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Journal of Virology, December 2003, p. 13136-13145, Vol. 77, No. 24
0022-538X/03/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.77.24.13136-13145.2003
Copyright © 2003, American
Society for
Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195
Received 15 May 2003/ Accepted 4 September 2003
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AAV vectors have been extensively developed for gene transfer applications (reviewed in references 6, 18, and 47) and are currently employed in clinical trails (1, 20, 29). In these applications, transduction can occur by gene addition from episomal and/or integrated vector genomes. Episomal expression requires the conversion of single-stranded vector genomes to double-stranded molecules either by annealing of complementary strands or second-strand synthesis (15, 17, 40). Vector integration (in the absence of Rep) occurs at random locations by nonhomologous recombination between terminally deleted vector genomes and host chromosomes (36, 39, 48, 53). A third means of transduction by AAV vectors is gene targeting with vectors containing sequences homologous to host chromosomes (46). The precise molecular events involved in random integration and gene targeting with AAV vectors are poorly understood. Specifically, it is not known whether the vector substrate is single stranded or double stranded, what the molecular structure of the host chromosome site is, and what host proteins are involved. A better understanding of these molecular events may lead to improvements in parvoviral vectors for gene therapy applications.
Vectors based on the autonomous parvoviruses have also been developed, with the hope of capitalizing on the oncotropic and oncolytic properties of the wild-type viruses for cancer therapy (12, 22, 37, 41). These vectors expressed the viral replication protein NS1, so transgene expression was assumed to occur from episomal vector genomes. Unlike AAV vectors, autonomous parvoviral vectors have not yet been shown to transduce cells by random chromosomal integration or gene targeting. Because these transduction pathways require only host enzymes, we reasoned that autonomous parvoviral vectors might behave the same as AAV vectors in these processes. In this report, we investigate integration and gene targeting with MVM vectors that retain only the terminal sequences necessary for replication and packaging. As with most AAV vectors, the viral replication proteins are not expressed from these MVM vector genomes so episomal replication should not occur. We also took advantage of the ability of MVM to package predominantly the minus strand of the viral genome (5, 10) to prepare vectors that contain either the coding or noncoding strand of the transgene cassette. In the case of AAV, similar amounts of both strands are packaged (4). This allowed us to investigate the relative efficiencies of coding and noncoding strands, alone and in combination, for random integration and gene targeting.
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4SPc9, 293T
(11), and NB324K cells
(51), a gift from Peter
Tattersall, were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium
(DMEM) with 10% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (HyClone),
penicillin (100 U/ml), and streptomycin (100 µg/ml) at
37°C in a 5% CO2 atmosphere. Prior to
transduction in HPRT experiments, HT-1080 cells were cultured
in HAT medium (DMEM containing 13.61-µg/ml hypoxanthine,
0.176-µg/ml aminopterin, and 3.875-µg/ml thymidine) to
select against cells containing mutations in the HPRT
gene. Plasmids. The infectious clone of MVM, pMVMp (19), was a gift from Peter Tattersall. The packaging plasmid pPMp was made by inserting a PmeI-SnaBI restriction fragment from pMVMp (nucleotides 133 to 4631; GenBank accession no. J02275) with attached BamHI linkers into pVZ1 (23). The vector plasmid pMB was made by deleting the PmeI-XbaI restriction fragment from pMVMp (nucleotides 133 to 4342; GenBank accession no. J02275), attaching BglII linkers, and religating. To insert an MVM NS1 binding and nick site 5' to the left terminal palindrome of pMB, the oligonucleotides 5'-GATCCTTCGAAACTCCCTGAACCGCTTATCATTTTTAGAACTGACCAACCATGTTCAC-3' and 5'-GTGAACATGGTTGGTCAGTTCTAAAAATGATAAGCGGTTCAGGGAGTTTCGAAG-3' were hybridized and used to replace the BamHI-BsaAI fragment at the left-terminal palindrome of pMB via subcloned intermediates to create pMNB. Vector plasmids pMHPe3TNA-f and pMHPe3TNA-r were made by inserting an Ecl136II-BglII fragment from pA2HPe3TNA (24) into the BglII site of pMNB in opposite orientations. pMHPe3TNA-f, pMHPe3TNA-r, and pA2HPe3TNA all contain the same HPRT-neo cassette consisting of nucleotides 14895 to 17809 of the human HPRT locus (GenBank accession code HUMHPRTB) with the 1.14-kb XhoI-SalI fragment of pMC1neoPolyA (Stragagene, La Jolla, Calif.) inserted at the XhoI site of exon 3 in HPRT.
