title: Intra-amniotic transient transduction of the periderm with a viral vector encoding TGFβ3 prevents cleft palate in Tgfβ3(-/-) mouse embryos.
abstract: Cleft palate is a developmental defect resulting from the failure of embryonic palatal shelves to fuse with each other at a critical time. Immediately before and during palatal fusion (E13-E15 in mice), transforming growth factor β3 (TGFβ3) is expressed in the palatal shelf medial edge epithelium (MEE) and plays a pivotal role in palatal fusion. Using Tgfβ3(-/-) mice, which display complete penetrance of the cleft palate phenotype, we tested the hypothesis that intra-amniotic gene transfer could be used to prevent cleft palate formation by restoring palatal midline epithelial function. An adenoviral vector encoding Tgfβ3 was microinjected into the amniotic sacs of mouse embryos at successive developmental stages. Transduced Tgfβ3(-/-) fetuses showed efficient recovery of palatal fusion with mesenchymal confluence following injection at E12.5 (100%), E13.5 (100%), E14.5 (82%), and E15.5 (75%). Viral vectors injected into the amniotic sac transduced the most superficial and transient peridermal cell layer but not underlying basal epithelial cells. TGFβ3 transduction of the peridermdal cell layer was sufficient to induce adhesion, fusion, and disappearance of the palatal shelf MEE in a cell nonautonomous manner. We propose that intra-amniotic gene transfer approaches have therapeutic potential to prevent cleft palate in utero, especially those resulting from palatal midline epithelial dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Chadwick
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Masa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.forename: Byung H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Melissa A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Radecki
authors.forename: Patrick F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Philip W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Zoltick
authors.forename: Ryan M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Spivak
authors.forename: Alan W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Flake
authors.forename: Richard E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Kirschner
authors.forename: Hyun-Duck
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Nah
mesh_terms: D000650:Amnion; D000818:Animals; D019556:COS Cells; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000235:genetics / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D011247:Pregnancy; D014161:Transduction, Genetic; D053782:Transforming Growth Factor beta3 / Q000235:genetics*; D014780:Viruses / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C509045:Tgfb3 protein, mouse; D053782:Transforming Growth Factor beta3; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins