complementary AAV vectors carrying the gene for T cell protein tyrosine phosphatase (scAAV-TC-PTP) increased the transduction efficiency to 24%, indicating that viral secondstrand DNA synthesis is a rate-limiting step. This was further corroborated by the use of scAAV vectors, which bypass this requirement. In bone marrow transplantation studies involving lethally irradiated syngeneic mice, Sca1+ c-kit+ Lin- cells coinfected with AAV1 +/- scAAV-TC-PTP vectors led to transgene expression in 2 and 7.5% of peripheral blood (PB) cells, respectively, 6 months posttransplantation. In secondary transplantation experiments, 7% of PB cells and 3% of bone marrow (BM) cells expressed the transgene 6 months posttransplantation. Approximately 21% of BM-derived colonies harbored the proviral DNA sequences in integrated forms. These results document that AAV1 is thus far the most efficient vector in transducing primitive murine hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. Further studies involving scAAV genomes and hematopoietic cell-specific promoters should further augment the transduction efficiency of AAV1 vectors, which should have implications in the optimal use of these vectors in hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy.     

造血干细胞的基因转移及其表达的实验研究

为探索一种安全、有效、简易的非病毒基因转移策略用于介导造血干细胞基因转移的可行性,本研究利用商品化的脂质体将两个标志基因(Neo R和Lac Z)共转导造血细胞。通过G418筛选、富集转导阳性细胞,观察了外源基因在小鼠原代骨髓细胞的基因转移率及其表达的稳定性。结果显示:通过脂质体介导,外源基因在小鼠骨髓细胞可获得有效的瞬时和稳定的表达。同时,经G418筛选,转导阳性细胞可得到明显的富集。提示利用脂质体这一非病毒载体个导造血干细胞基因转移的可行性。     

In vivo selective expansion of gene-modified hematopoietic cells in a nonhuman primate model

A major problem limiting hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) gene therapy is the low efficiency of gene transfer into human HSCs using retroviral vectors. Strategies, which would allow in vivo expansion of gene-modified hematopoietic cells, could circumvent the problem. To this end, we developed a selective amplifier gene (SAG) consisting of a chimeric gene composed of the granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) receptor gene and the estrogen receptor gene hormone-binding domain. We have previously demonstrated that primary bone marrow progenitor cells transduced with the SAG could be expanded in response to estrogen in vitro. In the present study, we evaluated the efficacy of the SAG in the setting of a clinically applicable cynomolgus monkey transplantation protocol. Cynomolgus bone marrow CD34(+) cells were transduced with retroviral vectors encoding the SAG and reinfused into each myeloablated monkey. Three of the six monkeys that received SAG transduced HSCs showed an increase in the levels of circulating progeny containing the provirus in vivo following administration of estrogen or tamoxifen without any serious adverse effects. In one monkey examined in detail, transduced hematopoietic progenitor cells were increased by several-fold (from 5% to 30%). Retroviral integration site analysis revealed that this observed increase was polyclonal and no outgrowth of a dominant single clonal population was observed. These results demonstrate that the inclusion of our SAG in the retroviral construct allows selective in vivo expansion of genetically modified cells by a non-toxic hormone treatment.     

The high proliferative potential-quiescent (HPP-Q) cell assay allows an optimized evaluation of gene transfer efficiency into primitive hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells

Various protocols have been described to optimize gene transfer into hematopoietic cells. However, most of these methods do not specify whether they are associated with an improved transduction of the more primitive stem/progenitor cells, the best candidates for long-term engraftment. The majority of these primitive cells remains in quiescence because of the negative control of TGF-beta1, effective on these cells at low concentrations (10 pg/ml). In this study, CD34- cells were activated by a 10 h pretreatment with anti-TGF-beta1 followed by four successive retroviral supernatant incubations of 6 h each. After 12 h (two incubations), a significant increase in TGF-beta1 mRNA in CD34+ cells was observed. We wondered whether neo-synthesized autocrine TGF-beta1 could induce reversion to quiescence of the more primitive CD34+ cells transduced after one cell cycle. This would prevent their subsequent detection in a classic clonal assay. Using the HPP-Q assay comparing a rapid mixed colony assay with or without anti-TGF-beta1, we indeed observed, that in clonal growth conditions the more primitive transduced cells were activated and detectable only with anti-TGF-beta1. Therefore, this assay represents not only a rapid means to detect quiescent multipotent stem/progenitor cells but also a necessary step for the detection of the more primitive transduced cells which have returned to quiescence after retroviral induction of TGF-beta1 secretion.     

