376 VECTOR-MEDIATED GENE TRANSFER INTO RHESUS MACAQUE EMBRYOS

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 295
Author(s):  
H. M. Kubisch ◽  
C. Gagliardi ◽  
D. G. Romero ◽  
B. A. Bunnell ◽  
M. S. Ratterree

A series of experiments was performed to assess the suitability of various viral vectors for transformation of rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) embryos. Viral vectors included the adenovirus-associated virus (AAV) containing a CMV-EGFP transgene and a lentivirus (FUGW) carrying the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene from either the jellyfish or a humanized version from renilla linked to an ubiquitin promoter. Embryos were generated by in vitro fertilization of oocytes retrieved by laparoscopy from superovulated females. Resulting zygotes were injected under the zona pellucida (ZP) with varying viral concentrations. Embryos were subsequently cultured for 5 days and thereafter analyzed by epifluorescence microscopy. A total of 62 zygotes were injected with one of three vectors AAV2 (25), AAV2.1 (15), or AAV2.7 (22). Of these 22, 9 and 16, respectively, reached the blastocyst and morula stage. There was no difference in the percentage of embryos expressing GFP between vectors (24, 53.2, and 36.4%, respectively). However, all of the positive embryos proved to be mosaics. In a second set of experiments, FUGW was injected under the ZP of 155 embryos. Of these, 76 received virus carrying renilla GFP, while the remaining 79 were injected with virus carrying the jellyfish GFP. Following injection with renilla, 52 reached the blastocyst/morula stage on Day 7, while 43 containing jellyfish GFP proceeded to this stage. Expression of jellyfish GFP could be seen in 65% of the embryos of which 35.6% were mosaics, whereas renilla GFP was found in only 15.8% of the embryos, although none of these were mosaic. To determine whether the mosaic expression was caused by transgene silencing, three mosaic embryos were dissociated on Day 3 and 10; 10 and 8 blastomeres, respectively, were obtained. Analysis by PCR showed all but one blastomere carrying the vector. Similarly, the presence of the vector was identified by PCR in 17 of 19 non-expressing embryos injected with renilla. These results show that AAV and lentivirus can transform rhesus embryos, which can subsequently continue in development. However, identification of positive embryos by epifluorescence alone may not be sufficient. Funding was provided by NIH/NCRR grant RR000164-13.

Microbiology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 149 (7) ◽  
pp. 1819-1828 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Carroll ◽  
Philip E. Stewart ◽  
Patricia Rosa ◽  
Abdallah F. Elias ◽  
Claude F. Garon

Borrelia burgdorferi regulates genes in response to a number of environmental signals such as temperature and pH. A green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter system using the ospC, ospA and flaB promoters from B. burgdorferi B31 was introduced into infectious clonal isolates of strains B31 and N40 to monitor and compare gene expression in response to pH and temperature in vitro. GFP could be assayed by epifluorescence microscopy, immunoblotting or spectrofluorometry and was an accurate reporter of target gene expression. It was determined that only 179 bp 5′ of ospC was sufficient to regulate the reporter gfp in vitro in response to pH and temperature in B. burgdorferi B31. The loss of linear plasmid (lp) 25, lp28-1, lp36 and lp56 had no effect on the ability of B. burgdorferi B31 to regulate ospC in response to pH or temperature. The amount of OspC in N40 transformants was unaffected by changes in pH or temperature of the culture medium. This suggests that regulation of gene expression in response to pH and temperature may vary between these two B. burgdorferi strains.


Zygote ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 558-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Chrenek ◽  
A.V. Makarevich ◽  
M. Popelková ◽  
J. Schlarmannová ◽  
S. Toporcerová ◽  
...  

