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Journal of Virology, January 2000, p. 281-294, Vol. 74, No. 1
Department of Genetics, Istituto di Ricerche
di Biologia Molecolare, I.R.B.M.
Received 7 May 1999/Accepted 21 September 1999
It is of great interest for gene therapy to develop vectors that
drive the insertion of a therapeutic gene into a chosen specific site
on the cellular genome. Adeno-associated virus (AAV) is unique among
mammalian viruses in that it integrates into a distinct region of human
chromosome 19 (integration site AAVS1). The inverted terminal repeats
(ITRs) flanking the AAV genome and the AAV-encoded nonstructural
proteins Rep78 and/or Rep68 are the only viral elements necessary and
sufficient for site-specific integration. However, it is also known
that unrestrained Rep activity may cause nonspecific genomic
rearrangements at AAVS1 and/or have detrimental effects on cell
physiology. In this paper we describe the generation of a
ligand-dependent form of Rep, obtained by fusing a C-terminally deleted
Rep68 with a truncated form of the hormone binding domain of the human
progesterone receptor, which does not bind progesterone but binds only
its synthetic antagonist RU486. The activity of this chimeric protein,
named Rep1-491/P, is highly dependent on RU486 in various assays: in
particular, it triggers site-specific integration at AAVS1 of an
ITR-flanked cassette in a ligand-dependent manner, as efficiently as
wild-type Rep68 but without generating unwanted genomic rearrangement
at AAVS1.
0022-538X/0/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Conditional Site-Specific Integration into Human Chromosome 19 by
Using a Ligand-Dependent Chimeric Adeno-Associated Virus/Rep
Protein
Piero Angeletti, 00040 Pomezia
(Rome), Italy
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Istituto di
Ricerche di Biologia Molecolare, I.R.B.M.
P. Angeletti, Via Pontina Km 30.600, 00040 Pomezia (Rome), Italy. Phone: 39-06-91093668. Fax: 39-06-91093654. E-mail: toniatti{at}irbm.it.
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