The Vent-Like Homeobox Gene VENTX Promotes Human Myeloid Development and Is Highly Expressed In Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Blood ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 116 (21) ◽  
pp. 739-739
Author(s):  
Vijay P. S. Rawat ◽  
Natalia Arseni ◽  
Farid Ahmed ◽  
Medhanie A. Mulaw ◽  
Silvia Thoene ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Progenitor Cells ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Myeloid Cells ◽  
Lymphoid Cells ◽  
Hematopoietic Development ◽  
Cd34 Cells ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Abstract 739 Recent studies suggest that a variety of regulatory molecules active in embryonic development such as clustered and non-clustered homeobox genes play an important role in normal and malignant hematopoiesis. Since it was shown that the Xvent-2 homeobox gene is part of the BMP-4 signalling pathway in Xenopus, it is of particular interest to examine the expression profile and function of its only recently discovered human homologue VENTX in hematopoietic development. Expression of the VENTX gene was analyzed in normal human hematopoiesis and AML patients samples by microarray and qPCR. To test the impact of the constitutive expression of VENTX on human progenitor cells, CD34+ cord blood (CB) cells were retrovirally transduced with VENTX or the empty control vector and analyzed using in vitro and in vivo assays. So far we and others have not been able to identify a murine Xenopus xvent gene homologue. However, we were able to document the expression of this gene by qPCR in human lineage positive hematopoietic subpopulations. Amongst committed progenitors VENTX was significantly 13-fold higher expressed in CD33+ BM myeloid cells (4/4 positive) compared to CD19+ BM lymphoid cells (5/7 positive, p=0.01). Of note, expression of VENTX was negligible in normal CD34+/CD38− but detectable in CD34+ BM human progenitor cells. In contrast to this, leukemic CD34+/CD38− from AML patients (n=3) with translocation t(8,21) showed significantly elevated expression levels compared to normal CD34+ BM cells (n=5) (50-fold higher; p≤0.0001). Furthermore, patients with normal karyotype NPM1c+/FLT3-LM− (n=9), NPM1c−/FLT3-LM+ (n=8) or patients with t(8;21) (n=9) had an >100-fold higher expression of VENTX compared to normal CD34+ BM cells and a 5- to 7.8-fold higher expression compared to BM MNCs. Importantly, lentivirus-mediated long-term silencing of VENTX in human AML cell lines (mRNA knockdown between 58% and 75%) led to a significant, reduction in cell number compared to the non-silencing control construct (>79% after 120h). Suggesting that growth of human leukemic cell lines depends on VENTX expression in vitro. As we observed that VENTX is aberrantly expressed in leukemic CD34+ cells with negligible expression in normal counterparts, we assessed the impact of forced VENTX gene expression in normal CD34+ human progenitor cells on the transcription program. Gene expression and pathway analysis demonstrated that in normal CD34+ cells enforced expression of VENTX initiates genes associated with myeloid development (CD11b, CD125, CD9,CD14 and M-CSF), and downregulates genes involved in early lymphoid development (IL-7, IL-9R, LEF1/TCF and C-JUN) and erythroid development such as EPOR, CD35 and CD36. We then tested whether enforced expression of VENTX in CD34+ cells is able to alter the hematopoietic development of early human progenitors as indicated by gene expression and pathway analyses. Functional analyses confirmed that aberrant expression of VENTX in normal CD34+ human progenitor cells induced a significant increase in the number of myeloid colonies compared to the GFP control with 48 ± 6.5 compared to 28.9 ± 4.8 CFU-G per 1000 initially plated CD34+ cells (n=11; p=0.03) and complete block in erythroid colony formation with an 81% reduction of the number of BFU-E compared to the control (n=11; p<0.003). In a feeder dependent co-culture system, VENTX impaired the development of B-lymphoid cells. In the NOD/SCID xenograft model, VENTX expression in CD34+ CB cells promoted generation of myeloid cells with an over 5-fold and 2.5-fold increase in the proportion of human CD15+ and CD33+ primitive myeloid cells compared to the GFP control (n=5, p=0.01). Summary: Overexpression of VENTX perturbs normal hematopoietic development, promotes generation of myeloid cells and impairs generation of lymphoid cells in vitro and in vivo. Whereas VENTX depletion in human AML cell lines impaired their growth.Taken together, these data extend our insights into the function of human embryonic mesodermal factors in human hematopoiesis and indicate a role of VENTX in normal and malignant myelopoiesis. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

scholarly journals Characterizing Transcriptional and Epigenetic Signatures Induced By FLT3-ITD Activation

Blood ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 124 (21) ◽  
pp. 2186-2186
Author(s):  
Barbara Spitzer ◽  
Olga A Guryanova ◽  
Omar Abdel-Wahab ◽  
Nicole Kucine ◽  
Mazhar Adli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Drug Exposure ◽  
Chromatin State ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Specific Gene Expression ◽  
Flt3 Inhibitor ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Molecular studies have shown that specific somatic mutations impact therapeutic response and overall outcome in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and have informed the development of molecularly targeted therapies. Previous studies have shown that the FLT3-ITD mutant disease allele predicts a poor prognosis in AML. Despite this important insight and the established role of FLT3-ITD mutations in AML pathogenesis, the impact of this mutation on gene regulation has not been extensively investigated. We hypothesized that transcriptional and epigenetic studies using genetically accurate murine models, cell lines, and primary AML samples would allow us to identify how FLT3 activation induces changes in gene expression and chromatin state. To assess the impact of FLT3-ITD associated FLT3 activation on gene expression, we performed RNA-sequencing studies on two FLT3-ITD cell lines (MOLM-13 and MV4-11) in the presence/absence of AC-220, a potent, specific FLT3 inhibitor. We also treated mice expressing a constitutive FLT3-ITD knock-in allele with AC-220 or vehicle, and performed RNA-sequencing on purified granulocyte-macrophage progenitors (GMPs). We assessed the impact of transient (4-12 hours drug treatment) and chronic (10-14 days) FLT3 inhibition on gene expression; we hypothesized that chronic drug exposure would result in more robust FLT3-mutant gene expression changes. In each case, the effects of FLT3-ITD activation/inhibition on gene expression were compared to RNA-seq data from FLT3-ITD mutant patients from TCGA. We first investigated the impact of short-term and chronic drug exposure on FLT3-ITD dependent gene expression in vitro. Comparison of short-term drug and vehicle treated cells revealed 159 differentially expressed (DE) genes (Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate (BH FDR) p < 0.05 and an absolute log2 fold change (FC) > 0.8). By contrast, we found that chronic FLT3 inhibition identified 743 DE genes. Comparison between the acutely and chronically treated cell lines revealed overlap of only 19 genes, suggesting important differences between the acute and steady-state effects of FLT3-inhibition. We found more significant overlap between chronic FLT3-inhibitor gene expression and FLT3-ITD specific gene expression in TCGA, demonstrating that long-term drug exposure more robustly delineates mutant-specific effects on gene expression. We next investigated the impact of short and long term FLT3-inhibition on gene expression in vivo. Analysis of DE genes identified 93 genes in the acutely treated mice vs. vehicle, and 274 genes in chronically treated mice (BH FDR p < 0.05 and absolute log2 FC of > 0.5). Only 12 DE genes were shared between these two perturbations compared with vehicle control. We then compared these gene expression signatures to FLT3-ITD specific gene expression from TCGA; we noted a significant inverse correlation between the signatures of chronic FLT3 inhibition in vivo with FLT3-ITD specific gene expression in TCGA (R2=0.47), but no correlation between the gene expression changes of acute FLT3 inhibition and FLT3-ITD TCGA patients (R2=0.09). We next integrated the FLT3 signatures from our in vivo work and TCGA with ChIP-sequencing for H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 in primary samples with FLT3-ITD compared to normal controls. We found that 3.6% of DE genes in our in vivo system, and 7.2% of DE genes in TCGA, had significant changes in H3K4me3 or H3K27me3. The most common alteration in chromatin state observed with FLT3 activation was an increase in H3K4me3 and transcriptional activation, with a smaller set of genes showing increased H3K27me3 and reduced expression, consistent with FLT3-mediated epigenetic repression. Motif analysis showed that DE loci with significant changes in chromatin state were enriched for ELF5, NF-E2, Pu.1, and Bach1 binding sequences, implicating these transcription factors in mediating FLT3-dependent gene expression effects. By studying the global transcriptional changes that occur with chronic, steady-state FLT3 inhibition in in vitro and in vivo systems, we identified a set of gene expression changes characteristic of FLT3-activation. In addition, integrating changes in gene expression and chromatin state allowed us to identify loci with alterations in epigenetic state in the setting of FLT3-ITD associated FLT3 activation, and to identify candidate transcription factors that mediate FLT3-dependent effects on gene expression. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Overexpression of HOXA10 perturbs human lymphomyelopoiesis in vitro and in vivo

Blood ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 97 (8) ◽  
pp. 2286-2292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Buske ◽  
Michaela Feuring-Buske ◽  
Jennifer Antonchuk ◽  
Patricia Rosten ◽  
Donna E. Hogge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Progenitor Cells ◽  
Fetal Liver ◽  
Erythroid Differentiation ◽  
Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells ◽  
Hematopoietic Progenitor ◽  
Aberrant Expression ◽  
Hematopoietic Development ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Several studies point to multiple members of the Hox transcription factor family as playing key roles in normal hematopoietic development, and they link the imbalanced expression of these transcription factors, in particular of the Abd-like A cluster HOXgenes HOXA9 and HOXA10, to leukemogenesis. To test directly the hypothesis that HOXA10is involved in human hematopoietic development, the gene was retrovirally overexpressed in human highly purified CD34+/GFP+ hematopoietic progenitor cells derived from cord blood or fetal liver sources, and the impact of aberrant gene expression was analyzed on differentiation and proliferation in vitro and in vivo. HOXA10 misexpression profoundly impaired myeloid differentiation with a higher yield of blast cells in liquid culture and a greater than 100-fold increased generation of blast colonies after in vitro expansion or after replating of primary colonies first plated in methylcellulose directly after transduction (P &lt; .01). Furthermore, aberrantHOXA10 expression almost completely blocked erythroid differentiation in methylcellulose (P &lt; .02).HOXA10 deregulation also severely perturbed the differentiation of human progenitors in vivo, reducing B-cell development by 70% in repopulated NOD/SCID mice and enhancing myelopoiesis in the transduced compartment. The data provide evidence that the balanced expression of HOXA10 is pivotal for normal human hematopoietic development and that aberrant expression of the gene contributes to impaired differentiation and increased proliferation of human hematopoietic progenitor cells. These results also provide a framework to initiate more detailed analyses ofHOX regulatory domains and HOX cofactors in the human system in vitro and in vivo.

scholarly journals Multi-Omics Analysis of the Therapeutic Value of MAL2 Based on Data Mining in Human Cancers

2022 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Yuan ◽  
Xiaoyan Jiang ◽  
Hua Lan ◽  
Xiaoyu Zhang ◽  
Tianyi Ding ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Overall Survival ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Western Blotting ◽  
Drug Sensitivity ◽  
Qrt Pcr ◽  
Human Cancers ◽  
The Impact

Recent studies have reported that T-cell differentiation protein 2 (MAL2) is an important regulator in cancers. Here, we downloaded data from multiple databases to analyze MAL2 expression and function in pan-cancers, especially in ovarian cancer (OC). Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) databases was used to examine MAL2 expression in 13 types of cancer. Kaplan–Meier plotter database was used to analyze the overall survival rate of MAL2 in pan-cancers. The Catalog of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC), cBioPortal, and UCSC databases were used to examine MAL2 mutation in human cancers. Metascape, STRING, and GeneMANIA websites were used to explore MAL2 function in OC. Furthermore, ggplot2 package and ROC package were performed to analyze hub gene expression and undertake receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Drug sensitivity of MAL2 in OC was examined by the GSCALite database. In order to verify the results from databases above, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blotting were conducted to detect the expression of MAL2 in OC cells. CRISPR/Cas9 system was used to knockout the MAL2 gene in the OC cell lines HO8910 and OVCAR3, using specific guide RNA targeting the exons of MAL2. Then, we performed proliferation, colony formation, migration, and invasion assays to investigate the impact of MAL2 in OC cell lines in vivo and in vitro. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-associated biomarkers were significantly altered in vitro via western blotting and qRT-PCR. Taken together, we observed that MAL2 was remarkably dysregulated in multiple cancers and was related to patient overall survival (OS), mutation, and drug sensitivity. Furthermore, experimental results showed that MAL2 deletion negatively regulated the proliferation, migration, invasion, and EMT of OC, indicating that MAL2 is a novel oncogene that can activate EMT, significantly promote both the proliferation and migration of OC in vitro and in vivo, and provide new clues for treatment strategies.

scholarly journals Impact of RARα and miR-138 on retinoblastoma etoposide resistance

Tumor Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-26
Author(s):  
Maike Busch ◽  
Natalia Miroschnikov ◽  
Jaroslaw Thomas Dankert ◽  
Marc Wiesehöfer ◽  
Klaus Metz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Viability ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Treated Patient ◽  
Luciferase Reporter ◽  
Luciferase Reporter Gene ◽  
Gene Assay ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND: Retinoblastoma (RB) is the most common childhood eye cancer. Chemotherapeutic drugs such as etoposide used in RB treatment often cause massive side effects and acquired drug resistances. Dysregulated genes and miRNAs have a large impact on cancer progression and development of chemotherapy resistances. OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to investigate the involvement of retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARα) in RB progression and chemoresistance as well as the impact of miR-138, a potential RARα regulating miRNA. METHODS: RARα and miR-138 expression in etoposide resistant RB cell lines and chemotherapy treated patient tumors compared to non-treated tumors was revealed by Real-Time PCR. Overexpression approaches were performed to analyze the effects of RARα on RB cell viability, apoptosis, proliferation and tumorigenesis. Besides, we addressed the effect of miR-138 overexpression on RB cell chemotherapy resistance. RESULTS: A binding between miR-138 and RARα was shown by dual luciferase reporter gene assay. The study presented revealed that RARα is downregulated in etoposide resistant RB cells, while miR-138 is endogenously upregulated. Opposing RARα and miR-138 expression levels were detectable in chemotherapy pre-treated compared to non-treated RB tumor specimen. Overexpression of RARα increases apoptosis levels and reduces tumor cell growth of aggressive etoposide resistant RB cells in vitro and in vivo. Overexpression of miR-138 in chemo-sensitive RB cell lines partly enhances cell viability after etoposide treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show that RARα acts as a tumor suppressor in retinoblastoma and is downregulated upon etoposide resistance in RB cells. Thus, RARα may contribute to the development and progression of RB chemo-resistance.

scholarly journals Effects of Vitrification on the Blastocyst Gene Expression Profile in a Porcine Model

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 1222
Author(s):  
Cristina Cuello ◽  
Cristina A. Martinez ◽  
Josep M. Cambra ◽  
Inmaculada Parrilla ◽  
Heriberto Rodriguez-Martinez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Gene Expression Analysis ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Control Group ◽  
P Value ◽  
Transcriptome Profile ◽  
Embryo Viability ◽  
The Impact

This study was designed to investigate the impact of vitrification on the transcriptome profile of blastocysts using a porcine (Sus scrofa) model and a microarray approach. Blastocysts were collected from weaned sows (n = 13). A total of 60 blastocysts were vitrified (treatment group). After warming, vitrified embryos were cultured in vitro for 24 h. Non-vitrified blastocysts (n = 40) were used as controls. After the in vitro culture period, the embryo viability was morphologically assessed. A total of 30 viable embryos per group (three pools of 10 from 4 different donors each) were subjected to gene expression analysis. A fold change cut-off of ±1.5 and a restrictive threshold at p-value < 0.05 were used to distinguish differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The survival rates of vitrified/warmed blastocysts were similar to those of the control (nearly 100%, n.s.). A total of 205 (112 upregulated and 93 downregulated) were identified in the vitrified blastocysts compared to the control group. The vitrification/warming impact was moderate, and it was mainly related to the pathways of cell cycle, cellular senescence, gap junction, and signaling for TFGβ, p53, Fox, and MAPK. In conclusion, vitrification modified the transcriptome of in vivo-derived porcine blastocysts, resulting in minor gene expression changes.

scholarly journals Impact of the acidic environment on gene expression and functional parameters of tumors in vitro and in vivo

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mandy Rauschner ◽  
Luisa Lange ◽  
Thea Hüsing ◽  
Sarah Reime ◽  
Alexander Nolze ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Cell Death ◽  
Western Blot ◽  
Tumor Cell ◽  
Low Ph ◽  
Strong Increase ◽  
Acidic Ph ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background The low extracellular pH (pHe) of tumors resulting from glycolytic metabolism is a stress factor for the cells independent from concomitant hypoxia. The aim of the study was to analyze the impact of acidic pHe on gene expression on mRNA and protein level in two experimental tumor lines in vitro and in vivo and were compared to hypoxic conditions as well as combined acidosis+hypoxia. Methods Gene expression was analyzed in AT1 prostate and Walker-256 mammary carcinoma of the rat by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), qPCR and Western blot. In addition, the impact of acidosis on tumor cell migration, adhesion, proliferation, cell death and mitochondrial activity was analyzed. Results NGS analyses revealed that 147 genes were uniformly regulated in both cell lines (in vitro) and 79 genes in both experimental tumors after 24 h at low pH. A subset of 25 genes was re-evaluated by qPCR and Western blot. Low pH consistently upregulated Aox1, Gls2, Gstp1, Ikbke, Per3, Pink1, Tlr5, Txnip, Ypel3 or downregulated Acat2, Brip1, Clspn, Dnajc25, Ercc6l, Mmd, Rif1, Zmpste24 whereas hypoxia alone led to a downregulation of most of the genes. Direct incubation at low pH reduced tumor cell adhesion whereas acidic pre-incubation increased the adhesive potential. In both tumor lines acidosis induced a G1-arrest (in vivo) of the cell cycle and a strong increase in necrotic cell death (but not in apoptosis). The mitochondrial O2 consumption increased gradually with decreasing pH. Conclusions These data show that acidic pHe in tumors plays an important role for gene expression independently from hypoxia. In parallel, acidosis modulates functional properties of tumors relevant for their malignant potential and which might be the result of pH-dependent gene expression.

Abstract 41: Explant-Derived Cells from Chronic Heart Failure Activated Endothelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Attenuated Pluripotency Genes Expression

2012 ◽  
Vol 111 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liudmila Zakharova ◽  
Hikmet Nural ◽  
Mohamed A Gaballa
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Progenitor Cells ◽  
Smooth Muscle Actin ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Gene Expressions ◽  
Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Cell Outgrowth ◽  
Pluripotency Genes

Cardiac progenitor cells are generated from atria explants; however the cellular origin and the mechanisms of cell outgrowth are unclear. Using transgenic tamoxifen-induced Willms tumor 1 (Wt1)-Cre/ERT and Cre-activated GFP reporter mice, we found approximately 40% of explant-derived cells and 74% of explant-derived c-Kit+ cells originated from the epicardium. In atria from sham hearts, Wt1+ cells were located in a thin epicardial layer, while c-Kit+ cells were primarily found within both the sub-epicardium and the myocardium, albeit at low frequency. No overlap between c-Kit+ and Wt1+ cells was observed, suggesting that epicardial Wt1+ cells do not express c-Kit marker in vivo, but more likely the c-Kit marker was acquired in culture. Compared with 4 days in culture, at day 21 we observed 7 folds increase in Snail gene expression; 32% increase in α-smooth muscle actin (SMA) marker, and 30% decrease in E-cadherin marker, suggesting that the explant-derived cells underwent epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in vitro. Cell outgrowths released TGF-β (1036.4 ± 1.18 pm/ml) and exhibited active TGF-β signaling, which might triggered the EMT. Compared to shams, CHF cell outgrowths exhibited elevated levels of EMT markers, SMA (49% vs. 34%) and Snail (2 folds), and reduced level of Wt1 (11% vs. 22%). In addition, CHF cell outgrowths had two folds increase in Pai1 gene expression, a direct target of TGF-β signaling. In c-Kit+ cells derived from CHF explants, Nanog gene expression was 4 folds lower and Sox 2 was 2 folds lower compared with cells from shams. Suppression of EMT in cell outgrowth increased the percentage of c-Kit+ and Wt1+ cells by 17%, and 15%, respectively. Also suppression of EMT in c-Kit+ cells resulted in 4 folds increase in Nanog and 3 fold increase in Sox2 gene expressions. Our results showed that CHF may further exuberates EMT while diminishes the re-activation of pluripotency genes. Thus, EMT modulation in CHF is a possible strategy to regulate both the yield and the pluripotency of cardiac-explant-derived progenitor cells.

scholarly journals Liver X Receptor Nuclear Receptors Are Transcriptional Regulators of Dendritic Cell Chemotaxis

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susana Beceiro ◽  
Attila Pap ◽  
Zsolt Czimmerer ◽  
Tamer Sallam ◽  
Jose A. Guillén ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Receptors ◽  
Low Density Lipoprotein ◽  
Myeloid Cells ◽  
Density Lipoprotein ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Transcriptional Responses ◽  
Cd38 Expression ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTThe liver X receptors (LXRs) are ligand-activated nuclear receptors with established roles in the maintenance of lipid homeostasis in multiple tissues. LXRs exert additional biological functions as negative regulators of inflammation, particularly in macrophages. However, the transcriptional responses controlled by LXRs in other myeloid cells, such as dendritic cells (DCs), are still poorly understood. Here we used gain- and loss-of-function models to characterize the impact of LXR deficiency on DC activation programs. Our results identified an LXR-dependent pathway that is important for DC chemotaxis. LXR-deficient mature DCs are defective in stimulus-induced migrationin vitroandin vivo. Mechanistically, we show that LXRs facilitate DC chemotactic signaling by regulating the expression of CD38, an ectoenzyme important for leukocyte trafficking. Pharmacological or genetic inactivation of CD38 activity abolished the LXR-dependent induction of DC chemotaxis. Using the low-density lipoprotein receptor-deficient (LDLR−/−) LDLR−/−mouse model of atherosclerosis, we also demonstrated that hematopoietic CD38 expression is important for the accumulation of lipid-laden myeloid cells in lesions, suggesting that CD38 is a key factor in leukocyte migration during atherogenesis. Collectively, our results demonstrate that LXRs are required for the efficient emigration of DCs in response to chemotactic signals during inflammation.

scholarly journals Gene Transfer into the Lung by Nanoparticle Dextran-Spermine/Plasmid DNA Complexes

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syahril Abdullah ◽  
Wai Yeng Wendy-Yeo ◽  
Hossein Hosseinkhani ◽  
Mohsen Hosseinkhani ◽  
Ehab Masrawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Gene Transfer ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Plasmid Dna ◽  
Mixing Ratio ◽  
Systemic Delivery ◽  
Clear Trend ◽  
Assay Time

A novel cationic polymer, dextran-spermine (D-SPM), has been found to mediate gene expression in a wide variety of cell lines andin vivothrough systemic delivery. Here, we extended the observations by determining the optimal conditions for gene expression of D-SPM/plasmid DNA (D-SPM/pDNA) in cell lines and in the lungs of BALB/c mice via instillation delivery.In vitrostudies showed that D-SPM could partially protect pDNA from degradation by nuclease and exhibited optimal gene transfer efficiency at D-SPM to pDNA weight-mixing ratio of 12. In the lungs of mice, the levels of gene expression generated by D-SPM/pDNA are highly dependent on the weight-mixing ratio of D-SPM to pDNA, amount of pDNA in the complex, and the assay time postdelivery. Readministration of the complex at day 1 following the first dosing showed no significant effect on the retention and duration of gene expression. The study also showed that there was a clear trend of increasing size of the complexes as the amount of pDNA was increased, where the sizes of the D-SPM/pDNA complexes were within the nanometer range.

High-level ectopic HOXB4 expression confers a profound in vivo competitive growth advantage on human cord blood CD34+ cells, but impairs lymphomyeloid differentiation

Blood ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 101 (5) ◽  
pp. 1759-1768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernhard Schiedlmeier ◽  
Hannes Klump ◽  
Elke Will ◽  
Gökhan Arman-Kalcek ◽  
Zhixiong Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Cord Blood ◽  
Therapeutic Window ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem ◽  
Expression Levels ◽  
Cd34 Cells ◽  
Cord Blood Cd34 ◽  
The Impact

Ectopic retroviral expression of homeobox B4 (HOXB4) causes an accelerated and enhanced regeneration of murine hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and is not known to compromise any program of lineage differentiation. However, HOXB4 expression levels for expansion of human stem cells have still to be established. To test the proposed hypothesis that HOXB4 could become a prime tool for in vivo expansion of genetically modified human HSCs, we retrovirally overexpressed HOXB4 in purified cord blood (CB) CD34+ cells together with green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a reporter protein, and evaluated the impact of ectopic HOXB4 expression on proliferation and differentiation in vitro and in vivo. When injected separately into nonobese diabetic–severe combined immunodeficient (NOD/SCID) mice or in competition with control vector–transduced cells, HOXB4-overexpressing cord blood CD34+ cells had a selective growth advantage in vivo, which resulted in a marked enhancement of the primitive CD34+ subpopulation (P = .01). However, high HOXB4 expression substantially impaired the myeloerythroid differentiation program, and this was reflected in a severe reduction of erythroid and myeloid progenitors in vitro (P < .03) and in vivo (P = .01). Furthermore, HOXB4 overexpression also significantly reduced B-cell output (P < .01). These results show for the first time unwanted side effects of ectopic HOXB4 expression and therefore underscore the need to carefully determine the therapeutic window of HOXB4 expression levels before initializing clinical trials.

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