SummaryThe aim of the study was to determine the viability of rabbit transgenic (enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)-positive) embryos cultured in vitro and compare with gene-microinjected (Mi) non-transgenic (EGFP-negative) embryos following vitrification. Non-microinjected and non-vitrified embryos were used as the control. Morphological signs of injury to embryo organelles were determined at the ultrastructural level using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Morphometric evaluation was performed on cellular organelles using microphotographs obtained by TEM. Intact and Mi embryos recovered from in vivo fertilized eggs at 19–20 hours post coitum (hpc) were cultured for up to 72 hpc (morula stage), evaluated for the EGFP gene integration and then vitrified in 0.25 ml insemination straws in modified EFS (40% ethylene glycol + 18% Ficoll 70 + 0.3 M sucrose) vitrification solution. After 1–3 days the embryos were devitrified, a representative selection of embryos was analyzed by TEM and the remaining embryos were subjected to additional in vitro culture. Observations by TEM showed that the vitrified/warmed EGFP-positive and EGFP-negative embryos had a slight accumulation of cellular debris and lipid droplets compared with the control intact embryos. More severe changes were detected in the membrane structures of the treated embryos, mostly in the cytoplasmic envelope, trophoblastic microvilli, junctional contacts and mitochondria. We suggest that the higher proportion of deteriorated cell structures and organelles in the treated embryos may be due to the vitrification process rather than to mechanical violation (the gene-microinjection procedure), as a detailed inspection of ultrastructure revealed that most damage occurred in the cell membrane structures.


2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 124
Author(s):  
M. Kobayashi ◽  
M. Watanabe ◽  
H. Matsunari ◽  
K. Nakano ◽  
T. Kanai ◽  
...  

Transgenic (Tg) pigs expressing a fluorescent protein are extremely useful for research into transplantation and regenerative medicine. This study aimed to create Tg pigs expressing monomeric Plum (mPlum), a far-red fluorescent protein with a longer wavelength than enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and humanized Kusabira Orange (huKO), the two fluorescent proteins that have been used previously for Tg pig production. A linearized CAG-mPlum transgene construct was transferred into porcine fetal fibroblasts (PFF) by electroporation. mPlum fluorescence-positive cells were collected using a cell sorter and used as nuclear donors (mPlum-PFF) for somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). In vitro-matured oocytes were obtained from porcine cumulus–oocyte complexes cultured in NCSU23-based medium and were used to obtain recipient oocytes for SCNT after enucleation. Then, SCNT was performed as reported previously (Matsunari et al., 2008). The reconstructed embryos were cultured for 7 days in porcine zygote medium-5 (PZM-5). mPlum fluorescence expression was screened during the early development of the embryos. After 5 or 6 days of culture, the SCNT embryos were surgically transferred to the uterus of a recipient gilt. We first obtained fetuses on Day 36 or 37 of gestation by Caesarean section and the PFF were retrieved from their skin. Fluorescence expression was analysed using fluorescence microscope, and the number of transgene copies in each fetus was determined by Southern blot analysis. We also analysed whether unique spectral properties of mPlum are suitable for multicolor imaging using confocal microscope and flow cytometer. The identification of mPlum-expressing PFF under the mixed culture of PFF expressing EGFP and huKO was examined. The 2 cell lines of PFF expressing EGFP and huKO were previously generated in our laboratory. Rates of normal cleavage and blastocyst formation occurred in the SCNT embryos generated with mPlum-PFF (mPlum embryos) were equivalent to those of SCNT embryos derived from nontransgenic PFF (34/42, 81.0%; 33/42, 78.6% v. 37/40, 92.5%; 30/40, 75.0%). Total cell numbers in mPlum and control blastocysts did not differ significantly (88.3 ± 6.0 v. 99.9 ± 8.8). Fluorescence expression in the mPlum embryos began at the 8-cell stage and became brighter from the morula stage. The gilt into which 103 mPlum embryos were transferred produced 3 fetuses. These fetuses expressed mPlum fluorescence systemically and had 1 to 5 copies of the transgene. Multicolor fluorescence imaging and flow cytometric analyses of a mixed culture of mPlum PFF and PFF expressing EGFP and huKO showed that clear identification and isolation of cells displaying each of the 3 fluorescence signals was possible. These observations demonstrate that the transfer of CAG-mPlum did not interfere with the development of porcine SCNT embryos and resulted in the successful generation of Tg cloned pigs that systemically expressed mPlum. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 25293279.


