Studies from K. Suzuki and colleagues provide new data on gene therapy
December 1st, 2008
2008 DEC 1 -- "Human embryonic stem (hES) cells are regarded as a potentially unlimited source of cellular materials for regenerative medicine. For biological studies and clinical applications using primate ES cells, the development of a general strategy to obtain efficient gene delivery and genetic manipulation, especially gene targeting via homologous recombination (HR), would be of paramount importance," researchers in Saitama, Japan report.
"However, unlike mouse ES (mES) cells, efficient strategies for transient gene delivery and HR in hES cells have not been established. Here, we report that helper-dependent adenoviral vectors (HDAdVs) were able to transfer genes in hES and cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fasicularis) ES (cES) cells efficiently. Without losing the undifferentiated state of the ES cells, transient gene transfer efficiency was approximate to 100%. Using HDAdVs with homology arms, approximately one out of 10 chromosomal integrations of the vector was via HR, whereas the rate was only approximate to 1% with other gene delivery methods," wrote K. Suzuki and colleagues.
The researchers concluded: "Furthermore, in combination with negative selection, approximate to 45% of chromosomal integrations of the vector were targeted integrations, indicating that HDAdVs would be a powerful tool for genetic manipulation in hES cells and potentially in other types of human stem cells, such as induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells."
Suzuki and colleagues published their study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (Highly efficient transient gene expression and gene targeting in primate embryonic stem cells with helper-dependent adenoviral vectors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008;105(37):13781-13786).
For additional information, contact K. Mitani, Saitama Med University, Division Gene Therapy, Research Center Genom Medical, Saitama 3501241, Japan.
Publisher contact information for the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America is: National Acad Sciences, 2101 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20418, USA.