MVM vector plasmids pM5'APMscvF-f and pM5'APMscvF-r were made by inserting a 3,498-bp BglII fragment containing the 5' portion of the human placental alkaline phosphatase (AP) gene from pA2-5'APBss (25) into the BglII site of pMNB (see Fig. 8) in the forward and reverse orientations, respectively. Both plasmids also contained a 1,186-bp BamHI-BstZ17I fragment from pCGPMscvF(28) that included a green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene driven by the mouse stem cell virus long terminal repeat (LTR) promoter (Mscv). The GFP gene uses the MVM polyadenylation signals retained in pMNB.
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FIG. 8. AP
gene-targeting experiments. (A) Diagrams of MVM and
retroviral vectors for AP gene targeting are shown. The murine leukemia
virus (MLV) retroviral vector LAP375 4SP is shown with the
positions of the LTR, AP gene, SV40 promoter (S), and puromycin
resistance gene (puro) indicated. The 4-bp deletion in AP is
shown below the AP gene along with the corresponding wild-type (wt)
sequence: the deleted bases are lowercase and boldface. Maps of MVM
targeting vectors containing 5' portions of the AP gene are
shown above the MLV-LAP375 4SP target site, with the locations
of left (L)- and right (R)-terminal palindrome sequences, murine stem
cell virus LTR promoter (M), and green fluorescent protein
(gfp) indicated. Each targeting vector contains 2,498 bp of
homology to the target sequence, as indicated by dashed lines.
(B) Strand-specific alkaline Southern blot analysis of
MVM-5'APMscvF-f (forward) and MVM-5'APMscvF-r (reverse)
vector stocks (1 x 109 genomes each) hybridized with
a double-stranded AP probe (top row), a T7 sense AP transcript (middle
row), or a T3 antisense AP transcript (bottom row). (C) AP
gene-targeting rates and GFP gene addition rates are shown for
MVM-5'APMscvF-f (solid bars), MVM-5'APMscvF-r (open
bars), and a mixture of both vectors (hatched bars) in
HT/LAP375 4SPc9 cells at the indicated MOIs. The mixture
contained 2.5 x 105 genomes of forward and reverse
vector stocks. Mean values are shown with standard deviations from
three independent
experiments.
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4SP is derived from pLAP375
4SN, which
contains an AP gene with a 4-bp deletion at nucleotide 375 of the AP
reading frame (25). The
puromycin N-acetyltransferase (puro) gene
(nucleotides 182 to 906; GenBank accession no.
M25346) in
pLAP375
4SP replaces the neo gene in
pLAP375
4SN.
Vector and virus
production.
AAV vector
stocks were made as previously described
(24) by transient
cotransfection of 293T cells with pA2HPe3TNA and serotype 2 helper
plasmid pDG (21). MVM
vector stocks were prepared by transient cotransfection of 293T cells
(30 10-cm-diameter dishes seeded at 106 cells per dish the
day before) with pPMp (16 µg/dish) and MVM vector plasmids (4
µg/dish). Cells were harvested 3 days posttransfection with a
rubber policeman, collected into 50-ml centrifuge tubes, pelleted by
centrifugation (390 x g, 5 min, 20°C),
resuspended in lysis buffer (0.15 M NaCl, 50 mM Tris [pH
8.5]), frozen and thawed three times, and incubated with benzonase
(EM Industries [final concentration greater than 50 U/ml]) 30
min at 37°C, and then cellular debris was pelleted by
centrifugation (Sorvall HS4 rotor, 4,100 x g, 30 min,
4°C). For iodixanol gradients, the resulting suspension was
first adjusted to 1 M NaCl and then mixed with OptiPrep (Nycomed Pharma
Centrifugation Media) to a final iodixanol concentration of 36%
(wt/vol) and centrifuged (Beckman NVT65 rotor, 290,000 x
g, 3 h, 4°C). Starting from the gradient
bottom, 0.5-ml (fractions 1 to 10) or 1.0-ml (fractions 11 to 15)
fractions were collected with an 18-gauge needle. For each fraction,
the density (
) was determined from the refractive index (RI)
obtained by using a refractometer (Milton Roy Company) and the equation
= [(3.242 x RI) - 3.323]
g/ml. The full-length genome content of each fraction was determined by
alkaline Southern blot analysis as described previously
(27). The fractions with
the highest genome content were pooled and concentrated with an
Ultrafree-15 centrifugal filter device (Millipore) to a final volume of
1 ml in DMEM. AAV and MVM vector particle titers were based on the
number of full-length, single-stranded DNA genomes detected by alkaline
Southern blot analysis
(27). Wild-type MVM
stocks were made in a similar fashion, except plasmid pMVMp was used
for the transfections (20 µg/10-cm dish), and an NS-specific
BsmBI fragment probe (MVMp nucleotides 229 to 928; GenBank
accession no.
J02275) was
used for quantitation. Retroviral vector stocks were made with
pLAP375
4SP as described previously
(25).
Transduction assays. Transduction experiments with HPRT vectors were performed as previously described for AAV vectors (24), by plating 2 x 104 HT-1080 cells into 48-well plates on day 1, infecting with vector stocks on day 2, treating with trypsin and replating in 10-cm dishes on day 3, and then expanding in nonselective medium for 9 days to allow for loss of existing HPRT protein. After this phenotypic expression period, cells were plated at different dilutions in DMEM containing G418 (0.7-mg/ml active compound), 6-thioguanine (6TG; 5 µg/ml), or no selective agent to determine plating efficiency. Colonies were stained with Coomassie blue and counted after 8 days of growth. Transduction frequencies were determined by dividing the number of G418- or 6TG-resistant colonies obtained by the number of unselected colonies obtained.
For AP
experiments, HT-1080 cells were first transduced with
pLAP375
4SP-derived retroviral vector stocks as previously
described (25), followed
by selection with puromycin (final concentration, 0.6 mg/ml). A single
clone (HT/LAP375
4SPc9) was isolated, shown to have a single
integrated retroviral provirus by Southern blot analysis, and used for
gene-targeting experiments. To detect AP gene correction, 2 x
104 HT/LAP375
4SPc9 cells were plated into 48-well
plates on day 1, infected with vector stocks on day 2, treated with
trypsin on day 3, and split into three dishes. One 6-cm dish received
0.2% of the infected cells and was stained 1 day later to
determine the number of viable cells per well. Another 6-cm dish
received 49.8% of the infected cells, was cultured for 3 days,
and then used to determine the percentage of GFP-expressing cells by
flow cytometry (FACscan; Becton Dickinson). A third dish (10 cm)
received 50% of the infected cells, was cultured for 7 days, and
then was stained for AP expression as previously described
(16). The number of
AP+ foci per 105 plated cells was
determined by dividing the number of AP+ foci
obtained by the number of viable cells plated in that dish and
multiplying the quotient by 105 as described previously
(25).
Two-tailed Student's t tests were used to determine significant differences among transduction frequencies.
DNA analysis. 6TG- and G418-resistant colonies were isolated with cloning rings and expanded, and genomic DNA was extracted with the Puregene kit (Gentra). To prepare episomal Hirt supernatant DNAs, 4 x 104 HT-1080 cells were infected with 2 x 109 genome-containing particles of MVM-HPe3TNA-f, the cells were harvested with rubber policemen into ice-cold phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) with 1.0 mM EDTA at various times after infection, rinsed, and pelleted (16,000 x g, 35 s, 20°C), and DNA was isolated by a modified version of the method described by Hirt (26). Cell pellets were resuspended in 10 mM Tris (pH 7.4)-10 mM EDTA (approximately 235 µl/106 cells), and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was added to a final concentration of 0.6%. After a 20-min incubation at 20°C, 5 M NaCl was added to a final concentration of 1 M, and the samples were incubated at 4°C overnight and then centrifuged at 16,000 x g for 30 min at 4°C. The supernatants were treated with 1 µl of proteinase K (20 mg/ml) for 1 h at 37°C, extracted twice with phenol-chloroform and once with chloroform, and precipitated with ethanol. Pellets were resuspended in 20 µl of 10 mM Tris (pH 8.0)-1 mM EDTA. Southern blots were performed by standard techniques with random-primed double-stranded probes prepared with Rediprime II (Amersham Biosystems) or single-stranded probes created with the Riboprobe in vitro transcription system (Promega). Quantitation of Southern blots was performed by PhosphorImager analysis (Molecular Dynamics).
Replication center assay. Stocks were tested for replication-competent MVM (RCV) by a single-cycle replication center assay using the permissive cell line NB324K. A total of 5 x 103 cells were seeded in 96-well plates, infected with dilutions of vector stock or wild-type MVM 24 h later, harvested with trypsin 48 h after infection, and then transferred to nylon membranes and lysed as previously described for AAV (31). Replication centers were detected with a 5' NS probe (nucleotides 223 to 921, GenBank accession no. J02275) and visualized as radioactive spots on autoradiographs.
Murine and human genome database search. A nucleotide BLAST search was performed with the National Center for Biotechnology Information web site (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) to search the murine and human genomes for the MVM sequences CTTATCATTTTTAGAACTGACCAAC and CTATTCAGTGAACCAAC, which contain the binding and nicking sites for MVM NS1 from the 3' and 5' ends of the MVM genome.
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FIG. 1. Plasmids
and vectors used in this study. (A) Maps of wild-type MVM
plasmid pMVMp, packaging plasmid pPMp, and vector backbone plasmid pMNB
are shown. The left (L)- and right (R)-terminal palindromes are
indicated by open boxes. Solid boxes represent the viral open reading
frames for the nonstructural proteins (NS1/2) and capsid proteins
(VP1/2). The MVM P4 and P38 promoters are shown with arrows. The
location of the first polyadenylation (pA) signal is shown. The
location of the cis-acting internal replication sequence (IRS)
is shown by an open box below pMVMp. The viral sequence is shown as a
thick line. The dashed line represents deleted viral sequence. The
sequence of the inserted NS1 nick site is shown above pMNB.
(B) Maps of MVM and AAV targeting vectors and the human
HPRT locus are shown. Locations the of HPRT exons
(black boxes), introns (thick lines), AAV inverted terminal repeats
(ITR), MVM left (L)- and right (R)-terminal palindrome sequences, TK
promoter (T), neo gene, pA sites, and the neo and
HPRT hybridization probes used (probes A and B, respectively)
are shown. The AAV and MVM vector terminal repeats are shown in their
base-paired secondary structures. Each vector contains the same
4,073-bp targeting cassette composed of 2,915 bp of the HPRT
locus sequence with the neo expression cassette disrupting the
centrally located exon 3. Relevant endonuclease restriction sites
(BamHI, B; BglII, Bg; EcoRI, E;
HindIII, H) are shown in panels A and
B.
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MVM vector stocks were made by cotransfection of 293T cells
with vector and packaging plasmids, harvesting of cell lysates 3 days
later, and purification on an iodixanol density gradient. The
full-length vector genome content of each gradient fraction was
quantified by alkaline Southern blot analysis (Fig.
2A). The majority of the full-length genomes banded at 50 to 60%
(wt/vol) iodixanol, corresponding to a density of approximately 1.3
g/ml. Fractions containing the vector genomes were pooled and
concentrated, which typically resulted in stocks containing over
1011 genome-containing vector particles in 1 ml. Forward
(MVM-HPe3TNA-f) and reverse (MVM-HPe3TNA-r) vector stocks were compared
by Southern blot analysis for their content of coding and noncoding
strands by using sense and antisense RNA probes (Fig.
