title: Adenovirus transduction is required for the correction of diabetes using Pdx-1 or Neurogenin-3 in the liver.
abstract: The regeneration of insulin-producing cells in vivo has emerged as a promising method for treating type I diabetes. Pancreatic duodenal homeobox-1 (Pdx-1), NeuroD, and Neurogenin-3 (Ngn3) are pancreatic transcription factors important for the development of insulin-producing cells in the liver. Other groups have demonstrated that adenoviral-mediated transgene expression of these transcription factors in the liver can reverse hyperglycemia in diabetic mice. We delivered Pdx-1 and Ngn3 to the livers of diabetic mice using adeno-associated virus (AAV) serotype 8, a vector that has been shown to result in non-toxic, persistent, high level expression of the transgene. We were unable to correct hyperglycemia in mice with streptozotocin-induced diabetes using AAV vectors expressing Pdx-1 and Ngn3. However, when we co-delivered these transcription factor expression cassettes in non-viral vectors with an irrelevant adenoviral vector, we were able to correct hyperglycemia in diabetic animals. Further studies demonstrated that an antigen-dependent immune response elicited by the adenoviral capsid together with the expression of a pancreatic transcription factor was required for restoration of serum insulin levels by the liver. Our results suggest that a host response to adenovirus in combination with expression of a pro-endocrine pancreas transcription factor is sufficient to induce insulin production in the livers of diabetic mice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Alfred Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ehrhardt
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kay
mesh_terms: D000256:Adenoviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000628:therapy*; D015870:Gene Expression; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010179:Pancreas / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; C407737:Neurog3 protein, mouse; C084010:pancreatic and duodenal homeobox 1 protein