Green fluorescent protein as a selectable marker of fibronectin-facilitated retroviral gene transfer in primary human T lymphocytes

The success of gene therapy strategies for congenital and acquired blood disorders requires high levels of gene transfer into hematopoietic cells. Retroviral vectors have been extensively used to deliver foreign genes to mammalian cells and improvement of transduction protocols remains dependent on markers that can be rapidly monitored and used for efficient selection of transduced cells. The enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) is a suitable reporter molecule for gene expression because of its lack of cytotoxicity and stable fluorescence signal that can be readily detected by flow cytometry. However, attempts to adapt the GFP system to stable transduction of human lymphocytes have not been satisfactory. In this article, transductions of primary human T lymphocytes were performed using cell-free supernatants from a PG13 packaging cell line in which a retroviral vector expressing EGFP was pseudotyped with the gibbon ape leukemia virus (GALV) envelope. Using this system combined with a fibronectin-facilitated protocol, primary lymphocytes were transduced with a mean gene transfer efficiency of 27.5% following a 2-day stimulation with either PHA or anti-CD3/CD28 antibodies. Conditions that increased the entry of lymphocytes into cell cycle did not consistently correlate with enhanced gene transfer, indicating that factors other than proliferation are important for optimal retroviral gene transfer. These results demonstrate the utility of EGFP as a marker for human T cell transduction and will enable further optimization of T cell gene therapy protocols.     

Flow cytometry analysis of adenosine deaminase (ADA) expression: a simple and reliable tool for the assessment of ADA-deficient patients before and after gene therapy

Clinical gene therapy trials for adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency have shown limited success of corrective gene transfer into autologous T lymphocytes and CD34(+) cells. In these trials, the levels of gene transduction and expression in hematopoietic cells have been assessed by DNA- or RNA-based assays and measurement of ADA enzyme activity. Although informative, these methods are rarely applied to clonal analysis. The results of these assays therefore provide best estimates of transduction efficiency and gene expression in bulk populations based on the assumption that gene transfer and expression are uniformly distributed among transduced cells. As a useful additional tool for evaluation of ADA gene expression, we have developed a flow cytometry (fluorescence-activated cell sorting, FACS) assay capable of estimating the levels of intracellular ADA on a single-cell basis. We validated this technique with T cell lines and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from ADA-deficient patients that showed severely reduced levels of ADA expression (ADA-dull) by FACS and Western blot analyses. After retrovirus-mediated ADA gene transfer, these cells showed clearly distinguishable populations exhibiting ADA expression (ADA-bright), thus allowing estimation of transduction efficiency. By mixing ADA-deficient and normal cells and using enzymatic amplification, we determined that our staining procedure could detect as little as 5% ADA-bright cells. This technique, therefore, will be useful to quickly assess the expression of ADA in hematopoietic cells of severe combined immunodeficient patients and represents an important tool for the follow-up of patients treated in clinical gene transfer protocols.     

Efficient gene transfer into human cord blood CD34+ cells and the CD34+CD38- subset using highly purified recombinant adeno-associated viral vector preparations that are free of helper virus and wild-type AAV

Recombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vectors have been evaluated for their ability to transduce primitive hematopoietic cells. Early studies documented rAAV-mediated gene expression during progenitor derived colony formation in vitro, but studies examining genome integration and long-term gene expression in hematopoietic cells have yielded conflicting results. Such studies were performed with crude vector preparations. Using improved methodology, we have generated high titer, biologically active preparations of rAAV free of wild-type AAV (less than 1/107particles) and adenovirus. Transduction of CD34+ cells from umbilical cord blood was evaluated with a bicistronic rAAV vector encoding the green fluorescent protein (GFP) and a trimetrexate resistant variant of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). Freshly isolated, quiescent CD34+ cells were resistant to transduction (less than 4%), but transduction increased to 23 +/- 2% after 2 days of cytokine stimulation and was further augmented by addition of tumor necrosis factor alpha (51 +/- 4%) at a multiplicity of infection of 106. rAAV-mediated gene expression was transient in that progenitor derived colony formation was inhibited by trimetrexate. Primitive CD34+ and CD34+, CD38- subsets were sequentially transduced with a rAAV vector encoding the murine ecotropic receptor followed by transduction with an ecotropic retroviral vector encoding GFP and DHFR. Under optimal conditions 41 +/- 7% of CD34+ progenitors and 21 +/- 6% of CD34+, CD38- progenitors became trimetrexate resistant. These results document that highly purified rAAV transduce primitive human hematopoietic cells efficiently but gene expression appears to be transient. Gene Therapy (2000) 7, 183-195.     

Soluble bone marrow stroma factors improve the efficiency of retroviral transfer of the human multidrug resistance 1 gene to human mobilized peripheral blood progenitor cells.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are a potential target for the retrovirus-mediated transfer of chemotherapeutic drug resistance genes. For integration of the proviral DNA in the HSC genome cell division is required. In the bone marrow (BM) hematopoiesis occurs in the vicinity of stroma cells. Soluble stroma components were shown to play a permissive role for the proliferation of lineage-committed and primitive hematopoietic progenitors in conjunction with cytokines. We investigated the effect of stroma-conditioned medium (SCM) of the FBMD1 cell line on the gene transfer rate of the human multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1) gene contained in the retroviral SF-MDR vector into human mobilized peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPCs) from tumor patients (n = 14) during transwell transduction in the presence of the recombinant fibronectin fragment CH-296. Addition of SCM during transduction increased the gene transfer efficiency into myeloid lineage-committed colony-forming cells by an average of 1.5-fold (p = 0.02) as detected by an SF-MDR provirus-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR). These data were paralleled by significantly (p = 0.04 to p = 0.007) higher proportions of MDR1-expressing myelo-monocytic progeny after transduction in SCM plus interleukin 3 (IL-3), IL-3/Flt3 ligand (FL), IL-3/IL-6/FL, or IL-3/IL-6/stem cell factor (SCF) when compared with transductions without SCM as measured by rhodamine-123 exclusion. A similar trend was observed for SCM employed in combination with IL-3/IL-6/SCF/FL or FL/thrombopoietin (TPO)/SCF during transduction. The latter combination plus SCM yielded the highest proportion, 19.16 +/- 3.10% Rh-123dull cells. The beneficial effect of SCM on transduction efficiency was confirmed in additional four patients' samples, using a serum-free viral supernatant transduction protocol. As soluble BM stroma factors are able to increase the efficiency of retrovirus-mediated gene transfer into committed progenitor cells, beyond that achieved with fibronectin fragment CH-296, their effect on gene transfer into primitive repopulating hematopoietic cells may also prove beneficial.     

Long-term expression of human adenosine deaminase in mice after transplantation of bone marrow infected with amphotropic retroviral vectors

Three retroviral vectors, containing a human adenosine deaminase (ADA) cDNA linked to either the simian virus 40 (SV40) early promoter, the human cytomegalovirus (CMV) immediate early promoter, or the Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMLV) promoter, were tested for their ability to express ADA following infection and transplantation of murine bone marrow. Virus was produced by using PA317 amphotropic retrovirus packaging cells. The titer of each of the vectors was similar and no helper virus was detected. Human ADA was expressed in the blood of some animals for 6 months after transplantation of infected marrow, and vector DNA was found in the spleen and in bone marrow from these animals. The percentage of animals expressing human ADA (33%) and the amount of human ADA in blood (1-5% of total ADA) was similar for each of the vectors. These results show that amphotropic vectors are capable of infecting pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells having long-term repopulating ability, and that a variety of promoters allow gene expression following differentiation of these early cells.     

High level of retrovirus-mediated gene transfer into dendritic cells derived from cord blood and mobilized peripheral blood CD34+ cells

Dendritic cells (DCs), the most potent antigen-presenting cells, can be generated from CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells and used for generating therapeutic immune responses. To develop immunotherapy protocols based on genetically modified DCs, we have investigated the conditions for high-level transduction of a large amount of CD34+-derived DCs. Thus, we have used an efficient and clinically applicable protocol for the retroviral transduction of cord blood (CB) or mobilized peripheral blood (MPB) CD34+ cells based on infection with gibbon ape leukemia virus (GALV)-pseudotyped retroviral vectors carrying the nls-LacZ reporter gene. Infected cells have been subsequently cultured under conditions allowing their dendritic differentiation. The results show that using a growth factor combination including granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor plus tumor necrosis factor alpha plus interleukin 4 plus stem cell factor plus Flt3 ligand, more than 70% of DCs derived from CB or MPB CD34+ cells can be transduced. Semiquantitative PCR indicates that at least two proviral copies per cell were detected. Transduced DCs retain normal immunophenotype and potent T cell stimulatory capacity. Finally, by using a semisolid methylcellulose assay for dendritic progenitors (CFU-DCs), we show that more than 90% of CFU-DCs can be transduced. Such a highly efficient retrovirus-mediated gene transfer into CD34+-derived DCs makes it possible to envision the use of this methodology in clinical trials.     

