title: Screening pigs for xenotransplantation: expression of porcine endogenous retroviruses in transgenic pig skin.
abstract: Pigs seem to be the answer to worldwide organ donor shortage. Porcine skin may also be applied as a dressing for severe burns. Genetic modifications of donor animals enable reduction of immune response, which prolongs xenograft survival as temporary biological dressing and allows achieving resistance against xenograft rejection. The risk posed by porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) cannot be eliminated by breeding animals under specific-pathogen-free conditions and so all recipients of porcine graft will be exposed to PERVs. Therefore our study has been focused on the assessment of PERV DNA and mRNA level in skin samples of transgenic pigs generated for xenotransplantation. Porcine skin fragments were obtained from 3- to 6-month-old non-transgenic and transgenic Polish Landrace pigs. Transgenic pigs were produced by pronuclear DNA microinjection and were developed to express the human α-galactosidase and the human α-1,2-fucosyltransferase gene. The copy numbers of PERV DNA and RNA were evaluated using real-time Q-PCR and QRT-PCR. Comparative analysis of all PERV subtypes revealed that PERV-A is the main subtype of PERVs in analyzed skin samples. There was no significantly different copy number of PERV-A, PERV-B and PERV-C between non-transgenic pigs, pigs with the human α-galactosidase and pigs expressing the human α-1,2-fucosyltransferase gene, except of PERV-C DNA. It brings the conclusion, that transgenesis process exerts no influence on PERVs transinfection. That is another step forward in the development of pig skin xenografts as burn wounds dressing.
authors: Department of Food and Nutrition, School of Pharmacy with the Division of Laboratory Medicine in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia, Jednosci 8, 41-200, Sosnowiec, Poland, mkimsa@sum.edu.pl.
authors: Magdalena
authors: M
authors: Kimsa-Dudek
authors: Barbara
authors: B
authors: Strzalka-Mrozik
authors: Malgorzata W
authors: MW
authors: Kimsa
authors: Irena
authors: I
authors: Blecharz
authors: Joanna
authors: J
authors: Gola
authors: Bartlomiej
authors: B
authors: Skowronek
authors: Adrian
authors: A
authors: Janiszewski
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Lipinski
authors: Joanna
authors: J
authors: Zeyland
authors: Marlena
authors: M
authors: Szalata
authors: Ryszard
authors: R
authors: Slomski
authors: Urszula
authors: U
authors: Mazurek
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified / Q000821:virology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D020077:Endogenous Retroviruses / Q000235:genetics*; D005647:Fucosyltransferases / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012867:Skin / Q000821:virology*; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000235:genetics*; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous; D000519:alpha-Galactosidase / Q000235:genetics; D000097631:Galactoside 2-alpha-L-fucosyltransferase
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D005647:Fucosyltransferases; D000519:alpha-Galactosidase; D000097631:Galactoside 2-alpha-L-fucosyltransferase