Efficient gene transfer into human hepatocytes by baculovirus vectors

Item Type:	Article
Title:	Efficient gene transfer into human hepatocytes by baculovirus vectors
Creators Name:	Hofmann, C. and Sandig, V. and Jennings, G. and Rudolph, M. and Schlag, P.M. and Strauss, M.
Abstract:	Viral vectors are the most efficient tools for gene delivery, and the search for tissue-specific infecting viruses is important for the development of in vivo gene therapy strategies. The baculovirus Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus is widely used as a vector for expression of foreign genes in insect cells, and its host specificity is supposed to be restricted to arthropods. Here we demonstrate that recombinant A. californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus is efficiently taken up by human hepatocytes via an endosomal pathway. High-level reporter gene expression from heterologous promoters was observed in human and rabbit hepatocytes in vitro. Mouse hepatocytes and some other epithelial cell types are targeted at a considerably lower rate. The efficiency of gene transfer by baculovirus considerably exceeds that obtained by calcium phosphate or lipid transfection. These properties of baculovirus suggest a use for it as a vector for liver-directed gene transfer but highlight a potential risk in handling certain recombinant baculoviruses.
Keywords:	Arthropods, Cultured Cells, Gene Expression, Gene Transfer Techniques, Genetic Vectors, Liver, Luciferases, Electron Microscopy, Nucleopolyhedrovirus, Genetic Promoter Regions, Recombinant Proteins, beta-Galactosidase, Animals, Insects, Mice, Rabbits
Source:	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
ISSN:	0027-8424
Publisher:	National Academy of Sciences
Volume:	92
Number:	22
Page Range:	10099-10103
Date:	24 October 1995
Official Publication:	http://www.pnas.org/content/92/22/10099.abstract
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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