title: Sustained gene expression in transplanted skin fibroblasts in rats.
abstract: Retrovirus-mediated gene transfer into adult skin fibroblasts has provided measurable amounts of therapeutic proteins in animal models. However, the major problem emerging from these experiments was a limited time of vector encoded gene expression once transduced cells were engrafted. We hypothesized that sustained transduced gene expression in quiescent fibroblasts in vivo might be obtained by using a fibronectin (Fn) promoter. Fibronectin plays a key role in cell adhesion, migration and wound healing and is up-regulated in quiescent fibroblasts. Retroviral vectors containing human adenosine deaminase (ADA) cDNA linked to rat fibronectin promoter (LNFnA) or viral LTR promoter (LASN) were compared for their ability to express ADA from transduced primary rat skin fibroblasts in vivo. Skin grafts formed from fibroblasts transduced with LNFnA showed strong human ADA enzyme activity from 1 week to 3 months. In contrast, skin grafts containing LASN-transduced fibroblasts tested positive for human ADA for weeks 1 and 2, were faintly positive at week 3 and showed no human ADA expression at 1, 2 and 3 months. Thus, a fibronectin promoter provided sustained transduced gene expression at high levels for at least 3 months in transplanted rat skin fibroblasts, perhaps permitting the targeting of this tissue for human gene therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle 98195, USA.
authors.forename: M Q
authors.initials: MQ
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: D V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Lejnieks
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ramesh
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seppen
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Osborne
mesh_terms: D000243:Adenosine Deaminase / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004247:DNA; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000637:transplantation*; D005353:Fibronectins / Q000235:genetics; D015870:Gene Expression; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006801:Humans; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics; D013997:Time Factors; D014162:Transfection / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D005353:Fibronectins; D004247:DNA; D000243:Adenosine Deaminase