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Journal of Virology, November 2000, p. 10589-10599, Vol. 74, No. 22
Department of Medicine and Department of
Microbiology, Immunology, and Parasitology and Gene Therapy Program,
Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana
70112,1 and Developmental and
Metabolic Neurology Branch, National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda,
Maryland 208922
Received 3 May 2000/Accepted 22 August 2000
Previously we described safe and efficient three-component human
immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-based gene transfer systems for
delivery of genes into nondividing cells (H. Mochizuki, J. P. Schwartz, K. Tanaka, R. O. Brady, and J. Reiser, J. Virol. 72:8873-8883, 1998). To apply such vectors in anti-HIV gene therapy strategies and to express multiple proteins in single target cells, we
have engineered HIV-1 vectors for the concurrent expression of multiple
transgenes. Single-gene vectors, bicistronic vectors, and multigene
vectors expressing up to three exogenous genes under the control of two
or three different transcriptional units, placed within the viral
gag-pol coding region and/or the viral nef and env genes, were designed. The genes encoding the enhanced
version of green fluorescent protein (EGFP), mouse heat-stable antigen (HSA), and bacterial neomycin phosphotransferase were used as models
whose expression was detected by fluorescence-activated cell sorting,
fluorescence microscopy, and G418 selection. Coexpression of these
reporter genes in contact-inhibited primary human skin fibroblasts
(HSFs) persisted for at least 6 weeks in culture. Coexpression of the
HSA and EGFP reporter genes was also achieved following cotransduction of target cells using two separate lentivirus vectors encoding HSA and EGFP, respectively. For the regulated expression of transgenes, tetracycline (Tet)-regulatable lentivirus vectors encoding the reverse Tet transactivator (rtTA) and EGFP controlled by a Tet-responsive element (TRE) were constructed. A binary
HIV-1-based vector system consisting of a lentivirus encoding rtTA and
a second lentivirus harboring a TRE driving the EGFP
reporter gene was also designed. Doxycycline-modulated expression of
the EGFP transgene was confirmed in transduced primary HSFs. These versatile vectors can potentially be used in a wide range of gene therapy applications.
0022-538X/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Development of Multigene and Regulated
Lentivirus Vectors
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: LSU Gene Therapy
Program, LSU Health Sciences Center, MEB 3205, 1901 Perdido St., New Orleans, LA 70112. Phone: (504) 568-8005. Fax: (504) 568-4295. E-mail:
jreise{at}lsuhsc.edu.
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