|
|
||||||||
3 From the University Eye Hospital, Laboratory of Experimental Ophthalmology and the 1 Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
PURPOSE. To analyze duration of gene expression in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in immunocompetent animals after gene transfer with a high-capacity adenoviral (HC-Ad) vector.
METHODS. An HC-Ad vector was constructed to express the enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) from the human CMV promoter. This vector (HC-AdFK7) was used to transduce rat RPE cells in cell culture and after subretinal injection in vivo in adult immunocompetent Wistar rats. In cell culture, expression of EGFP was analyzed by fluorescence microscopy. In vivo expression was monitored by scanning laser ophthalmoscopy and stereo fluorescence microscopy. After enucleation of the eyes, immunohistochemical and morphologic analyses by fluorescence light microscopy and electron microscopy were performed.
RESULTS. In vitro, RPE cells were efficiently transduced with HC-AdFK7. Expression persisted for the observation time of 8 weeks. In vivo, the RPE was efficiently transduced with low doses of HC-AdFK7. EGFP synthesis was confirmed by antibody staining and found to be stable for the complete study period of 6 months. The neuroretina was well preserved over areas of subretinal vector administration, and significant morphologic changes were not detected. There was no accumulation of inflammatory T cells or macrophages.
CONCLUSIONS. In contrast to previous results with earlier generation adenoviral vectors, subretinal injection of an HC-Ad vector in immunocompetent rats resulted in long-term transgene expression without evidence of adverse immune reactions or significant toxicity, probably because of the absence of expression of the viral gene from this vector. Thus, HC-Ad vectors are suitable for the treatment of eye disorders that require durable gene expression in the RPE.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
S. M. Cashman, L. Bowman, J. Christofferson, and R. Kumar-Singh Inhibition of Choroidal Neovascularization by Adenovirus-Mediated Delivery of Short Hairpin RNAs Targeting VEGF as a Potential Therapy for AMD. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., August 1, 2006; 47(8): 3496 - 3504. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
L. V. Del Priore, T. H. Tezel, and H. J. Kaplan Survival of Allogeneic Porcine Retinal Pigment Epithelial Sheets after Subretinal Transplantation Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., March 1, 2004; 45(3): 985 - 992. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
F. Kreppel and S. Kochanek Long-Term Transgene Expression in Proliferating Cells Mediated by Episomally Maintained High-Capacity Adenovirus Vectors J. Virol., January 1, 2004; 78(1): 9 - 22. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
R. D. Lund, S. J. Ono, D. J. Keegan, and J. M. Lawrence Retinal transplantation: progress and problems in clinical application J. Leukoc. Biol., August 1, 2003; 74(2): 151 - 160. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
I. Semkova, F. Kreppel, G. Welsandt, T. Luther, J. Kozlowski, H. Janicki, S. Kochanek, and U. Schraermeyer Autologous transplantation of genetically modified iris pigment epithelial cells: A promising concept for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration and other disorders of the eye PNAS, October 1, 2002; 99(20): 13090 - 13095. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |