The application of bone marrow transplantation to the treatment of genetic diseases

Genetic diseases can be treated by transplantation of either normal allogeneic bone marrow or, potentially, autologous bone marrow into which the normal gene has been inserted in vitro (gene therapy). Histocompatible allogeneic bone marrow transplantation is used for the treatment of genetic diseases whose clinical expression is restricted to lymphoid or hematopoietic cells. The therapeutic role of bone marrow transplantation in the treatment of generalized genetic diseases, especially those affecting the central nervous system, is under investigation. The response of a generalized genetic disease to allogeneic bone marrow transplantation may be predicted by experiments in vitro. Gene therapy can be used only when the gene responsible for the disease has been characterized. Success of gene therapy for a specific genetic disease may be predicted by its clinical response to allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.     

Gene therapy for human genetic disease?

In our view, gene therapy may ameliorate some human genetic diseases in the future. For this reason, we believe that research directed at the development of techniques for gene therapy should continue. For the foreseeable future, however, we oppose any further attempts at gene therapy in human patients because (i) our understanding of such basic processes as gene regulation and genetic recombination in human cells is inadequate; (ii) our understanding of the details of the relation between the molecular defect and the disease state is rudimentary for essentially all genetic diseases; and (iii) we have no information on the short-range and long-term side effects of gene therapy. We therefore propose that a sustained effort be made to formulate a complete set of ethicoscientific criteria to guide the development and clinical application of gene therapy techniques. Such an endeavor could go a long way toward ensuring that gene therapy is used in humans only in those instances where it will prove beneficial, and toward preventing its misuse through premature application. Two recent papers have provided new demonstrations of directed genetic modification of mammalian cells. Munyon et al. (44) restored the ability to synthesize the enzyme thymidine kinase to thymidine kinase-deficient mouse cells by infection with ultraviolet-irradiated herpes simplex virus. In their experiments the DNA from herpes simplex virus, which contains a gene coding for thymidine kinase, may have formed a hereditable association with the mouse cells. Merril et al. (45) reported that treatment of fibroblasts from patients with galactosemia with exogenous DNA caused increased activity of a missing enzyme, alpha-D-galactose-l-phosphate uridyltransferase. They also provided some evidence that the change persisted after subculturing the treated cells. If this latter report can be confirmed, the feasibility of directed genetic modification of human cells would be clearly demonstrated, considerably enhancing the technical prospects for gene therapy.     

Suppression of human colorectal carcinoma cell growth by wild-type p53

Mutations of the p53 gene occur commonly in colorectal carcinomas and the wild-type p53 allele is often concomitantly deleted. These findings suggest that the wild-type gene may act as a suppressor of colorectal carcinoma cell growth. To test this hypothesis, wild-type or mutant human p53 genes were transfected into human colorectal carcinoma cell lines. Cells transfected with the wild-type gene formed colonies five- to tenfold less efficiently than those transfected with a mutant p53 gene. In those colonies that did form after wild-type gene transfection, the p53 sequences were found to be deleted or rearranged, or both, and no exogenous p53 messenger RNA expression was observed. In contrast, transfection with the wild-type gene had no apparent effect on the growth of epithelial cells derived from a benign colorectal tumor that had only wild-type p53 alleles. Immunocytochemical techniques demonstrated that carcinoma cells expressing the wild-type gene did not progress through the cell cycle, as evidenced by their failure to incorporate thymidine into DNA. These studies show that the wild-type gene can specifically suppress the growth of human colorectal carcinoma cells in vitro and that an in vivo-derived mutation resulting in a single conservative amino acid substitution in the p53 gene product abrogates this suppressive ability.     

Effect of p53 status on tumor response to antiangiogenic therapy

The p53 tumor suppressor gene is inactivated in the majority of human cancers. Tumor cells deficient in p53 display a diminished rate of apoptosis under hypoxic conditions, a circumstance that might reduce their reliance on vascular supply, and hence their responsiveness to antiangiogenic therapy. Here, we report that mice bearing tumors derived from p53(-/-) HCT116 human colorectal cancer cells were less responsive to antiangiogenic combination therapy than mice bearing isogenic p53(+/+) tumors. Thus, although antiangiogenic therapy targets genetically stable endothelial cells in the tumor vasculature, genetic alterations that decrease the vascular dependence of tumor cells can influence the therapeutic response of tumors to this therapy.     

