Decreased efficiency of adenovirus-mediated gene transfer in aging cardiomyocytes.
BACKGROUND
Aging is an independent risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease. Clinical application of myocardial gene transfer may be best suited in the elderly. In vivo gene transfer by adenovirus is less efficient in aging myocardium.


RESULTS
When infected with adenovirus containing beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) and green fluorescent protein (GFP) driven by cytomegalovirus promoters in vitro, aging rat cardiac myocytes exhibit significantly lower infectivity and delayed transgene expression compared with adult controls. Abnormalities of viral internalization may be one mechanism accounting for this difference. To investigate this, we studied expression levels of the coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) as well as other potential integrins involved in the internalization of adenoviruses. CAR expression tended to be upregulated whereas among potential integrins, alpha(3)beta(1) was downregulated in aging cardiac myocytes. Blocking the beta(1) component of alpha(3)beta(1) further decreased infectivity, suggesting that the interaction between the penton base of the adenovirus and beta(1) maybe a crucial component of the viral entry mechanism.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that it is integrin-stimulated internalization rather than the adenovirus-CAR interaction that plays a vital role in adenoviral entry. The downregulation of integrins observed in senescent cells may be a key mechanism accounting for the decrease in viral infectivity seen in these cells. These findings have implications for the gene therapy treatment of myocardial failure in the elderly.
Communal
Catherine
C
INSERM U572, Hôpital Lariboisière, Paris, France.
Huq
Fawzia
F
Lebeche
Djamel
D
Mestel
Celine
C
Gwathmey
Judith K
JK
Hajjar
Roger J
RJ
D000256:Adenoviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D062727:Coxsackie and Adenovirus Receptor-Like Membrane Protein; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D016023:Integrins / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology*; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D011991:Receptors, Virus / Q000378:metabolism; D014161:Transduction, Genetic
C568773:Clmp protein, rat; D062727:Coxsackie and Adenovirus Receptor-Like Membrane Protein; D016023:Integrins; D011991:Receptors, Virus