TY - JOUR
T1 - Characterization of Anti-CCR5 Ribozyme-Transduced CD34+ Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells in Vitro and in a SCID-hu Mouse Model in Vivo
AU - Bai, Jirong
AU - Gorantla, Santhi
AU - Banda, Nirmal
AU - Cagnon, Laurence
AU - Rossi, John
AU - Akkina, Ramesh
N1 - Funding Information:
Work reported here was supported by NIH Grants AI 42551 to R.A. and AI 42552 to J.R. and partly by a grant from the Colorado RNA Center of the Colorado Advanced Technology Institute to R.A. We thank Rui-Ying Zhu and Jeanette Hayes-Klug for technical assistance and help with SCID-hu mouse surgeries. We thank Jim Hoxie for providing CCR5 expression vector and Karen Helm for FACS analysis and cell sorting. We thank the NIH AIDS Research and Reference Reagent Program for providing HOS-R5 cells.
PY - 2000/3
Y1 - 2000/3
N2 - The cellular entry of HIV is mediated by the specific interaction of viral envelope glycoproteins with the cell-surface marker CD4 and a chemokine receptor (CCR5 or CXCR4). Individuals with a 32-base-pair (bp) deletion in the CCR5 coding region, which results in a truncated peptide, show resistance to HIV-1 infection. This suggests that the downregulation of CCR5 expression on target cells may prevent HIV infection. Therefore, ribozymes that inhibit the CCR5 expression offer a novel approach for anti-HIV gene therapy. To assess the effect of an anti-CCR5 ribozyme (R5Rbz) on macrophage differentiation, CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells were transduced with a retroviral vector carrying R5Rbz and allowed to differentiate in the presence of appropriate cytokines. R5Rbz-transduced CD34+ cells differentiated normally into mature macrophages that carried CD14 and CD4 surface markers, expressed the anti-CCR5 ribozyme, and showed significant resistance to viral infection upon challenge with the HIV-1 BaL strain. Using an in vivo thymopoiesis model, the effect of R5Rbz on stem cell differentiation into thymocytes was evaluated by reconstituting SCID-hu mice thymic grafts with ribozyme-transduced CD34+ cells. FACS analysis of cell biopsies at 4 and 6 weeks postengraftment for HLA, CD4, and CD8 markers showed comparable levels of reconstitution and similar percentages of subpopulations of thymocytes between grafts receiving R5Rbz-transduced and control CD34+ cells. RT-PCR assays demonstrated the expression of the anti-CCR5 ribozyme in CD4+, CD8+, and CD4+/CD8+ thymocyte subsets derived from R5Rbz-transduced CD34+ cells. These results indicate that anti-CCR5 ribozyme can be introduced into hematopoietic stem cells without adverse effects on their subsequent lineage-specific differentiation and maturation. The expression of anti-CCR5 ribozymes in HIV-1 target cells offers a novel gene therapy strategy to control HIV infection.
AB - The cellular entry of HIV is mediated by the specific interaction of viral envelope glycoproteins with the cell-surface marker CD4 and a chemokine receptor (CCR5 or CXCR4). Individuals with a 32-base-pair (bp) deletion in the CCR5 coding region, which results in a truncated peptide, show resistance to HIV-1 infection. This suggests that the downregulation of CCR5 expression on target cells may prevent HIV infection. Therefore, ribozymes that inhibit the CCR5 expression offer a novel approach for anti-HIV gene therapy. To assess the effect of an anti-CCR5 ribozyme (R5Rbz) on macrophage differentiation, CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells were transduced with a retroviral vector carrying R5Rbz and allowed to differentiate in the presence of appropriate cytokines. R5Rbz-transduced CD34+ cells differentiated normally into mature macrophages that carried CD14 and CD4 surface markers, expressed the anti-CCR5 ribozyme, and showed significant resistance to viral infection upon challenge with the HIV-1 BaL strain. Using an in vivo thymopoiesis model, the effect of R5Rbz on stem cell differentiation into thymocytes was evaluated by reconstituting SCID-hu mice thymic grafts with ribozyme-transduced CD34+ cells. FACS analysis of cell biopsies at 4 and 6 weeks postengraftment for HLA, CD4, and CD8 markers showed comparable levels of reconstitution and similar percentages of subpopulations of thymocytes between grafts receiving R5Rbz-transduced and control CD34+ cells. RT-PCR assays demonstrated the expression of the anti-CCR5 ribozyme in CD4+, CD8+, and CD4+/CD8+ thymocyte subsets derived from R5Rbz-transduced CD34+ cells. These results indicate that anti-CCR5 ribozyme can be introduced into hematopoietic stem cells without adverse effects on their subsequent lineage-specific differentiation and maturation. The expression of anti-CCR5 ribozymes in HIV-1 target cells offers a novel gene therapy strategy to control HIV infection.
KW - AIDS; HIV-1 gene therapy; chemokine CCR5 coreceptor; ribozyme gene therapy; CD34 progenitor cells; stem cell gene therapy; SCID-hu mouse model
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U2 - 10.1006/mthe.2000.0038
DO - 10.1006/mthe.2000.0038
M3 - Article
C2 - 10933940
AN - SCOPUS:0034149743
SN - 1525-0016
VL - 1
SP - 244
EP - 254
JO - Molecular Therapy
JF - Molecular Therapy
IS - 3
ER -