人H1启动子转录shRNA的细胞种属特异性研究

利用siDirect软件预测绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)基因特异性小干扰RNA(siRNA),将人工合成的相应shRNA插入含人H1启动子的pSuper载体,获得表达载体pSuper-shRNA,再将H1-shRNA插入表达GFP基因的peGFP-N1载体,获得表达载体peGFP-H1-shRNA。分别以pSuper-shRNA peGFP-N1和peGFP-H1-shRNA转染COS-1、293-T、鸡胚肝(CEL)和鸡胚成纤维(CEF)细胞,根据相同条件下GFP阳性细胞数及荧光强度变化判断产生的siRNA对GFP基因表达的沉默作用,比较人H1启动子在哺乳动物和禽源细胞中的转录活性。结果表明:人H1启动子在2种哺乳动物细胞中能有效转录shRNA,但在2种禽源细胞中的转录活性很弱,提示在禽源细胞中表达siRNA和进行基因沉默研究应选用禽源启动子。     

Systemic delivery of human growth hormone by injection of genetically engineered myoblasts

A recombinant gene encoding human growth hormone (hGH) was stably introduced into cultured myoblasts with a retroviral vector. After injection of genetically engineered myoblasts into mouse muscle, hGH could be detected in serum for 3 months. The fate of injected myoblasts was assessed by coinfecting the cells with two retroviral vectors, one encoding hGH and the other encoding beta-galactosidase from Escherichia coli. These results provide evidence that myoblasts, which can fuse into preexisting multinucleated myofibers that are vascularized and innervated, may be advantageous as vehicles for systemic delivery of recombinant proteins.     

Systemic delivery of recombinant proteins by genetically modified myoblasts

The ability to stably deliver recombinant proteins to the systemic circulation would facilitate the treatment of a variety of acquired and inherited diseases. To explore the feasibility of the use of genetically engineered myoblasts as a recombinant protein delivery system, stable transfectants of the murine C2C12 myoblast cell line were produced that synthesize and secrete high levels of human growth hormone (hGH) in vitro. Mice injected with hGH-transfected myoblasts had significant levels of hGH in both muscle and serum that were stable for at least 3 weeks after injection. Histological examination of muscles injected with beta-galactosidase-expressing C2C12 myoblasts demonstrated that many of the injected cells had fused to form multinucleated myotubes. Thus, genetically engineered myoblasts can be used for the stable delivery of recombinant proteins into the circulation.     

An in vivo model of somatic cell gene therapy for human severe combined immunodeficiency.

Deficiency of adenosine deaminase (ADA) results in severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), a candidate genetic disorder for somatic cell gene therapy. Peripheral blood lymphocytes from patients affected by ADA- SCID were transduced with a retroviral vector for human ADA and injected into immunodeficient mice. Long-term survival of vector-transduced human cells was demonstrated in recipient animals. Expression of vector-derived ADA restored immune functions, as indicated by the presence in reconstituted animals of human immunoglobulin and antigen-specific T cells. Retroviral vector gene transfer, therefore, is necessary and sufficient for development of specific immune functions in vivo and has therapeutic potential to correct this lethal immunodeficiency.     

诱导性多能干细胞的研究及应用

自从小鼠的胚胎成纤维细胞和鼠尾成纤维细胞重编程成为诱导多能干细胞（induced pluripotent stem cells,iPSCs）以来,iPS的研究成了干细胞研究领域的热点。与胚胎干细胞相比,iPS细胞有操作简便和高稳定性等优点可以应用于,如创建人类疾病的遗传模型,培育转基因动物用于器官移植,改善动物生产性状和抗病性,以及生物制药等领域。另外,iPSCs的产生对于解决长期以来干细胞研究领域的伦理问题和免疫排斥问题有巨大的意义,iPS结合基因治疗和细胞移植疗法的成果已经应用到了动物疾病模型上。iPS细胞技术给病人特定细胞治疗和基因针对性药品研制带来了巨大的前景。此外,该技术也提供了iPS细胞重编程机制和人类疾病的病理过程研究的新平台。然而,现阶段多能干细胞的研究只是开辟了一个新的领域,iPS技术要应用于临床还有很多工作要做。本文主要针对iPSCs的研究现状与应用前景进行讨论。     

