Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.2.1.23 (beta-galactosidase)
14,648 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The ability to stably transduce a single cell with two independent retroviral vectors would have distinct advantages for gene therapy. We determined that cells can be transduced with two distinct retroviral vectors and have quantitated transduction efficiencies in cells infected sequentially and simultaneously. Two amphotropic, helper virus-free, retroviral vectors, a murine Moloney sarcoma virus-based vector containing the nuclear beta-galactosidase and neomycin resistance genes (MMSVn beta-gal/neoR) and a Harvey virus-derived vector containing the human multidrug resistance gene (HaMDR) were introduced into NIH-3T3 cells, pig keratinocytes, and primary pig fibroblasts simultaneously and sequentially. Analytical flow cytometry was utilized to determine retroviral transduction efficiency by assessing the percentage of cells transduced by either one or both retroviruses, in the absence of selection. Simultaneous retroviral transductions were infrequent events. In addition, transduction of previously infected cells (sequential transductions) occurred at lower than expected frequencies. Our data suggest that there is quantifiable viral interference in sequential retroviral transductions. This interference occurs by a mechanism that appears to be independent of the amphotropic retroviral receptor. Thus, such dual transductions will likely require in vitro selection or the use of a single retrovirus which contains both desired genes on the same genome.
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PMID:Viral interference during simultaneous transduction with two independent helper-free retroviral vectors. 877 15

Mouse Ltk- cells were transfected with four different plasmids for autoinducible and highly-inducible expression of the bacterial lacZ gene and cultivated in suspension. Two selection genes, thymidine kinase (tk) and neomycin resistance (neor), were used to select the clones in both cell lines. The resulting two cell lines, designated M4 and R2, differ in that the inducible MMTV promoter from mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) controls glucocorticoid receptor (gr) gene and lacZ gene expression in the M4 cell line ("autoinducible"), while the constitutive rous sarcoma virus (RSV) promoter controls gr gene expression and the MMTV promoter controls lacZ gene expression in the R2 cell line ("highly-inducible"). Both cell lines were stable with respect to reproducibility of growth rate in spinner flasks and inducibility of beta-galactosidase expression. The exponential growth rate of R2 cells was slower than that of M4 cells before induction because the R2 cell line continuously expressed gr genes under the constitutive RSV promoter, and the percent reduction of exponential growth rate mainly caused by gr gene expression was about 20%. The inducibility of the M4 cell line was greater than that of the R2 cell line because in the M4 cell line MMTV promoter controlled gr and lacZ gene expression autoinducibly. Maximum induction of the M4 cell line occurred after induction with the hormone dexamethasone (Dex) at 10(-7) M, and the final beta-galactosidase content increased 400-fold after induction. The optimum conditions for inducer concentration and induction time were determined, and the highest production of beta-galactosidase occurred when Dex was added after the cell concentration had reached its maximum in batch culture. Dex (10(-9) M) is a critical inducer concentration in view of inducibility between M4 and R2 cell lines. The inducibility of R2 cell line is higher than that of the M4 cell line from 0 to 10(-9) M Dex, but the inducibility of M4 was higher than that of the R2 cell line at Dex concentrations of more than 10(-9) M.
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PMID:Growth and induction kinetics of inducible and autoinducible expression of heterologous protein in suspension cultures of recombinant mouse L cell lines. 885 93

Pantropic retroviral vectors were used to introduce transgenes into Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes). These vectors contain the long terminal repeat (LTR) sequence of Moloney murine leukemia virus (Mo-MLV) and a reporter gene (neo or lacZ) regulated by the LTR sequence of rous sarcoma virus (RSV). Because these pseudotyped retroviral vectors contain the vesicular stomatitis virus envelope glycoprotein (VSV-G), they have an extremely broad host cell range and can infect many no mammalian species. Newly fertilized medaka eggs (intact or dechorionated) were electroporated at different voltage settings in the presence of 4 x 10(4) cfu of pantropic retroviral vector. The survival rates of the pantropic retroviral vector-treated embryos ranged from 65% to 20% with increasing amplitude of electroporation. Dechorionation did not substantially affect the survival rate of embryos. PCR amplification demonstrated proviral sequences in up to 60% of the 2-month-old fish. The efficiency of gene transfer was enhanced by dechorionation. Furthermore, overnight incubation of dechorionated embryos with pantropic retroviral vectors without electroporation also resulted in proviral integration in 60% of the embryos without compromising survival rate. Southern blot analysis of DNA samples isolated from polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as positive F1 reaction animals confirmed the integration of a single copy of the provirus into the host genome. Three P1 transgenic females transmitted the proviral sequence to 50% of their F1 progeny in a back cross with wild-type males, suggesting that the entire germline of these P1 fish was transformed by the pantropic retroviral vector. Expression of the neomycin phosphotranferase transgene in F1 transgenic individuals was detected by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR amplification of the neo mRNA sequence. Furthermore, expression of a beta-galactosidase transgene was also observed in 4-day-old F1 transgenic individuals. Thus, pantropic retroviral vectors provide a convenient method to stably introduce and express foreign genes in medaka.
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PMID:Pantropic retroviral vector integration, expression, and germline transmission in medaka (Oryzias latipes). 941 87

Reliable site-specific delivery of genetic constructs remains a challenging component of gene-based therapy of solid tumors. Isolated limb perfusion (ILP) continues to be evaluated for treatment of locally advanced soft tissue sarcomas because this approach uniquely directs therapeutic agents into the tumor-bearing extremity without significant systemic leak. In light of these considerations, we tested the hypothesis that ILP could be used to deliver genes carried in viral vectors to the sarcoma-bearing rat extremity, resulting in demonstrable gene transfer into the tumor. ILP was performed in rats by cannulating the femoral artery and vein, isolating the hind limb from systemic circulation by tourniquet, and cycling perfusate for 15 min at a rate of 2.4 ml/min. Leakage into the systemic circulation was 7.5% of the total perfusate concentrated in the isolated limb, as determined by perfusion with technetium 99m-tagged RBCs. We used the ILP technique to perfuse rat hind limbs bearing syngeneic fibrosarcoma tumor nodules with the replication-defective adenovirus Ad5LacZ, which expresses the bacterial beta-galactosidase. 5-Bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-beta-D-galactoside staining of the perfused limb tissues confirmed gene transfer to the tumor and peritumoral tissue, demonstrating that the tumor was part of the perfusion circuit and that gene therapy delivered via this method was feasible. These results suggest that adaptation of this preclinical gene delivery model to administer genetic constructs aimed at controlling tumor growth may prove beneficial to patients with extremity sarcomas.
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PMID:Isolated limb perfusion in the sarcoma-bearing rat: a novel preclinical gene delivery system. 981 15

DNA-based immunization is currently being investigated as a new method for the induction of cellular and humoral immunity directed against viral disease and cancer. In the present study we characterized and compared the immune responses induced in mice following particle-bombardment of the skin ('gene gun' immunization) with those elicited by intracutaneous injection of a recombinant adenoviral vector. Using the well characterized beta-galactosidase (beta gal) model Ag system we find that both in vivo gene transfer systems elicit potent and long-lasting anti-beta gal-specific CD8+ and CD4+ T cell responses. However, gene gun immunization predominantly promotes the production of anti-beta gal antibodies of the gamma 1 isotype, indicative of a Th2-biased immune response, while intradermal injection of recombinant adenovirus primarily leads to the production of anti-beta gal gamma 2a antibodies, indicative of a Th1-biased immune response. Since viral infections are generally associated with the production of large amounts of IFN-alpha and IL-12, we investigated whether administration of expression plasmids encoding these Th1-associated cytokines along with antigen-encoding cDNA can influence the nature of the immune response resulting from gene gun immunization. We observed that co-delivery of IFN-alpha or IL-12 resulted in increased production of anti-beta gal gamma 2a antibodies. This suggests a shift towards a Th1 phenotype of the resulting immune response, thus mimicking a viral infection. Importantly, gene gun immunization of mice with a naturally occurring tumor antigen, the tumor-specific p53 mutant antigen expressed by the chemically induced BALB/c Meth A sarcoma, required co-delivery of IL-12 for the induction of effective antitumor immunity. These results have important implications for the design of clinically relevant gene gun immunization strategies for tumor immunotherapy.
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PMID:Co-delivery of T helper 1-biasing cytokine genes enhances the efficacy of gene gun immunization of mice: studies with the model tumor antigen beta-galactosidase and the BALB/c Meth A p53 tumor-specific antigen. 1047 22

The development of genetically modified "whole" tumor cell vaccines for cancer therapy relies on the efficient transduction and expression of genes by vectors. In the present study, we have used a disabled infectious single cycle-herpes simplex virus 2 (DISC-HSV-2) vector constructed to express cytokine or marker genes upon infection. DISC-HSV-2 is able to infect a wide range of tumor cells and efficiently express the beta-galactosidase reporter gene, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), or IL-2 genes. Gene expression occurred rapidly after infection of tumor cells, and the level of production of the gene product (beta-galactosidase, GM-CSF, or IL-2) was shown to be both time-and dose-dependent. Vaccination with irradiated DISC-mGM-CSF or DISC-hIL-2-infected murine tumor cells resulted in greatly enhanced immunity to tumor challenge with live parental tumor cells compared with control vaccines. When used therapeutically to treat existing tumors, vaccination with irradiated DISC-mGM-CSF-infected tumor cells significantly reduced the incidence and growth rates of tumors when administered locally adjacent to the tumor site, providing up to 90% protection. The prophylactic and therapeutic efficacy of DISC-mGM-CSF-infected cells was shown initially using a murine renal cell carcinoma model (RENCA), and the results were confirmed in two additional murine tumor models: the M3 melanoma and 302R sarcoma. Therapy with DISC-infected RENCA "whole" cell vaccines failed to reduce the incidence or growth of tumor in congenitally T-cell deficient (Nu+/Nu+) mice or mice depleted of CD4+ and/or CD8+ T-lymphocytes, confirming that both T-helper and T-cytotoxic effector arms of the immune response are required to promote tumor rejection. These preclinical results suggest that this "novel" DISC-HSV vector may prove to be efficacious in developing genetically modified whole-cell vaccines for clinical use.
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PMID:Preclinical evaluation of "whole" cell vaccines for prophylaxis and therapy using a disabled infectious single cycle-herpes simplex virus vector to transduce cytokine genes. 1074 37

One problem limiting the development of long-term gene replacement therapy is gene silencing. A variety of experiments have implicated DNA methylation and histone deacetylation in gene silencing and shown that the agents 5-azacytidine (5-Aza) and trichostatin A (TSA) are able to reverse these effects. To begin to investigate clinically relevant strategies to reverse silencing with these drugs, we transduced the MEL and FDCP-1 hematopoietic cell lines with Moloney murine leukemia virus (MMLV) and Harvey murine sarcoma virus (HMSV)-based retroviral vectors carrying the beta-galactosidase/neomycin resistance fusion gene (beta-geo). Fifty-one clones were isolated under G418 selection over 2 weeks and then allowed to grow without selection as beta-gal activity was monitored over time. More than 80% of these clones showed significant silencing over a period of 70-80 days. The clones were then exposed to a wide range of 5-Aza and TSA concentrations, both alone and in combination, in an effort to reverse silencing. Despite demonstration that the agents were able to decrease DNA methylation and increase histone acetylation, significant reversal of long-term silencing was not seen under any experimental condition. These results suggest that long-term retroviral silencing involves mechanisms in addition to DNA methylation and histone acetylation and that new pharmacologic strategies are needed to overcome the silencing process.
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PMID:Long-term silencing of retroviral vectors is resistant to reversal by trichostatin A and 5-azacytidine. 1080 88

We previously showed that the yeast three-hybrid system provides a genetic assay of both RNA and protein components for avian retroviral RNA encapsidation. In the current study, we used this assay to precisely define cis-acting determinants involved in avian leukosis sarcoma virus packaging RNA binding to Gag protein. In vivo screening of Rous sarcoma virus mutants was performed with randomly mutated minimal packaging sequences (MPsi) made using PCR amplification after cotransformation with GagDeltaPR protein into yeast cells. Colonies with low beta-galactosidase activity were analyzed to locate mutations in MPsi sequences affecting binding to Gag proteins. This genetic assay delineated secondary structural elements that are important for efficient RNA binding, including a single-stranded small bulge containing the initiation codon for uORF3, as well as adjacent stem structures. This implies a possible tertiary structure favoring the high-affinity binding sites for Gag. In most cases, results from the three-hybrid assay were well correlated with those from the viral RNA packaging assays. The results from random mutagenesis using the rapid three-hybrid binding assay are consistent with those from site-directed mutagenesis using in vivo packaging assays.
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PMID:Yeast three-hybrid screening of rous sarcoma virus mutants with randomly mutagenized minimal packaging signals reveals regions important for gag interactions. 1098 63

Recently, it has been demonstrated that Etoposide, a topoisomerase II inhibitor, can induce apoptosis in MDM2-overexpressing tumor cells by inhibition of MDM2 synthesis. We have previously shown that E2F-1 overexpression induces apoptosis of MDM2-overexpressing sarcoma cells, which is related to the inhibition of MDM2 expression. Therefore, the present study was designed to investigate the in vitro and in vivo effect of combined treatment of adenovirus-mediated E2F-1 and topoisomerase II inhibitors on the growth inhibition and apoptosis in human sarcoma cells. Two human sarcoma cell lines, OsACL and U2OS, were treated with topoisomerase II inhibitors (Etoposide and Adriamycin), alone or in combination with adenoviral vectors expressing beta-galactosidase (Ad-LacZ) or E2F-1 (Ad-E2F-1). E2F-1 expression was confirmed by Western blot analysis. Ad-E2F-1 gene transfer at a low dose (multiplicity of infection, 2) markedly increased the sensitivity of human sarcoma cells to topoisomerase II inhibitor treatment. This cooperative effect of E2F-1 and topoisomerase II inhibitors was less marked in SAOS-2 cells (p53 and pRb null). Topoisomerase II inhibitors also cooperated with E2F-1 overexpression to enhance tumor cell killing in an in vivo model using xenografts in nude mice. When combined with Adriamycin or Etoposide, E2F-1 adenovirus therapy resulted in approximately 95% and 85% decrease in tumor size, respectively, compared to controls (P<.05). These results suggest a new chemosensitization strategy that is effective in MDM2-overexpressing tumors and may have clinical utility.
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PMID:Additive effect of adenovirus-mediated E2F-1 gene transfer and topoisomerase II inhibitors on apoptosis in human osteosarcoma cells. 1139 76

Viral vectors with high transfection efficiencies are not always those with optimal target cell binding specificities. As a consequence, virus pseudotyping has been developed to endow transfection competent viruses with improved cell binding specificities and affinities. We have hypothesized that chemical conjugation of a virus to a cell specific ligand might also alter its target cell specificity and produce a virus that would transfect only the desired cell type. To test this concept, an ecotropic replication-defective myeloproliferative sarcoma retrovirus and an amphotropic murine adenovirus containing the gene for beta-galactosidase were chemically derivatized with folic acid. As expected from its strong ecotropism, the unmodified retrovirus did not induce beta-galactosidase expression in nonhost KB cells, while the amphotropic adenovirus yielded high levels of gene expression in the same cell line. Surprisingly, although folate derivatization enabled avid binding of both viruses to folate receptor expressing KB cells, the folate conjugation did not promote retroviral gene expression and actually prevented the normal beta-galactosidase expression seen with the adenoviral vector. The fact that co-administration of excess free folic acid to block uptake by folate receptor-mediated endocytosis restored adenoviral gene expression to the level obtained with unmodified virus suggests that folate derivatization per se does not hamper viral activity. We, therefore, conclude that neither retroviral nor adenoviral delivery via the folate endocytosis pathway is compatible with viral gene expression in KB cells.
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PMID:Retargeting of viral vectors to the folate receptor endocytic pathway. 1148 85


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