2B). As predicted, the
forward and reverse vector stocks contained noncoding and coding
strands, respectively, by this assay, with no detectable signal from
the complementary strands (less than
5% of the total
signal).
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FIG. 2. Characterization
of MVM vector stocks. (A) Vector MVM-HPe3TNA-f was purified
on an iodixanol gradient, and 2 µl of each fraction was
analyzed on an alkaline Southern blot probed for HPRT
sequences. The graph depicts the percentage of total genomes present in
each fraction (bars) determined by PhosphorImager quantification of the
Southern blot (autoradiograph shown below graph), and the calculated
density (squares) determined from the RI of each fraction.
(B) Strand-specific alkaline Southern blot analysis of
MVM-HPe3TNA-f (forward) and MVM-HPe3TNA-r (reverse) vector stocks (3
x 108 genomes each) hybridized with a
double-stranded neo probe (top row), a T7 sense neo
transcript (middle row), or a T3 antisense neo transcript
(bottom
row).
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FIG. 3. Transduction
frequencies of MVM and AAV vectors. A total of 4 x
104 HT-1080 cells were transduced with the indicated vector
preparation (2 x 1010 particles of MVM-HPe3TNA-f
[MVM-f] or MVM-HPe3TNA-r [MVM-r], 1 x
1010 particles of both MVM-f and MVM-r, or 2 x
109 particles of AAV-HPe3TNA [AAV]) and expanded
for 10 days, and then the percentage of G418- or 6TG-resistant cells
was determined by plating portions in G418, 6TG, or nonselective medium
(see Materials and Methods). The G418 (open bars) and 6TG (solid bars)
resistance frequencies were determined by dividing the number of G418-
or 6TG-resistant colonies obtained by the number of unselected colonies
obtained. The mean and standard deviation of five experiments (MVM
vector infections) or four experiments (AAV infections) are shown. The
P values for student t tests comparing 6TG resistance
frequencies of MVM-f to those of the no-vector control (a), MVM-r
versus control (b), and MVM-f versus MVM-r (c) were P
< 0.005, P = 0.069, and P =
0.015,
respectively.
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TABLE 1. Analysis
of genomic DNA from G418- and 6TG-resistant clones of HT-1080 infected
with MVM vectors
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FIG. 4. Southern
blot analysis of G418-resistant HT-1080 clones. Genomic DNAs from four
representative G418-resistant clones were isolated on 1% agarose
gels without digestion or after digestion with HindIII,
BamHI or BglII, and probed for neo
sequences. The positions of size standards and the expected 4.1-kb
BglII vector fragment are shown to the left and right of the
panels, respectively. The predicted structure of an integrated provirus
is shown below the panels with the locations of HPRT intron
sequences (thick line), HPRT exon 3 (dark boxes), MVM right
(R)- and left (L)-terminal palindromes, TK promoter (T), neo
gene, pA sites, and relevant restriction sites (BamHI, B;
BglII, Bg; HindIII, H)
indicated.
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Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA from 6TG-resistant clones was performed to confirm that targeted insertion of the neo gene into exon 3 of the human HPRT locus had occurred. Five representative clones from cells treated with the forward vector, reverse vector, or the vector mixture are shown in Fig. 5. After digestion with HindIII or EcoRI, targeted loci were identified by the predicted shift in the HPRT-hybridizing band and confirmed by hybridization to a neo probe. Thirty-seven of 42 6TG-resistant clones (88%) from three independent experiments had the bands predicted for targeted loci (Table 1). The five clones that did not show targeted loci likely represented spontaneous mutations in HPRT that can also occur in the absence of infection with the vector. For example, forward clone 2 in Fig. 5 contained unexpected HindIII and EcoRI bands that hybridized to HPRT. Since the same fragments did not hybridize to the vector-specific neo probe, there is no evidence that the novel bands were due to the targeting vector. Similarly, reverse clone 5 in Fig. 5 deleted this region of HPRT, based on the lack of hybridizing bands. In some clones, additional HPRT- and neo-hybridizing bands were present, representing random vector integration events that also occurred in targeted clones (reverse clones 1 and 2 in Fig. 5). Interestingly, these additional random integration events were especially common in cells targeted with the reverse vector (7 of 10 targeted clones) compared to the forward vector (0 of 17 targeted clones). None of the 30 G418-resistant clones described above had a targeted HPRT allele (data not shown), consistent with the low frequency of gene targeting compared to random integration.
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FIG. 5. Southern
blot analysis of 6TG-resistant HT-1080 clones. Genomic DNAs from 15
6TG-resistant clones (5 each from cells transduced with MVM-HPe3TNA-f,
MVM-HPe3TNA-r, and the mixture of vectors) and untransduced, parental
HT-1080 cells were digested with HindIII (A and B) or
EcoRI (C and D) and probed for HPRT (A and C) or
neo (B and D) sequences. The positions of size standards are
shown to the left of each panel, and the predicted fragment sizes of
wild-type and targeted alleles are indicated. The locations of
restriction sites and the probe fragments are shown in Fig.
1.
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2,300 NS1-containing wild-type particles in this
assay (105/43), so our vector stocks contained less than
2,300 NS1-containing particles per 108 vector
genome-containing particles. This result is likely due to our vectors
having limited 3' homology (289 bp) and no 5' homology
with the packaging plasmid pPMp. In transduction experiments, we
infected 4 x 104 HT-1080 cells with 2 x
1010 MVM vector particles, so there was less than 0.005 RCV
per cell (200 RCV/40,000 cells), making it unlikely that RCV and, in
particular, NS1 expression affected transduction frequencies.
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FIG. 6. Replication
center assay. NB324K cells were left uninfected (control) or were
infected with the indicated amounts of genome-containing particles of
wild-type MVM and 108 MVM vector genomes,
cultured for 2 days, aspirated onto nylon membrane filters, lysed, and
then hybridized to a 5' NS1 probe. Radioactive spots represent
individual cells with replicated NS1-containing genomes due to
infection with
RCV.
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TABLE 2. Effect
of wild-type MVM on transduction of HT-1080
cellsa
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FIG. 7. Determination
of the intracellular form of MVM vector genomes. Shown are the results
of Southern blot analysis of Hirt supernatants from 4 x
104 HT-1080 cells infected with 2 x 109
genome-containing particles of MVM-HPe3TNA-f prepared 0.5, 24, and
72 h after infection. One-fourth of each sample was run on
0.8% alkaline agarose gels, transferred to nylon membranes, and
hybridized with a double-stranded neo probe (A) or a
single-stranded antisense neo probe (B). Arrows to the right
of each panel show expected locations of single-stranded monomer (m)
and dimer (d)
genomes.
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4SP), then corrected by gene targeting with a
parvoviral vector (Fig.
8A). Cell line HT/LAP375
4SPc9 is a clone of HT-1080 cells
containing a single AP target site (see Materials and Methods). Vectors
MVM-5'APMscvF-f and MVM-5'APMscvF-r contain the
5' portion of the AP open reading frame in the forward and
reverse orientations, respectively, as well as a GFP expression
cassette that served as an independent measure of transduction.
Strand-specific packaging of these MVM vector stocks is shown in Fig.
8B, with the forward (f)
and reverse (r) vector stocks packaging >94% noncoding
strands and >97% coding strands, respectively. Both
vectors corrected the AP mutation by gene targeting in a dose-dependent
manner, and at each MOI, the reverse vector performed significantly
better (P < 0.05) than the forward vector (frequency
of 7.6 to 9.6 times higher). Both vectors also produced GFP-positive
cells in a dose-dependent manner by gene addition, and although the
reverse vector performed slightly better (frequency of 1.4 to 1.8 times
higher), this difference did not reach statistical significance
(P > 0.1). Transduction by a mixture of equal
quantities of forward and reverse vectors (2.5 x 105
genomes each) was not statistically different from that with the
reverse vector alone (2.5 x 105 genomes). Thus, as
with HPRT vectors, the MVM AP vectors demonstrated a clear
strand bias for gene targeting, but not for gene
addition. |
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Our study is the first description of chromosomal integration by an autonomous parvoviral vector. Based on Southern blot analysis, integration occurred at random locations, and the vector proviruses had terminal deletions. Because the vector did not express NS1, this process is distinct from the NS1-dependent integration of MVM vectors into episomes (7, 8) and the related Rep-dependent site-specific integration of AAV vectors at human chromosome 19 (32, 49). Instead, MVM vector integration is similar to Rep-independent random integration of AAV vectors (38, 48, 53), which uses host enzymes in a reaction resembling nonhomologous end joining at double-strand breaks (36). Several lines of evidence suggest that single-stranded MVM vector genomes participated in the integration reaction. First, unlike AAV vectors, the MVM vectors delivered single strands of one polarity without complementary vector genomes. Second, these vectors did not undergo detectable second-strand synthesis to form double-stranded episomal molecules, although our analysis did not distinguish between unencapsidated vector genomes and those remaining in virions within the cell. Third, providing a mixture of forward and reverse vector stocks containing genomes that could have paired in vivo did not increase transduction frequencies. And fourth, providing NS1 protein and stimulating vector DNA replication by the addition of wild-type MVM did not increase integration frequencies. Thus, while we cannot completely rule out that rare double-stranded vector episomes were formed prior to integration, our evidence suggests that input single-stranded genomes ligated directly to chromosomal DNA (presumably at sites of DNA damage), and then subsequently completed second-strand synthesis. By analogy, the same single-strand integration process could occur with AAV vectors.
We also showed that autonomous parvovirus vectors can modify homologous chromosomal sequences in a gene-targeting reaction, similar to what we have described for AAV vectors (24, 46). Here again, our results suggest that the substrate for the gene-targeting reaction is the single-stranded input vector genome, supporting earlier data with AAV vectors showing that double-stranded self-complementary AAV vectors do not participate in gene targeting (25). In the HPRT experiments, forward orientation vector stocks that packaged the noncoding strand targeted more efficiently than reverse orientation vector stocks that packaged the coding strand. In contrast, the AP experiments had the opposite strand preference, with the reverse orientation, coding strand vector targeting at higher frequencies. The fact that one vector strand is superior to its complement is strong evidence for a single-stranded targeting substrate. In addition, since the strand preference was of opposite polarity in the AP and HPRT systems, the effect cannot be due to juxtaposition of the targeting sequence next to the nonidentical left- or right-terminal palindromes of MVM. Rather, it supports a model of gene targeting in which the target site determines which strand is better. This strand bias could be due to a number of cellular processes that make one chromosomal strand more accessible than the other, including DNA replication at leading and lagging strands, transcription, or DNA repair. Interestingly, there were a high proportion of random integration events in targeted cells transduced by the noncoding HPRT vector, raising the possibility that the inefficient targeting reaction taking place in these cells actually used the coding strand present at randomly integrated double-stranded proviruses.
While MVM vectors were able to transduce cells by random integration or gene targeting, AAV vectors were more efficient at both processes, even when used at lower MOIs. This is likely to be due at least in part to poor uptake of MVM in HT-1080 cells, since only 3.1% of input MVM vector genomes had entered cells 3 days after infection. Other cell types may be more permissive for MVM infection, and vectors based on different autonomous parvoviruses will likely have distinct host ranges, so there could still be applications in which autonomous parvoviral vectors are superior. Other factors could also explain the different transduction rates of AAV and MVM vectors, such as vector genome stability, effects of the different viral terminal repeats on the recruitment of host cell enzymes required for transduction, and possible intracellular reactions of the capsid proteins. Identification of these characteristics will improve our understanding of parvoviral transduction mechanisms and may lead to more effective clinical applications of these vectors.
4SP; and Rong Dong, Cong Xu, and Richard Newton for
technical assistance. This research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health.
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