Reversal of oncogenesis by the expression of a major histocompatibility complex class I gene

The classical transplantation antigens (the major histocompatibility complex class I antigens) play a key role in host defense against cells expressing foreign antigens. Several naturally occurring tumors and virally transformed cells show an overall suppression of these surface antigens. Since the class I molecules are required in the presentation of neoantigens on tumor cells to the cytotoxic T lymphocytes, their absence from the cell surface may lead to the escape of these tumors from immunosurveillance. To test this possibility, a functional class I gene was transfected into human adenovirus 12-transformed mouse cells that do not express detectable levels of class I antigens; the transformants were tested for expression of the transfected gene and for changes in oncogenicity. The expression of a single class I gene, introduced by DNA-mediated gene transfer into highly tumorigenic adenovirus 12-transformed cells, was sufficient to abrogate the oncogenicity of these cells. This finding has important implications for the regulation of the malignant phenotype in certain tumors and for the potential modulation of oncogenicity through derepression of the endogenous class I genes.     

生产转基因五指山小型猪重构胚条件优化

利用体细胞核移植技术是得到具有优良特征及抗病性五指山小型猪快速有效方法,因此将外源基因安全高效导入到供核细胞至关重要。利用不同转染试剂、转染方法对转染效率进行研究,确定G418筛选浓度。同时利用体细胞核移植技术生产转单体红色荧光蛋白重构胚。结果表明,使用U-023细胞核电转程序能有效介导质粒pCX-mRFP1转染猪耳成纤维细胞,转染率可达到83.33%。确定G418最佳筛选浓度为200μg.mL-1。利用转基因细胞作为核供体生产重构胚卵裂率是83.08%(221/266),囊胚率是11.65%(31/266)。研究结果为生产表达单体红色荧光蛋白五指山小型猪提供参考,从而为人类疾病发病机理研究以及生产人类疾病模型动物奠定了基础。     

慢病毒法建立稳定表达HPV-16 E6癌蛋白的肺癌细胞株

目的方法结果结论（HPV）-16 E6DNA HPV-16 E6（PLIG）（PLIG-E6）293T NCIH460 G418 4 DNA PCR Western blotting NCIH460 HPV-16 E6 DNA NCI-H460 HPV-16 E6 DNA HPV-16 E6探讨慢病毒法建立人乳头瘤病毒癌蛋白表达肺癌细胞株的可行性。采用重组技术将基因插入到含有增强型绿色荧光蛋白基因的慢病毒质粒载体中,获得重组慢病毒载体,经双酶切和测序鉴定正确后,与慢病毒包装载体一起转染细胞,收集病毒液,测定滴度后,感染肺癌细胞株。经筛选培养周后,提取细胞基因组和蛋白,分别用和方法分析细胞中和蛋白的表达。双酶切及测序结果表明重组慢病毒表达载体构建成功;感染慢病毒液的细胞中可检测出和蛋白表达。用慢病毒法成功构建稳定高表达癌蛋白的肺癌细胞株。     

转染抑癌基因PTEN对人乳腺癌ZR-75-1细胞的细胞周期和增殖能力的影响

目的：观察PTEN（phosphatase and tensin homology deleted on chromosome ten，第10号染色体上磷酸酶和张力蛋白同源缺失的基因）对人乳腺癌细胞ZR-75-1细胞增殖和细胞周期的影响。方法；利用脂质体介导法将携带有野生型和突变型PTEN cDNA的真核表达载体pBP—wt—PTEN和pBP—G129R—PTEN导八人乳腺癌ZR-75-1细胞（质粒转染成功后实验分为C—WT—PTEN组、CG129R—PTEN组和未转染质粒组即对照组）后，以RT—PCR、Western blot分析目的基因的表达，并采用MTT法和流式细胞术检测细胞增殖和细胞周期。结果：C—WT—PTEN组、C—G129R—PTEN组细胞PTEN mRNA及PTEN蛋白出现明显的高表达。C—WT—PTEN组细胞生长的抑制率可高达42．7％，与对照组比较．差异有显著性（P〈0．05）。但C—G129R—PTEN组细胞生长的抑制率与对照组比较，差异无显著性（P〉0．05）。流式细胞术显示C—WT—PTEN组细胞周期从G1期到S期已发生抑制。结论：野生型PTEN可依赖其磷酸酶活性抑制肿瘤细胞的增殖,并最终诱导细胞凋亡。     

小鼠B7-1转基因肿瘤疫苗的制备及其评估

目的：评估导入B7-1基因的肿瘤细胞能否作为肿瘤疫苗治疗膀胱肿瘤。方法：采用脂质体Lipofectamin 2000 （Lip2000）将B7-1基因导入鼠膀胱肿瘤（MBT-2）细胞。细胞表面分子的表达经免疫荧光染色而测得。采用混合淋巴细胞培养MTT法．观察MBT-2-B7-1细胞刺激脾淋巴细胞增殖情况。通过动物实验测定该细胞的肿瘤形成能力。结果：当Lip2000与DNA的比值不低于4：1时能有效地转染MBT-2膀胱肿瘤细胞。转染了B7-1基因的肿瘤细胞能有效地刺激脾淋巴细胞的增殖,并在体内明显延迟了肿瘤的发生;肿瘤的生长也明显受到抑制。结论：B7-1转基因肿瘤细胞可能是制备良好膀胱肿瘤疫苗的细胞。     

Gene targeting in stem cells from individuals with osteogenesis imperfecta

Adult stem cells offer the potential to treat many diseases through a combination of ex vivo genetic manipulation and autologous transplantation. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs, also referred to as marrow stromal cells) are adult stem cells that can be isolated as proliferating, adherent cells from bones. MSCs can differentiate into multiple cell types present in several tissues, including bone, fat, cartilage, and muscle, making them ideal candidates for a variety of cell-based therapies. Here, we have used adeno-associated virus vectors to disrupt dominant-negative mutant COL1A1 collagen genes in MSCs from individuals with the brittle bone disorder osteogenesis imperfecta, demonstrating successful gene targeting in adult human stem cells.     

基于Smad 7基因为靶序列的RNA干涉作用研究

为了探讨小干涉RNA(siRNA)对靶基因Smad7mRNA表达的阻断作用,采用体外转录方法制备Smad7基因的小干涉RNAs(siRNAs),用脂质体介导瞬时转染BERP35T 2肺癌细胞系,并采用Northernblot杂交检测靶基因mRNA的表达丰度。结果表明,根据Smad7编码区序列在体外成功地制备了针对2个不同靶序列的siRNAs;Northernblot杂交显示,在转染siRNA的BERP35T 2细胞中,不管是内源性的还是外源性的,Smad7mRNA的表达丰度均明显下降。说明Smad7基因编码区中542563bp及701722bp2个区域均是siRNA作用的有效靶序列,本研究设计并制备的siRNAs能有效抑制Smad7基因的表达。     

3-1E/mChIL-15融合基因构建及在真核细胞中的表达

将鸡堆形艾美尔球虫(E.acervulina)子孢子和裂殖子表面抗原3-1E基因片段与鸡白细胞介素15成熟蛋白基因片段(mChIL15)通过四个柔性氨基酸SPGS连接,构建并鉴定真核表达质粒pcDNA3.1/3-1E-linker-mChIL-15。表达质粒纯化后应用磷酸钙法体外转染293T细胞,通过间接免疫荧光和免疫组织化学方法对重组质粒的体外瞬时表达进行检测。结果表明,成功构建了融合基因3-1E-linker-mChIL-15,转染后30h可检测到融合基因编码的融合蛋白在293T细胞中的瞬时表达。研究为鸡艾美尔球虫基因工程疫苗进一步研制及应用奠定了基础。