Enhanced transgene expression in primitive hematopoietic progenitor cells and embryonic stem cells efficiently transduced by optimized retroviral hybrid vectors

Oncoretroviral vectors have been successfully used in gene therapy trials, yet low transduction rates and loss of transgene expression are still major obstacles for their application. To overcome these problems we modified the widely used Moloney murine leukemia virus-derived retroviral vector pMX by replacing the 3'LTR with the spleen focus-forming virus LTR and inserting the woodchuck hepatitis B virus post-translational regulatory element. To compare requirements crucial for efficient transgene expression, we generated the hybrid retroviral vectors pMOWS and pOWS that harbor the complete murine embryonic stem cell virus (MESV)-leader sequence or a shortened MESV-leader not comprising primer binding site (PBS) and splice donor (SD). Applying these retroviral vectors significantly augmented transgene expression in hematopoietic cell lines and progenitor cells. For transduction of murine embryonic stem (ES) cells the retroviral vector pMOWS that harbors the MESV-PBS and -SD was superior resulting in 65% green fluorescent protein (GFP) expressing ES cells. Surprisingly, in murine and human primitive hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC), the highest efficiency of up to 66% GFP expressing cells was achieved with pOWS, a retroviral vector that retains the negative regulatory element coinciding with the MoMuLV-PBS. In summary our hybrid retroviral vectors facilitate significantly improved transgene expression in multipotent cells and thus possess great potential for reconstituting genes in primary cells of disease models, as well as for gene therapy.     

Human cord blood CD34+CD38- cell transduction via lentivirus-based gene transfer vectors.

The efficient transfer and sustained expression of a transgene in human hematopoietic cells with in vivo repopulating potential would provide a significant advancement in the development of protocols for the treatment of hematopoietic diseases. Recent advances in the ability to purify and culture hematopoietic cells with the CD34+CD38- phenotype and with in vivo repopulating potential from human umbilical cord blood provide a direct means of testing the ability of transfer vectors to transduce these cells. Here we demonstrate the efficient transduction and expression of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) in human umbilical cord-derived CD34+CD38- cells, without prestimulation, using a lentivirus-based gene transfer system. Transduced CD34+CD38- cells cultured in serum-free medium supplemented with SCF, Flt-3, IL-3, and IL-6 maintained their surface phenotype for 5 days and expressed readily detectable levels of the transgene. The average transduction efficiency of the CD34+CD38- cells was 59 +/- 7% as determined by flow cytometry. Erythroid and myeloid colonies derived from transduced CD34+CD38- cells were EGFP positive at a high frequency (66 +/- 9%). In contrast, a murine leukemia virus-based vector transduced the CD34+CD38- cells at a low frequency (<4%). These results demonstrate the utility of lentiviral-based gene transfer vectors in the transduction of primitive human hematopoietic CD34+CD38- cells.     

L-histidinol provides effective selection of retrovirus-vector-transduced keratinocytes without impairing their proliferative potential.

Retroviral vectors carrying the neomycin phosphotransferase (neo) gene have been shown to confer G418 resistance to canine keratinocytes at relatively high frequency. To investigate the usefulness of keratinocytes as potential target cells for gene therapy, we used a retroviral vector (LASN) that contains both human adenosine deaminase (hADA) and neo genes. We show here that LASN-transduced canine keratinocytes expressed high levels of hADA, a human protein of therapeutic relevance. Selection of LASN-transduced keratinocytes in medium containing G418 resulted in a population of cells that expressed even higher levels of hADA, about 80-fold higher than the endogenous canine ADA level. However, the G418-selected cells had a reduced proliferative potential and altered morphology indicative of terminal differentiation. To test whether L-histidinol is more beneficial for selection of keratinocytes than G418, we constructed two retroviral vectors that contain both the neo and the histidinol dehydrogenase (hisD) genes. Cocultivation of primary keratinocytes with lethally irradiated PA317 retrovirus packaging cells that produce these vectors gave rise to 12-53% drug-resistant colonies in either G418 or L-histidinol. In contrast to G418, selection of transduced keratinocytes in L-histidinol had no apparent effect on the proliferative potential or morphology of drug-resistant cells containing the vectors. Given the utility of this selection system, two hisD-based generic constructs containing cloning sites for cDNA expression from either the retroviral promoter or from an internal human cytomegalovirus immediate early promoter were constructed. Our results suggest that hisD will be a useful selectable marker for use in studies of keratinocyte differentiation and for transfer of genes into keratinocytes for the purposes of gene therapy.