Dose-response resistance to HIV-1/MuLV pseudotype virus ex vivo in a hairpin ribozyme transgenic mouse model

We have investigated the efficacy of a hairpin ribozyme targeting the 5′ leader sequence of HIV-1 RNA in a transgenic model system. Primary spleen cells derived from transgenic or control mice were infected with HIV-1/MuLV pseudotype virus. A significantly reduced susceptibility to infection in ribozyme-expressing transgenic spleen cells (P = 0.01) was shown. Variation of transgene-expression levels between littermates revealed a dose response between ribozyme expression and viral resistance, with an estimated cut off value below 0.2 copies of hairpin ribozyme per cell. These findings open up possibilities for studies on ribozyme efficacy and anti-HIV-1 gene therapy.

Administration of helper-dependent adenoviral vectors and sequential delivery of different vector serotype for long-term liver-directed gene transfer in baboons

The efficiency of first-generation adenoviral vectors as gene delivery tools is often limited by the short duration of transgene expression, which can be related to immune responses and to toxic effects of viral proteins. In addition, readministration is usually ineffective unless the animals are immunocompromised or a different adenovirus serotype is used. Recently, adenoviral vectors devoid of all viral coding sequences (helper-dependent or gutless vectors) have been developed to avoid expression of viral proteins. In mice, liver-directed gene transfer with AdSTK109, a helper-dependent adenoviral (Ad) vector containing the human α1-antitrypsin (hAAT) gene, resulted in sustained expression for longer than 10 months with negligible toxicity to the liver. In the present report, we have examined the duration of expression of AdSTK109 in the liver of baboons and compared it to first-generation vectors expressing hAAT. Transgene expression was limited to approximately 3–5 months with the first-generation vectors. In contrast, administration of AdSTK109 resulted in transgene expression for longer than a year in two of three baboons. We have also investigated the feasibility of circumventing the humoral response to the virus by sequential administration of vectors of different serotypes. We found that the ineffectiveness of readministration due to the humoral response to an Ad5 first-generation vector was overcome by use of an Ad2-based vector expressing hAAT. These data suggest that long-term expression of transgenes should be possible by combining the reduced immunogenicity and toxicity of helper-dependent vectors with sequential delivery of vectors of different serotypes.

Rapid elimination of mature autoreactive B cells demonstrated by Cre-induced change in B cell antigen receptor specificity in vivo

Developing autoreactive B cells edit their B cell antigen receptor (BCR) in the bone marrow and are clonally deleted when they fail to reexpress an innocent BCR. Here, inducible Cre-loxP-mediated gene inversion is used to change the specificity of the BCR on mature IgM+ IgD+ B cells in vivo to address the fate of lymphocytes encountering self-antigens at this developmental stage. Expression of an autoreactive BCR on mature B cells leads to their rapid elimination from the periphery, a process that is inhibited by constitutive bcl-2 transgene expression in an antigen dose-dependent manner. Thus, selection of mature B cells into the long-lived peripheral pool does not prevent their deletion upon encounter of self-antigens.

A general strategy to enhance the potency of chimeric transcriptional activators

Efforts to increase the potency of transcriptional activators are generally unsuccessful because poor expression of activators in mammalian cells limits their delivery to target promoters. Here we report that the effectiveness of chimeric activators can be dramatically improved by expressing them as noncovalent tetrameric bundles. Bundled activation domains are much more effective at activating a reporter gene than simple monomeric activators, presumably because, at similar expression levels, up to 4 times as many the activation domains are delivered to the target promoter. These bundled activation domains are also more effective than proteins in which activation domains are tandemly reiterated in the same polypeptide chain, because such proteins are very poorly expressed and therefore not delivered effectively. These observations suggest that there is a threshold number of activation domains that must be bound to a promoter for activation, above which promoter activity is simply a function of the number of activators bound. We show that bundling can be exploited practically to enhance the sensitivity of mammalian two-hybrid assays, enabling detection of weak interactions or those between poorly expressed proteins. Bundling also dramatically improves the performance of a small-molecule-regulated gene expression system when the expression level of regulatory protein is limiting, a situation that may be encountered in gene therapy applications.

Identification of morc (microrchidia), a mutation that results in arrest of spermatogenesis at an early meiotic stage in the mouse

The microrchidia, or morc, autosomal recessive mutation results in the arrest of spermatogenesis early in prophase I of meiosis. The morc mutation arose spontaneously during the development of a mouse strain transgenic for a tyrosinase cDNA construct. Morc −/− males are infertile and have grossly reduced testicular mass, whereas −/− females are normal, indicating that the Morc gene acts specifically during male gametogenesis. Immunofluorescence to synaptonemal complex antigens demonstrated that −/− male germ cells enter meiosis but fail to progress beyond zygotene or leptotene stage. An apoptosis assay revealed massive numbers of cells undergoing apoptosis in testes of −/− mice. No other abnormal phenotype was observed in mutant animals, with the exception of eye pigmentation caused by transgene expression in the retina. Spermatogenesis is normal in +/− males, despite significant transgene expression in germ cells. Genomic analysis of −/− animals indicates the presence of a deletion adjacent to the transgene. Identification of the gene inactivated by the transgene insertion may define a novel biochemical pathway involved in mammalian germ cell development and meiosis.

Involvement of Type 4 cAMP-Phosphodiesterase in the Myogenic Differentiation of L6 Cells

Myogenic cell differentiation is induced by Arg8-vasopressin, whereas high cAMP levels and protein kinase A (PKA) activity inhibit myogenesis. We investigated the role of type 4 phosphodiesterase (PDE4) during L6-C5 myoblast differentiation. Selective PDE4 inhibition resulted in suppression of differentiation induced by vasopressin. PDE4 inhibition prevented vasopressin-induced nuclear translocation of the muscle-specific transcription factor myogenin without affecting its overall expression level. The effects of PDE4 inhibition could be attributed to an increase of cAMP levels and PKA activity. RNase protection, reverse transcriptase PCR, immunoprecipitation, Western blot, and enzyme activity assays demonstrated that the PDE4D3 isoform is the major PDE4 expressed in L6-C5 myoblasts and myotubes, accounting for 75% of total cAMP-hydrolyzing activity. Vasopressin cell stimulation caused a biphasic increase of PDE4 activity, which peaked at 2 and 15 min and remained elevated for 48 h. In the continuous presence of vasopressin, cAMP levels and PKA activity were lowered. PDE4D3 overexpression increased spontaneous and vasopressin-dependent differentiation of L6-C5 cells. These results show that PDE4D3 plays a key role in the control of cAMP levels and differentiation of L6-C5 cells. Through the modulation of PDE4 activity, vasopressin inhibits the cAMP signal transduction pathway, which regulates myogenesis possibly by controlling the subcellular localization of myogenin.

Zic2 regulates the kinetics of neurulation

Mutation in human ZIC2, a zinc finger protein homologous to Drosophila odd-paired, causes holoprosencephaly (HPE), which is a common, severe malformation of the brain in humans. However, the pathogenesis is largely unknown. Here we show that reduced expression (knockdown) of mouse Zic2 causes neurulation delay, resulting in HPE and spina bifida. Differentiation of the most dorsal neural plate, which gives rise to both roof plate and neural crest cells, also was delayed as indicated by the expression lag of a roof plate marker, Wnt3a. In addition the development of neural crest derivatives such as dorsal root ganglion was impaired. These results suggest that the Zic2 expression level is crucial for the timing of neurulation. Because the Zic2 knockdown mouse is the first mutant with HPE and spina bifida to survive to the perinatal period, the mouse will promote analyses of not only the neurulation but also the pathogenesis of human HPE.

A transgenic mouse model of metastatic prostate cancer originating from neuroendocrine cells

A transgenic mouse model of metastatic prostate cancer has been developed that is 100% penetrant in multiple pedigrees. Nucleotides −6500 to +34 of the mouse cryptdin-2 gene were used to direct expression of simian virus 40 T antigen to a subset of neuroendocrine cells in all lobes of the FVB/N mouse prostate. Transgene expression is initiated between 7 and 8 weeks of age and leads to development of prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia within a week. Prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia progresses rapidly to local invasion. Metastases to lymph nodes, liver, lung, and bone are common by 6 months. Tumorigenesis is not dependent on androgens. This model indicates that the neuroendocrine cell lineage of the prostate is exquisitely sensitive to transformation and provides insights about the significance of neuroendocrine differentiation in human prostate cancer.

Glucocorticoid-mediated repression of nuclear factor-κBdependent transcription involves direct interference with transactivation

Glucocorticoids exert multiple anti-inflammatory activities, one of which is the inhibition of transcription dependent on the nuclear factor (NF)-κB. It has been suggested that the effect of dexamethasone (DEX), a glucocorticoid analog, is attributed to an increased production of the inhibitory IκB molecule, which in turn would bind and remove activated, DNA-bound NF-κB complexes in the cell nucleus. Upon investigating DEX-mediated repression of interleukin-6 expression induced by tumor necrosis factor, DEX treatment was found to act directly on NF-κB-dependent transcription, without changing the expression level of IκB. Neither the mRNA of IκB nor the protein was significantly elevated by a combined treatment with tumor necrosis factor and DEX of murine endothelial or fibroblast cells. The DNA-binding activity of induced NF-κB also remained unchanged after stimulation of cells with DEX. Evidence for a direct nuclear mechanism of action was obtained by analysis of cell lines stably expressing a fusion protein between the DNA-binding domain of the yeast Gal4 protein and the transactivating p65 subunit of NF-κB. Expression of a Gal4-dependent luciferase reporter gene activated by this nuclear fusion protein was also strongly repressed after addition of DEX. Because the DNA-binding activity of the Gal4 fusion protein was not affected by DEX, it can be concluded that the reduction of gene activation was caused by interference of the activated glucocorticoid receptor with the transactivation potential of the NF-κB p65 subunit.

Inflammatory mediators are perpetuated in macrophages resistant to apoptosis induced by hypoxia

A hypoxic/anoxic microenvironment has been proposed to exist within a vascular lesion due to intimal or medial cell proliferation in vascular diseases. Here, we examined whether hypoxia alters macrophage function by exposing murine macrophage-like RAW 264.7 (RAW) cells to hypoxia (2% O2). When cells were exposed to hypoxia, a significant number of RAW cells underwent apoptosis. Additionally, small subpopulations of RAW cells were resistant to hypoxia-induced apoptosis. Through repeated cycles of hypoxia exposure, hypoxia-induced apoptosis-resistant macrophages (HARMs) were selected; HARM cells demonstrate >70% resistance to hypoxia-induced apoptosis, as compared with the parental RAW cells. When heat shock protein (HSP) expression was examined after hypoxia, we observed a significant decrease in constitutive heat shock protein 70 (HSC 70) in RAW cells, but not in HARMs, as compared with the control normoxic condition (21% O2). In contrast, the expression level of glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP 78) in RAW and HARM cells after hypoxia treatment was not altered, suggesting that HSC 70 and not GRP 78 may play a role in protection against hypoxia-induced apoptosis. When tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) production was examined after hypoxic treatment, a significant increase in TNF-α production in HARM but decrease in RAW was observed, as compared with cells cultured in normoxic conditions. HARM cells also exhibit a much lower level of modified-LDL uptake than do RAW cells, suggesting that HARMs may not transform into foam cells. These results suggest that a selective population of macrophages may adapt to potentially pathological hypoxic conditions by overcoming the apoptotic signal.

MethDB—a public database for DNA methylation data

Methylation of cytosine in the 5 position of the pyrimidine ring is a major modification of the DNA in most organisms. In eukaryotes, the distribution and number of 5-methylcytosines (5mC) along the DNA is heritable but can also change with the developmental state of the cell and as a response to modifications of the environment. While DNA methylation probably has a number of functions, scientific interest has recently focused on the gene silencing effect methylation can have in eukaryotic cells. In particular, the discovery of changes in the methylation level during cancer development has increased the interest in this field. In the past, a vast amount of data has been generated with different levels of resolution ranging from 5mC content of total DNA to the methylation status of single nucleotides. We present here a database for DNA methylation data that attempts to unify these results in a common resource. The database is accessible via WWW (http://www.methdb.de). It stores information about the origin of the investigated sample and the experimental procedure, and contains the DNA methylation data. Query masks allow for searching for 5mC content, species, tissue, gene, sex, phenotype, sequence ID and DNA type. The output lists all available information including the relative gene expression level. DNA methylation patterns and methylation profiles are shown both as a graphical representation and as G/A/T/C/5mC-sequences or tables with sequence positions and methylation levels, respectively.

Supernatant protein factor, which stimulates the conversion of squalene to lanosterol, is a cytosolic squalene transfer protein and enhances cholesterol biosynthesis

Squalene epoxidase, a membrane-associated enzyme that converts squalene to squalene 2,3-oxide, plays an important role in the maintenance of cholesterol homeostasis. In 1957, Bloch and colleagues identified a factor from rat liver cytosol termed “supernatant protein factor (SPF),” which promotes the squalene epoxidation catalyzed by rat liver microsomes with oxygen, NADPH, FAD, and phospholipid [Tchen, T. T. & Bloch, K. (1957) J. Biol. Chem. 226, 921–930]. Although purification of SPF by 11,000-fold was reported, no information is so far available on the primary structure or biological function of SPF. Here we report the cDNA cloning and expression of SPF from rat and human. The encoded protein of 403 amino acids belongs to a family of cytosolic lipid-binding/transfer proteins such as α-tocopherol transfer protein, cellular retinal binding protein, yeast phosphatidylinositol transfer protein (Sec14p), and squid retinal binding protein. Recombinant SPF produced in Escherichia coli enhances microsomal squalene epoxidase activity and promotes intermembrane transfer of squalene in vitro. SPF mRNA is expressed abundantly in the liver and small intestine, both of which are important sites of cholesterol biosynthesis. SPF is expressed significantly in isolated hepatocytes, but the expression level was markedly decreased after 48 h of in vitro culture. Moreover, SPF was not detectable in most of the cell lines tested, including HepG2 and McARH7777 hepatomas. Transfection of SPF cDNA in McARH7777 significantly stimulated de novo cholesterol biosynthesis. These data suggest that SPF is a cytosolic squalene transfer protein capable of regulating cholesterol biosynthesis.

Effect Of DNA-dependent protein kinase on the molecular fate of the rAAV2 genome in skeletal muscle

We report here that the DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) affects the molecular fate of the recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) genome in skeletal muscle. rAAV-human α1-antitrypsin (rAAV-hAAT) vectors were delivered by intramuscular injection to either C57BL/6 (DNA-PKcs+) or C57BL/6-SCID [severe combined immunodeficient (SCID), DNA-PKcs−] mice. In both strains, high levels of transgene expression were sustained for up to 1 year after a single injection. Southern blot analysis showed that rAAV genomes persisted as linear episomes for more than 1 year in SCID mice, whereas only circular episomal forms were observed in the C57BL/6 strain. These results indicate that DNA-PK is involved in the formation of circular rAAV episomes.

Trends in lipoplex physical properties dependent on cationic lipid structure, vehicle and complexation procedure do not correlate with biological activity

Using a group of structurally related cytofectins, the effects of different vehicle constituents and mixing techniques on the physical properties and biological activity of lipoplexes were systematically examined. Physical properties were examined using a combination of dye accessibility assays, centrifugation, gel electrophoresis and dynamic light scattering. Biological activity was examined using in vitro transfection. Lipoplexes were formulated using two injection vehicles commonly used for in vivo delivery (PBS pH 7.2 and 0.9% saline), and a sodium phosphate vehicle previously shown to enhance the biological activity of naked pDNA and lipoplex formulations. Phosphate was found to be unique in its effect on lipoplexes. Specifically, the accessible pDNA in lipoplexes formulated with cytofectins containing a γ-amine substitution in the headgroup was dependent on alkyl side chain length and sodium phosphate concentration, but the same effects were not observed when using cytofectins containing a β-OH headgroup substitution. The physicochemical features of the phosphate anion, which give rise to this effect in γ-amine cytofectins, were deduced using a series of phosphate analogs. The effects of the formulation vehicle on transfection were found to be cell type-dependent; however, of the formulation variables examined, the liposome/pDNA mixing method had the greatest effect on transgene expression in vitro. Thus, though predictive physical structure relationships involving the vehicle and cytofectin components of the lipoplex were uncovered, they did not extrapolate to trends in biological activity.

Overexpression of Glutathione Synthetase in Indian Mustard Enhances Cadmium Accumulation and Tolerance1

An important pathway by which plants detoxify heavy metals is through sequestration with heavy-metal-binding peptides called phytochelatins or their precursor, glutathione. To identify limiting factors for heavy-metal accumulation and tolerance, and to develop transgenic plants with an increased capacity to accumulate and/or tolerate heavy metals, the Escherichia coli gshII gene encoding glutathione synthetase (GS) was overexpressed in the cytosol of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea). The transgenic GS plants accumulated significantly more Cd than the wild type: shoot Cd concentrations were up to 25% higher and total Cd accumulation per shoot was up to 3-fold higher. Moreover, the GS plants showed enhanced tolerance to Cd at both the seedling and mature-plant stages. Cd accumulation and tolerance were correlated with the gshII expression level. Cd-treated GS plants had higher concentrations of glutathione, phytochelatin, thiol, S, and Ca than wild-type plants. We conclude that in the presence of Cd, the GS enzyme is rate limiting for the biosynthesis of glutathione and phytochelatins, and that overexpression of GS offers a promising strategy for the production of plants with superior heavy-metal phytoremediation capacity.