[Continuous delivery of epidermal growth factor to wounds in vivo by genetically modified fibroblasts transfected with a novel chimeric construct].
OBJECTIVE
This paper aims to explore the new method of continuous delivery of epidermal growth factor to wounds by transfected fibroblasts to promote wound repair.


METHODS
It was constructed a novel chimeric expression plasmid in which the biologically active portion of the human epidermal growth factor (EGF) gene was fused in-frame to the human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor signal sequence.


RESULTS
Clonally selected human fibroblasts transfected with this construct could secrete biologically active EGF. After the transplantation of irradiated gene-transfected fibroblasts suspended in fibrin glue to murine full-thickness wounds, EGF could be demonstrated for at least seven days in the wounds, slowly decreasing from initially 470 ng/L to 140 ng/L in 7 days. No EGF was found in the wound at 14 days.


CONCLUSIONS
A single application of irradiated EGF gene transfected fibroblasts to wounds can continuously deliver the transgene in vivo and can be used to administer drugs to the wound bed during the crucial first seven days of wound-healing.
Cao
L
L
Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, P. R. China 200031.
Rosenthal
F
F
Jiao
X Y
XY
Tanczos
E
E
Mertelsmann
R
R
Stark
G B
GB
Kulmburg
P
P
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017690:Cell Transplantation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids; D014162:Transfection; D014945:Wound Healing
D018076:DNA, Complementary; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor