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Roex G, Campillo-Davo D, Flumens D, Shaw PAG, Krekelbergh L, De Reu H, Berneman ZN, Lion E, Anguille S. Two for one: targeting BCMA and CD19 in B-cell malignancies with off-the-shelf dual-CAR NK-92 cells. J Transl Med 2022; 20:124. [PMID: 35287669 PMCID: PMC8919645 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-022-03326-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2021] [Accepted: 03/01/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has proven to be a valuable new treatment option for patients with B-cell malignancies. However, by applying selective pressure, outgrowth of antigen-negative tumor cells can occur, eventually resulting in relapse. Subsequent rescue by administration of CAR-T cells with different antigen-specificity indicates that those tumor cells are still sensitive to CAR-T treatment and points towards a multi-target strategy. Due to their natural tumor sensitivity and highly cytotoxic nature, natural killer (NK) cells are a compelling alternative to T cells, especially considering the availability of an off-the-shelf unlimited supply in the form of the clinically validated NK-92 cell line.
Methods
Given our goal to develop a flexible system whereby the CAR expression repertoire of the effector cells can be rapidly adapted to the changing antigen expression profile of the target cells, electrotransfection with CD19-/BCMA-CAR mRNA was chosen as CAR loading method in this study. We evaluated the functionality of mRNA-engineered dual-CAR NK-92 against tumor B-cell lines and primary patient samples. In order to test the clinical applicability of the proposed cell therapy product, the effect of irradiation on the proliferative rate and functionality of dual-CAR NK-92 cells was investigated.
Results
Co-electroporation of CD19 and BMCA CAR mRNA was highly efficient, resulting in 88.1% dual-CAR NK-92 cells. In terms of CD107a degranulation, and secretion of interferon (IFN)-γ and granzyme B, dual-CAR NK-92 significantly outperformed single-CAR NK-92. More importantly, the killing capacity of dual-CAR NK-92 exceeded 60% of single and dual antigen-expressing cell lines, as well as primary tumor cells, in a 4h co-culture assay at low effector to target ratios, matching that of single-CAR counterparts. Furthermore, our results confirm that dual-CAR NK-92 irradiated with 10 Gy cease to proliferate and are gradually cleared while maintaining their killing capacity.
Conclusions
Here, using the clinically validated NK-92 cell line as a therapeutic cell source, we established a readily accessible and flexible platform for the generation of highly functional dual-targeted CAR-NK cells.
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Wang X, Qiao X, Sui L, Zhao H, Li F, Tang YD, Shi W, Guo Y, Jiang Y, Wang L, Zhou H, Tang L, Xu Y, Li Y. Establishment of stable Vero cell lines expressing TMPRSS2 and MSPL: A useful tool for propagating porcine epidemic diarrhea virus in the absence of exogenous trypsin. Virulence 2021; 11:669-685. [PMID: 32471322 PMCID: PMC7550007 DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2020.1770491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is the causative agent of porcine epidemic diarrhea, causing substantial economic losses to the swine industry worldwide. However, the development of PEDV vaccine is hampered by its low propagation titer in vitro, due to difficulty in adapting to the cells and complex culture conditions, even in the presence of trypsin. Furthermore, the frequent variation, recombination, and evolution of PEDV resulted in reemergence and vaccination failure. In this study, we established the Vero/TMPRSS2 and Vero/MSPL cell lines, constitutively expressing type II transmembrane serine protease TMPRSS2 and MSPL, in order to increase the stability and titer of PEDV culture and isolation in vitro. Our study revealed that the Vero/TMPRSS2, especially Vero/MSPL cell lines, can effectively facilitate the titer and multicycle replication of cell-adapted PEDV in the absence of exogenous trypsin, by cleaving and activating PEDV S protein. Furthermore, our results also highlighted that Vero/TMPRSS2 and Vero/MSPL cells can significantly enhance the isolation of PEDV from the clinical tissue samples as well as promote viral infection and replication by cell-cell fusion. The successful construction of the Vero/TMPRSS2 and Vero/MSPL cell lines provides a useful approach for the isolation and propagation of PEDV, simplification of virus culture, and large-scale production of industrial vaccine, and the cell lines are also an important system to research PEDV S protein cleaved by host protease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaona Wang
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University , Harbin, P.R. China
| | - Xinyuan Qiao
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University , Harbin, P.R. China.,Heilongjiang Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Pharmaceutical Development , Harbin, P.R. China
| | - Ling Sui
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University , Harbin, P.R. China
| | - Haiyuan Zhao
- Department of Swine Breeding, Jiangsu Hanswine Food Co., Ltd , Ma'anshan, Anhui Province, China
| | - Fengsai Li
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University , Harbin, P.R. China
| | - Yan-Dong Tang
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences , Harbin, China
| | - Wen Shi
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University , Harbin, P.R. China
| | - Yuyao Guo
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University , Harbin, P.R. China
| | - Yanping Jiang
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University , Harbin, P.R. China
| | - Li Wang
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University , Harbin, P.R. China
| | - Han Zhou
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University , Harbin, P.R. China
| | - Lijie Tang
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University , Harbin, P.R. China.,Heilongjiang Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Pharmaceutical Development , Harbin, P.R. China
| | - Yigang Xu
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University , Harbin, P.R. China.,Heilongjiang Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Pharmaceutical Development , Harbin, P.R. China
| | - Yijing Li
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University , Harbin, P.R. China.,Heilongjiang Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Pharmaceutical Development , Harbin, P.R. China
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3
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Kaufman WL, Kocman I, Agrawal V, Rahn HP, Besser D, Gossen M. Homogeneity and persistence of transgene expression by omitting antibiotic selection in cell line isolation. Nucleic Acids Res 2008; 36:e111. [PMID: 18682524 PMCID: PMC2553579 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkn508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2008] [Revised: 07/10/2008] [Accepted: 07/24/2008] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Nonuniform, mosaic expression patterns of transgenes are often linked to transcriptional silencing, triggered by epigenetic modifications of the exogenous DNA. Such phenotypes are common phenomena in genetically engineered cells and organisms. They are widely attributed to features of transgenic transcription units distinct from endogenous genes, rendering them particularly susceptible to epigenetic downregulation. Contrary to this assumption we show that the method used for the isolation of stably transfected cells has the most profound impact on transgene expression patterns. Standard antibiotic selection was directly compared to cell sorting for the establishment of stable cells. Only the latter procedure could warrant a high degree of uniformity and stability in gene expression. Marker genes useful for the essential cell sorting step encode mostly fluorescent proteins. However, by combining this approach with site-specific recombination, it can be applied to isolate stable cell lines with the desired expression characteristics for any gene of interest.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Manfred Gossen
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Robert-Rössle-Strasse 10, 13125 Berlin, Germany
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4
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Ronsyn MW, Daans J, Spaepen G, Chatterjee S, Vermeulen K, D'Haese P, Van Tendeloo VF, Van Marck E, Ysebaert D, Berneman ZN, Jorens PG, Ponsaerts P. Plasmid-based genetic modification of human bone marrow-derived stromal cells: analysis of cell survival and transgene expression after transplantation in rat spinal cord. BMC Biotechnol 2007; 7:90. [PMID: 18078525 PMCID: PMC2225398 DOI: 10.1186/1472-6750-7-90] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2007] [Accepted: 12/14/2007] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Bone marrow-derived stromal cells (MSC) are attractive targets for ex vivo cell and gene therapy. In this context, we investigated the feasibility of a plasmid-based strategy for genetic modification of human (h)MSC with enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and neurotrophin (NT)3. Three genetically modified hMSC lines (EGFP, NT3, NT3-EGFP) were established and used to study cell survival and transgene expression following transplantation in rat spinal cord. Results First, we demonstrate long-term survival of transplanted hMSC-EGFP cells in rat spinal cord under, but not without, appropriate immune suppression. Next, we examined the stability of EGFP or NT3 transgene expression following transplantation of hMSC-EGFP, hMSC-NT3 and hMSC-NT3-EGFP in rat spinal cord. While in vivo EGFP mRNA and protein expression by transplanted hMSC-EGFP cells was readily detectable at different time points post-transplantation, in vivo NT3 mRNA expression by hMSC-NT3 cells and in vivo EGFP protein expression by hMSC-NT3-EGFP cells was, respectively, undetectable or declined rapidly between day 1 and 7 post-transplantation. Further investigation revealed that the observed in vivo decline of EGFP protein expression by hMSC-NT3-EGFP cells: (i) was associated with a decrease in transgenic NT3-EGFP mRNA expression as suggested following laser capture micro-dissection analysis of hMSC-NT3-EGFP cell transplants at day 1 and day 7 post-transplantation, (ii) did not occur when hMSC-NT3-EGFP cells were transplanted subcutaneously, and (iii) was reversed upon re-establishment of hMSC-NT3-EGFP cell cultures at 2 weeks post-transplantation. Finally, because we observed a slowly progressing tumour growth following transplantation of all our hMSC cell transplants, we here demonstrate that omitting immune suppressive therapy is sufficient to prevent further tumour growth and to eradicate malignant xenogeneic cell transplants. Conclusion In this study, we demonstrate that genetically modified hMSC lines can survive in healthy rat spinal cord over at least 3 weeks by using adequate immune suppression and can serve as vehicles for transgene expression. However, before genetically modified hMSC can potentially be used in a clinical setting to treat spinal cord injuries, more research on standardisation of hMSC culture and genetic modification needs to be done in order to prevent tumour formation and transgene silencing in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark W Ronsyn
- Division of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
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5
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Allegra S, Deleine C, Michael-Jubely R, Gryson C, Boirie Y, Kantakamalakul W, Vasson MP. Implementation of the EGFP-K562 flow cytometric NK test: Determination of NK cytotoxic activity in healthy elderly volunteers before and after feeding. Cytometry A 2006; 69:992-8. [PMID: 16969797 DOI: 10.1002/cyto.a.20301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Natural Killer (NK) cells are key actors of innate immunity that supervise the organism's cells, and fight against viral infections and cancer development through their cytotoxic activity. This cytotoxic activity is modulated by cytokines and hormones and could be influenced by physiological or pathological conditions. New techniques for measuring NK cytotoxic activity by flow-cytometry have recently been developed, and they correlated strongly with the standard chromium ((51)Cr) release assay. Our aim was to implement a previously published enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)-K562 flow cytometric method and use it to evaluate NK cytotoxic activity under different nutritional conditions. METHODS NK effector cells were isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and a K562 cell line stably transfected by EGFP was used as target cells. Different analytical parameters, including cell ratios and incubation times, were studied to improve the EGFP-K562 flow cytometric NK test conditions. RESULTS The optimized test was then used to determine the effect of fasting and refeeding on NK cell numbers and activity in a physiological situation. NK cytotoxic activity in fasted conditions (30.4 +/- 4.4%) increased by a factor 1.7 +/- 0.2 (P = 0.0025) in nourished conditions (45.0 +/- 4.6%) in healthy elderly people. CONCLUSION Therefore, this method provides a reliable, reproducible and rapid test for analyzing NK cytotoxicity under various conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Séverine Allegra
- Laboratoire de Biochimie, Biologie Moléculaire et Nutrition EA2416, Faculté de Pharmacie, IFR 79 Santé-Auvergne, CLARA, Université Clermont 1, Clermont-Ferrand, France
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Böhm E, Grillari J, Voglauer R, Gross S, Ernst W, Ferko B, Kunert R, Katinger H, Borth N. Establishment of a strategy for the rapid generation of a monoclonal antibody against the human protein SNEV (hNMP200) by flow-cytometric cell sorting. J Immunol Methods 2005; 307:13-23. [PMID: 16289093 DOI: 10.1016/j.jim.2005.08.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2005] [Revised: 08/01/2005] [Accepted: 08/18/2005] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
The screening for antigen-specific hybridoma cells with adequate production rates is still a time-, labour- and money-consuming procedure. A reduction in cell culture testing by specifically selecting those fused cells that produce antibody could therefore make hybridoma technology more attractive, even for small research groups or for newly discovered proteins at an early stage of research. Additional problems, such as the requirement to produce sufficient amounts of the unknown protein at a purity that allows specific immunisation of mice and testing of the resulting hybridoma clones, also need to be overcome. Here we present a new strategy to isolate rapidly and efficiently monoclonal antibodies against new proteins, for which only sequence information at the DNA level is known. The strategy consists of fusion of the protein to a hexa-His-tag to allow easy purification, production in yeast and insect cells to reduce background immunisation with host cell proteins and the selection of IgG-producing hybridoma cells by flow-cytometric cell sorting using the affinity matrix secretion assay technique.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ernst Böhm
- Institute of Applied Microbiology, Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Wien/Vienna, Austria
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7
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Miller TW, Zhou C, Gines S, MacDonald ME, Mazarakis ND, Bates GP, Huston JS, Messer A. A human single-chain Fv intrabody preferentially targets amino-terminal Huntingtin's fragments in striatal models of Huntington's disease. Neurobiol Dis 2005; 19:47-56. [PMID: 15837560 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2004.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2004] [Revised: 10/29/2004] [Accepted: 11/09/2004] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Amino-terminal fragments of huntingtin (htt) appear to result from proteolytic processing of the full-length protein in Huntington's disease (HD), and fragments containing pathological expansions of polyglutamine elicit toxicity in model systems. Such fragments are sequestered into insoluble aggregates, which may initially serve a cellular protective mechanism, while soluble fragments and/or oligomers may be a more acute toxic species. Agents which enhance mutant htt clearance have shown therapeutic potential in animal models of HD. Here, we present the first evidence of an htt-specific single-chain Fv intrabody (C4) that selectively targets the soluble fraction of amino-terminal htt fragments. Our findings suggest that the C4 intrabody binds weakly, but does not alter the levels of endogenous, full-length htt. C4 appears to decrease the steady-state levels of amino-terminal htt fragments by binding to non-aggregated, but not aggregated, htt species. Intrabodies may be used as potential curative agents, and as drug discovery tools, for HD and other misfolded protein disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Todd W Miller
- Division of Genetic Disorders Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, and Department of Biomedical Sciences, University at Albany, NY 12208, USA
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8
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Zhou C, Emadi S, Sierks MR, Messer A. A human single-chain Fv intrabody blocks aberrant cellular effects of overexpressed alpha-synuclein. Mol Ther 2005; 10:1023-31. [PMID: 15564134 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2004.08.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 95] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2004] [Accepted: 08/26/2004] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
alpha-Synuclein (alpha-syn) has been identified as the major component of Lewy bodies that characterize neurodegenerative synucleinopathies, including Parkinson's disease. Overexpression of alpha-syn, and prefibrillar alpha-syn oligomers, has been implicated in these pathologies; therefore, prevention of prefibril accumulation, and inhibition of other aberrant effects of overexpressed alpha-syn, could provide novel treatments. Here, we have selected a human single-chan Fv (scFv) antibody, D10, that binds human monomeric wild-type alpha-syn. We demonstrate, by retargeting assays and coimmunoprecipitation, that the D10 scFv is a specific and efficient intracellular antibody (intrabody). By transfecting the D10 scFv gene into an HEK 293 cell line that overexpresses wild-type alpha-syn, we show that the D10 intrabody stabilizes detergent-soluble monomeric alpha-syn and inhibits the formation of detergent-insoluble high-molecular-weight alpha-syn species. In addition, the D10 intrabody ameliorates the decreased cell adhesion that characterizes the alpha-syn-overexpressing cells. Given the important role of alpha-syn pathology, and the facility with which intrabodies can be further engineered in vitro, anti-alpha-syn intrabodies may represent novel molecular therapeutics for synucleinopathies, with implications for other neurodegenerative disorders caused by misfolded accumulated proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chun Zhou
- Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY 12201, USA
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9
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Tzavelas C, Bildirici L, Rickwood D. Production of stably transfected cell lines using immunoporation. Biotechniques 2004; 37:276-8, 280-1. [PMID: 15335220 DOI: 10.2144/04372rr05] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous work from this laboratory has shown that immunoporation has the potential for the selective transfection of a range of different animal cells based on their immunological identity. The unique ability of immunoporation to target cells for transfection combined with the high efficiency of transfection and the high viability of cells make this method extremely promising for scientific and medical research. The experiments reported here show that not only can immunoporation produce transient transfection but also stably transfected cells are produced and such types of cells will be essential for the use of this method for gene therapy.
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10
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Affiliation(s)
- David W Galbraith
- University of Arizona, Department of Plant Sciences, Institute for Biomedical Science and Biotechnology, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
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11
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Van den Plas D, Ponsaerts P, Van Tendeloo V, Van Bockstaele DR, Berneman ZN, Merregaert J. Efficient removal of LoxP-flanked genes by electroporation of Cre-recombinase mRNA. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2003; 305:10-5. [PMID: 12732189 DOI: 10.1016/s0006-291x(03)00669-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Introduction of Cre-recombinase in target cells is currently achieved by transfection of plasmid DNA or by viral-mediated transduction. However, efficiency of non-viral DNA transfection is often low in many cell types, and the use of viral vectors for transduction implies a more complex and laborious manipulation associated with safety issues. We have developed a non-viral non-DNA technique for rapid and highly efficient excision of LoxP-flanked DNA sequences based on electroporation of in vitro transcribed mRNA encoding Cre-recombinase. A K562-DSRed[EGFP] cell line was developed in order to measure Cre-mediated recombination by flow cytometric analysis. These cells have a stable integrated DSRed reporter gene flanked by two LoxP sites, and an EGFP reporter gene, which could only be transcribed when the coding sequence for DSRed was removed. The presented data show recombination efficiencies, as measured by appearance of EGFP-fluorescence, of up to 85% in Cre-recombinase mRNA-electroporated K562-DSRed[EGFP] cells. In conclusion, mRNA electroporation of Cre-recombinase is a powerful, safe, and clinically applicable alternative to current technologies used for excision of stably integrated LoxP-flanked DNA sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dave Van den Plas
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
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Kantakamalakul W, Jaroenpool J, Pattanapanyasat K. A novel enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)-K562 flow cytometric method for measuring natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxic activity. J Immunol Methods 2003; 272:189-97. [PMID: 12505723 DOI: 10.1016/s0022-1759(02)00505-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) was stably expressed in human erythroleukaemia K562 cells (EGFP-K562) and used as target cells for measurement of natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity by flow cytometry. The compromised EGFP-K562 target cells were stained with propidium iodide (PI) and showed dual (green-red) fluorescent. Although the kinetic study demonstrated that the optimal incubation time for the assay was 4 h, a 2-h incubation period also gave comparable results. This new technique correlated strongly with the standard chromium (51Cr) release assay at the correlation coefficients of 0.87 and 0.89 at p-value <0.001 for 2- and 4-h incubation times, respectively. The EGFP-K562 stable cell line provides a novel method to measure NK cytotoxicity by flow cytometry without pre-staining or pre-labeling target cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wannee Kantakamalakul
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700, Thailand.
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13
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Van Tendeloo VF, Van Broeckhoven C, Berneman ZN. Gene therapy: principles and applications to hematopoietic cells. Leukemia 2001; 15:523-44. [PMID: 11368355 DOI: 10.1038/sj.leu.2402085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Ever since the development of technology allowing the transfer of new genes into eukaryotic cells, the hematopoietic system has been an obvious and desirable target for gene therapy. The last 10 years have witnessed an explosion of interest in this approach to treat human disease, both inherited and acquired, with the initiation of multiple clinical protocols. All gene therapy strategies have two essential technical requirements. These are: (1) the efficient introduction of the relevant genetic material into the target cell and (2) the expression of the transgene at therapeutic levels. Conceptual and technical hurdles involved with these requirements are still the objects of active research. To date, the most widely used and best understood vectors for gene transfer in hematopoietic cells are derived from retroviruses, although they suffer from several limitations. However, as gene transfer mechanisms become more efficient and long-term gene expression is enhanced, the variety of diseases that can be tackled by gene therapy will continue to expand. However, until the problem of delivery and subsequent expression is adequately resolved, gene therapy will not realize its full potential. The first part of this review gives an overview of the gene delivery technology available at present to transfer genetic sequences in human somatic cells. The relevance of the hematopoietic system to the development of gene therapy strategies as well as hematopoietic cell-based gene therapy is discussed in the second part.
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Affiliation(s)
- V F Van Tendeloo
- Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp University Hospital, Belgium
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