title: High efficiency and long-term foreign gene expression in cultured liver sinusoidal endothelial cells by retroviral transduction.
abstract: The liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) constitute a very specialized endothelium. Due to their multiple functions and privileged location in the liver, these cells constitute an excellent target for gene therapy. In this work, the authors investigate the efficiency of retroviral gene transduction as a method for in vitro gene delivery into murine LSECs. Gene transduction into murine LSECs was performed using the PCMMP-eGFP/pIK-MLVgp retrovirus pseudotyped with the vesicular stomatitis virus G glycoprotein (VSV-g), containing eGFP as a reporter gene. Retroviral transduction resulted in a high efficiency of gene transfer (99%) and stable expression of eGFP in LSECs. The retroviral transduction protocol did not affect the morphology or expression of endothelial cell markers or the biological functions of LSECs. The authors have developed conditions for high-efficiency and stable retroviral gene transduction of LSECs. These results raise the possibility of liver gene therapy using LSECs as vehicle for the delivery of therapeutic proteins by means of retroviral vectors.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Patología Celular y Molecular, Centro de Medicina Experimental, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors.forename: Jesus
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paez
authors.forename: Ramon
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Montaño
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Benatuil
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Iacomini
authors.forename: Jose E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Cardier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D013997:Time Factors; D014161:Transduction, Genetic; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C028391:G protein, vesicular stomatitis virus; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins