Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Intracellular immunization of rhesus CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells with a hairpin ribozyme protects T cells and macrophages from simian immunodeficiency virus infection.
Blood. 1997 Dec 15;90(12):4822-31. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/98052537 Rosenzweig M; Marks DF; Hempel D; Heusch M; Kraus G; Wong-Staal F; Johnson RP; New England Regional Primate Research Center, Harvard Medical School,; Southborough, MA 01772, USA.
Abstract:
Evaluation of candidate genes for stem cell gene therapy for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has been limited by the difficulty of supporting in vitro T-cell differentiation of genetically modified hematopoietic progenitor cells. Using a novel thymic stromal culture technique, we evaluated the ability of a hairpin ribozyme specific for simian immunodeficiency virus SIV) and human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) to inhibit viral replication in T lymphocytes derived from transduced CD34+ progenitor cells. Retroviral transduction of rhesus macaque CD34+ progenitor cells with a retroviral vector (p9456t) encoding the SIV-specific ribozyme and the selectable marker neomycin phosphotransferase in the presence of bone marrow stroma and in the absence of exogenous cytokines resulted in efficient transduction of both colony-forming units and long-term culture-initiating cells, with transduction efficiencies ranging between 21% and 56%. After transduction, CD34+ cells were cultured on rhesus thymic stromal culture (to support in vitro differentiation of T cells) or in the presence of cytokines (to support differentiation of macrophage-like cells). After expansion and selection with the neomycin analog G418, cells derived from transduced progenitor cells were challenged with SIV. CD4+ T cells derived from CD34+ hematopoietic cells transduced with the ribozyme vector p9456t were highly resistant to challenge with SIV, exhibiting up to a 500-fold decrease in SIV replication, even after high multiplicities of infection. Macrophages derived from CD34+ cells transduced with the 9456 ribozyme exhibited a comparable level of inhibition of SIV replication. These results show that a hairpin ribozyme introduced into CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells can retain the ability to inhibit AIDS virus replication after T-cell differentiation and support the feasibility of intracellular immunization of hematopoietic stem cells against infection with HIV and SIV. Protection of multiple hematopoietic lineages with the SIV-specific ribozyme should permit analysis of stem cell gene therapy for AIDS in the SIV/macaque model.
Keywords: *Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/THERAPY *Gene Therapy *Hematopoietic Stem Cells/METABOLISM *Macrophages/VIROLOGY *RNA, Catalytic/GENETICS *SIV/PHYSIOLOGY *T-Lymphocytes/VIROLOGY 980330
M9831235
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Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
