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Journal of Virology, November 2000, p. 10332-10340, Vol. 74, No. 22
Laboratoire de Virologie Moléculaire,
EMI-U Protéases et Vectorisation No. 00-10 and USC INRA,
Faculté des Sciences Pharmaceutiques,1 and
Laboratoire Virologie et Barrière d'Espèces,
INRA,2 IFR Transposons et Virus and
Laboratoire de Microscopie Electronique, Faculté de
Médecine,3 Tours, France
Received 13 March 2000/Accepted 14 August 2000
The aim of this study was to produce gene transfer vectors
consisting of plasmid DNA packaged into virus-like particles (VLPs) with different cell tropisms. For this purpose, we have fused the
N-terminally truncated VP60 capsid protein of the rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) with sequences which are expected to be sufficient to confer DNA packaging and gene transfer properties to the chimeric VLPs. Each of the two putative DNA-binding sequences of major L1 and
minor L2 capsid proteins of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) were
fused at the N terminus of the truncated VP60 protein. The two
recombinant chimeric proteins expressed in insect cells self-assembled
into VLPs similar in size and appearance to authentic RHDV virions. The
chimeric proteins had acquired the ability to bind DNA. The two
chimeric VLPs were therefore able to package plasmid DNA. However, only
the chimeric VLPs containing the DNA packaging signal of the L1 protein
were able efficiently to transfer genes into Cos-7 cells at a rate
similar to that observed with papillomavirus L1 VLPs. It was possible
to transfect only a very limited number of RK13 rabbit cells with the
chimeric RHDV capsids containing the L2-binding sequence. The chimeric
RHDV capsids containing the L1-binding sequence transfer genes into
rabbit and hare cells at a higher rate than do HPV-16 L1 VLPs. However, no gene transfer was observed in human cell lines. The findings of this
study demonstrate that the insertion of a DNA packaging sequence into a
VLP which is not able to encapsidate DNA transforms this capsid into an
artificial virus that could be used as a gene transfer vector. This
possibility opens the way to designing new vectors with different cell
tropisms by inserting such DNA packaging sequences into the major
capsid proteins of other viruses.
0022-538X/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Gene Transfer Using Recombinant Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus
Capsids with Genetically Modified DNA Encapsidation Capacity by
Addition of Packaging Sequences from the L1 or L2 Protein of Human
Papillomavirus Type 16
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratoire de
Virologie Moléculaire, Faculté des Sciences
Pharmaceutiques, 31 Ave. Monge, 37200 Tours, France. Phone: 33 2 47 36 72 56. Fax: 33 2 47 36 71 88. E-mail:
coursaget{at}univ-tours.fr.
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