Construction of adenovirus vectors encoding the lumican gene by gateway recombinant cloning technology

Adenoviral Vector System: A Comprehensive Overview of Constructions, Therapeutic Applications and Host Responses

Adenoviral vectors are crucial for gene therapy and vaccine development, offering a platform for gene delivery into host cells. Since the discovery of adenoviruses, first-generation vectors with limited capacity have evolved to third-generation vectors flacking viral coding sequences, balancing safety and gene-carrying capacity. The applications of adenoviral vectors for gene therapy and anti-viral treatments have expanded through the use of in vitro ligation and homologous recombination, along with gene editing advancements such as CRISPR-Cas9. Current research aims to maintain the efficacy and safety of adenoviral vectors by addressing challenges such as pre-existing immunity against adenoviral vectors and developing new adenoviral vectors from rare adenovirus types and non-human species. In summary, adenoviral vectors have great potential in gene therapy and vaccine development. Through continuous research and technological advancements, these vectors are expected to lead to the development of safer and more effective treatments.

Construction and characterization of an adenoviral vector encoding human bone morphogenetic protein-2

Objectives

Construction of adenoviral vectors can be complicated and time-consuming. The aim of this study was to construct an adenoviral vector expressing human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2).

Methods

An adenoviral vector expressing human BMP-2 was constructed using the Gateway™ technique based on site-specific recombination. Briefly, BMP-2 cDNA was obtained by polymerase chain reaction, inserted into the pMD19-T cloning vector, and subcloned into a shuttle vector. The DNA sequence encoding BMP-2 was then subcloned from pEC3.1-BMP2 into the pAd/BLOCK-iT™-DEST adenoviral vector genome, which was then linearized and used to transfect 293 cells for adenovirus packaging. Adenovirus particles were generated with a titer of 1 × 10¹⁰ infectious units/mL.

Results

Potent expression of BMP-2 mRNA and protein was detected in adenovirus-infected 293 cells, confirming that the adenoviral vector encoding BMP-2 was successfully constructed.

Conclusions

This recombinant adenoviral vector encoding BMP-2 can be applied in future studies to explore the roles of BMP-2 in various cell types and tissues.

Construction and Characterization of Adenovirus Vectors Encoding Aspartate-β-Hydroxylase to Preliminary Application in Immunotherapy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Dendritic cells (DCs) harboring tumor-associated antigen are supposed to be a potential immunotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Aspartate-β-hydroxylase (AAH), an overexpressed tumor-associated cell surface protein, is considered as a promising biomarker and therapeutic target for HCC. In this study, we constructed adenovirus vector encoding AAH gene by gateway recombinant cloning technology and preliminarily explored the antitumor effects of DC vaccines harboring AAH. Firstly, the total AAH mRNA was extracted from human HCC tissues; the cDNA was amplified by RT-PCR, verified, and sequenced after TA cloning. Gateway technology was used and the obtained 18T-AAH was used as a substrate, to yield the final expression vector Ad-AAH-IRES2-EGFP. Secondly, bone marrow-derived DCs were infected by Ad-AAH-IRES2-EGFP to yield AAH-DC vaccines. Matured DCs were demonstrated by increased expression of CD11c, CD80, and MHC-II costimulatory molecules. A dramatically cell-killing effect of T lymphocytes coculturing with AAH-DCs on HepG2 HCC cell line was demonstrated by CCK-8 and FCM assays in vitro. More importantly, in an animal experiment, the lysis effect of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) on HepG2 cells in the AAH-DC group was stronger than that in the control groups. In conclusion, the gateway recombinant cloning technology is a powerful method of constructing adenovirus vector, and the product Ad-AAH-IRES2-EGFP may present as a potential candidate for DC-based immunotherapy of HCC.