2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 250 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Pereyra-Bonnet ◽  
A. Gibbons ◽  
M. Cueto ◽  
R. Fernández-Martín ◽  
D. Salamone

Nowadays, transgenesis in animals constitutes an important tool for pharmacological protein production and livestock improvement. In 1971 Brackett first described that heterologous DNA can be introduced into a mammalian oocyte using sperm cells as vectors. We evaluated the capacity of AI, IVF and ICSI to produce transgenic embryos, in ovine, using sperm that had been exposed to a pCX-EGFP plasmid in Long and Short incubation protocols. The pCX-EGFP plasmid contains an enhanced green fluorescent protein gene (egfp) under the chimeric cytomegalovirus-IE-chicken β-actin enhancer-promoter control. Sperm/pCX-EGFP incubation was carried out by Long Incubation (2 h at 17°C in 200 μL of SFM medium: 100 mL contains glucose 1.2 g, Na citrate 1.0 g, EDTA 0.4 g, Citric acid 0.3 g, Trizma 0.6 g) and Short Incubation (5 min at 0–5°C in 10–100 μL of extender medium: 100 mL contains Na Citrate 2.8 g and EDTA 4 mg). For AI, Merino sheep (n = 17) were superovulated and inseminated with fresh semen (200 millions sperm/sheep) from eight Merino rams. The embryos were recovered by flushing the uterine horns by standard procedures. In IVF and ICSI, slaughterhouse oocytes were fertilized with frozen/thawed sperm. IVF was carried out in Brackett-Oliphant medium with 5 mm of caffeine, 20 IU mL–1 of heparin with 20 million sperm mL–1 during 5 h in an atmosphere of 5% CO2 in air. In ICSI, the spermatozoon was immobilized by breaking its tail and injected into MII oocytes. Immediately the oocytes were activated by incubation in TALP-HEPES with 5 μm ionomycin for 4 min, cultured in TCM199 for 3 h and transferred to a droplet of 1.9 mm DMAP for 3 h. Maturation and cultivation conditions were determined by standard operating procedures. All embryos were exposed to blue light (488 nm) to determine the percentage of morulae/blastocysts showing green fluorescence. Results are shown in Table 1. Statistical analysis was done by Fisher test. AI and IVF were able to produce a high percentage of morula and blastocyst stage, but were unable to produce transgenic embryos. In contrast, regardless of the sperm/plasmid incubation protocol, high percentages of transgenic morulae and blastocysts were always obtained by ICSI and the highest rate was achieved with Short Incubation (P < 0.05). In order to demonstrate ICSI-Short incubation embryo viability, two-day-old non-selected fluorescence embryos (n = 45), were transferred into the oviducts of five surrogate mothers. Pregnancy was diagnosed at day 25 (2/5; 40%), and one normal female lamb was recently born (1/5; 20%). In conclusion, our results show that in ovine, ICSI seems to be the only method for producing transgenic embryos using sperm cells as vectors. In addition the offspring born confirm the viability of these embryos. Table 1.Development and fluorescence expression of ovine embryos


Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nebai Mesanza ◽  
Bryan D. Crawford ◽  
Thomas J.D. Coulson ◽  
Eugenia Iturritxa ◽  
Cheryl L. Patten

Erwinia billingiae S31R1 and Bacillus simplex S11R41, isolated from the rhizosphere of a healthy tree located in a Pinus radiata D. Don plantation with high presence of fungal pathogens, are antagonists of pine root rot fungi Heterobasidion annosum and Armillaria mellea in vitro and in young trees. For effective biocontrol of these pathogens, the bacteria must stably colonize P. radiata roots following their application. To determine root colonization patterns, the bacteria were transformed with stable plasmids encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP). Transformed E. billingiae was visualized on roots 24 days after soil inoculation by confocal and epifluorescence microscopy, and GFP was detected by ELISA 31 days after inoculation. The presence of E. billingiae microcolonies, in some cases in root intercellular spaces, suggests that bacterial growth was active and localized. Fluorescence of B. simplex S11R41 was visualized on P. radiata roots 31 days after inoculation and its colonization pattern changed from scattered cells to localized microcolonies. Although the populations decreased over time, microcolony formation and localization in specific regions of roots indicated that E. billingiae, normally considered to be an epiphyte, and B. simplex can stably colonize roots of P. radiata.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 1005
Author(s):  
Olga Chervyakova ◽  
Elmira Tailakova ◽  
Nurlan Kozhabergenov ◽  
Sandugash Sadikaliyeva ◽  
Kulyaisan Sultankulova ◽  
...  

Capripoxviruses with a host range limited to ruminants have the great potential to be used as vaccine vectors. The aim of this work was to evaluate attenuated sheep pox virus (SPPV) vaccine strain NISKHI as a vector expressing several genes. Open reading frames SPPV020 (ribonucleotide kinase) and SPPV066 (thymidine kinase) were selected as sites for the insertion of foreign genes. Two integration plasmids with expression cassette were designed and constructed. Recombinant SPPVs expressing an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) (rSPPV(RRΔ)EGFP and rSPPV(TKΔ)EGFP), Foot-and-mouth disease virus capsid protein (VP1), and Brucella spp. outer membrane protein 25 (OMP25) (rSPPV(RRΔ)VP1A-(TKΔ)OMP25) were generated under the transient dominant selection method. The insertion of foreign genes into the SPPV020 and SPPV066 open reading frames did not influence the replication of the recombinant viruses in the cells. Successful foreign gene expression in vitro was assessed by luminescent microscopy (EGFP) and Western blot (VP1 and OMP25). Our results have shown that foreign genes were expressed by rSPPV both in permissive (lamb testicles) and non-permissive (bovine kidney, saiga kidney, porcine kidney) cells. Mice immunized with rSPPV(RRΔ)VP1A-(TKΔ)OMP25 elicited specific antibodies to both SPPV and foreign genes VP1 and OMP25. Thus, SPPV NISKHI may be used as a potential safe immunogenic viral vector for the development of polyvalent vaccines.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 379
Author(s):  
Breanne M. Head ◽  
Christopher I. Graham ◽  
Teassa MacMartin ◽  
Yoav Keynan ◽  
Ann Karen C. Brassinga

Legionnaires’ disease incidence is on the rise, with the majority of cases attributed to the intracellular pathogen, Legionella pneumophila. Nominally a parasite of protozoa, L. pneumophila can also infect alveolar macrophages when bacteria-laden aerosols enter the lungs of immunocompromised individuals. L. pneumophila pathogenesis has been well characterized; however, little is known about the >25 different Legionella spp. that can cause disease in humans. Here, we report for the first time a study demonstrating the intracellular infection of an L. bozemanae clinical isolate using approaches previously established for L. pneumophila investigations. Specifically, we report on the modification and use of a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing plasmid as a tool to monitor the L. bozemanae presence in the Acanthamoeba castellanii protozoan infection model. As comparative controls, L. pneumophila strains were also transformed with the GFP-expressing plasmid. In vitro and in vivo growth kinetics of the Legionella parental and GFP-expressing strains were conducted followed by confocal microscopy. Results suggest that the metabolic burden imposed by GFP expression did not impact cell viability, as growth kinetics were similar between the GFP-expressing Legionella spp. and their parental strains. This study demonstrates that the use of a GFP-expressing plasmid can serve as a viable approach for investigating Legionella non-pneumophila spp. in real time.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Weber-Adrian ◽  
Rikke Hahn Kofoed ◽  
Joseph Silburt ◽  
Zeinab Noroozian ◽  
Kairavi Shah ◽  
...  

AbstractNon-surgical gene delivery to the brain can be achieved following intravenous injection of viral vectors coupled with transcranial MRI-guided focused ultrasound (MRIgFUS) to temporarily and locally permeabilize the blood–brain barrier. Vector and promoter selection can provide neuronal expression in the brain, while limiting biodistribution and expression in peripheral organs. To date, the biodistribution of adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) within peripheral organs had not been quantified following intravenous injection and MRIgFUS delivery to the brain. We evaluated the quantity of viral DNA from the serotypes AAV9, AAV6, and a mosaic AAV1&2, expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the neuron-specific synapsin promoter (syn). AAVs were administered intravenously during MRIgFUS targeting to the striatum and hippocampus in mice. The syn promoter led to undetectable levels of GFP expression in peripheral organs. In the liver, the biodistribution of AAV9 and AAV1&2 was 12.9- and 4.4-fold higher, respectively, compared to AAV6. The percentage of GFP-positive neurons in the FUS-targeted areas of the brain was comparable for AAV6-syn-GFP and AAV1&2-syn-GFP. In summary, MRIgFUS-mediated gene delivery with AAV6-syn-GFP had lower off-target biodistribution in the liver compared to AAV9 and AAV1&2, while providing neuronal GFP expression in the striatum and hippocampus.


2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng-Fei Fu ◽  
Xuan Cheng ◽  
Bing-Qian Su ◽  
Li-Fang Duan ◽  
Cong-Rong Wang ◽  
...  

AbstractPseudorabies, caused by pseudorabies virus (PRV) variants, has broken out among commercial PRV vaccine-immunized swine herds and resulted in major economic losses to the pig industry in China since late 2011. However, the mechanism of virulence enhancement of variant PRV is currently unclear. Here, a recombinant PRV (rPRV HN1201-EGFP-Luc) with stable expression of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and firefly luciferase as a double reporter virus was constructed on the basis of the PRV variant HN1201 through CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology coupled with two sgRNAs. The biological characteristics of the recombinant virus and its lethality to mice were similar to those of the parental strain and displayed a stable viral titre and luciferase activity through 20 passages. Moreover, bioluminescence signals were detected in mice at 12 h after rPRV HN1201-EGFP-Luc infection. Using the double reporter PRV, we also found that 25-hydroxycholesterol had a significant inhibitory effect on PRV both in vivo and in vitro. These results suggested that the double reporter PRV based on PRV variant HN1201 should be an excellent tool for basic virology studies and evaluating antiviral agents.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andi R. Sultan ◽  
Kirby R. Lattwein ◽  
Nicole A. Lemmens-den Toom ◽  
Susan V. Snijders ◽  
Klazina Kooiman ◽  
...  

AbstractStaphylococcus aureus biofilms are a major problem in modern healthcare due to their resistance to immune system defenses and antibiotic treatments. Certain analgesic agents are able to modulate S. aureus biofilm formation, but currently no evidence exists if paracetamol, often combined with antibiotic treatment, also has this effect. Therefore, we aimed to investigate if paracetamol can modulate S. aureus biofilm formation. Considering that certain regulatory pathways for biofilm formation and virulence factor production by S. aureus are linked, we further investigated the effect of paracetamol on immune modulator production. The in vitro biofilm mass of 21 S. aureus strains from 9 genetic backgrounds was measured in the presence of paracetamol. Based on biofilm mass quantity, we further investigated paracetamol-induced biofilm alterations using a bacterial viability assay combined with N-Acetylglucosamine staining. Isothermal microcalorimetry was used to monitor the effect of paracetamol on bacterial metabolism within biofilms and green fluorescent protein (GFP) promoter fusion technology for transcription of staphylococcal complement inhibitor (SCIN). Clinically relevant concentrations of paracetamol enhanced biofilm formation particularly among strains belonging to clonal complex 8 (CC8), but had minimal effect on S. aureus planktonic growth. The increase of biofilm mass can be attributed to the marked increase of N-Acetylglucosamine containing components of the extracellular matrix, presumably polysaccharide intercellular adhesion. Biofilms of RN6390A (CC8) showed a significant increase in the immune modulator SCIN transcription during co-incubation with low concentrations of paracetamol. Our data indicate that paracetamol can enhance biofilm formation. The clinical relevance needs to be further investigated.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document