Cytokine stimulation and the choice of promoter are critical factors for the efficient transduction of mouse T cells with HIV-1 vectors.
BACKGROUND
HIV-1 fails to successfully infect mouse T cells as a result of several blocks in the viral replication cycle. We investigated whether this also impacted on the use of HIV-1 derived lentiviral vectors for stable gene transfer into mouse T cells.


METHODS
Freshly isolated primary mouse T cells were immediately mixed with lentiviral vectors encoding an enhanced green fluorescent protein marker gene and transduction frequency was determined after 5 days of culture.


RESULTS
Optimal transduction required both mouse T cell activation and cytokine support. Furthermore, transduction was also dependent upon the promoter chosen, with the rank order of potency being PGK > EF1 > SFFV > CMV. HIV-1 lentiviral vectors also efficiently transduced cytokine-stimulated T cells (in the absence of antibody driven T cell activation), albeit with a lower level of transgene expression compared to fully-activated T cells.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study demonstrates that primary mouse T cells can be efficiently transduced with HIV-1 lentiviral vectors, opening up prospects for their use in mouse models of gene-modified adoptive cellular therapy.
Gilham
David E
DE
Cell Therapy Group, Cancer Research UK Department of Medical Oncology, University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, UK. dgilham@picr.man.ac.uk
Lie-A-Ling
Michael
M
Taylor
Naomi
N
Hawkins
Robert E
RE
D000818:Animals; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002469:Cell Separation; D016207:Cytokines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D014161:Transduction, Genetic / Q000379:methods*; D019076:Transgenes / Q000235:genetics
D016207:Cytokines