Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
2
pubmed:dateCreated
2000-11-20
pubmed:abstractText
Gene therapy vectors based on mammalian promoters offer the potential for increased cell specificity and may be less susceptible than viral promoters to transcription attenuation by host cytokines. The human cytokeratin 18 (K18) gene is naturally expressed in the lung epithelia, a target site for gene therapies to treat certain genetic pediatric lung diseases. Our original vector based on the promoter and 5' control elements of K18 offered excellent epithelial cell specificity but relatively low expression levels compared with viral promoters. In the present study, we found that adding a stronger SV40 poly(A) signal boosted primary rat lung epithelial cell expression but greatly reduced cell specificity. Addition of a 3' portion of the K18 gene to our vector as a 3' untranslated region (UTR) improved epithelial cell-specific expression by reducing expression in lung fibroblasts. The effect of the 3' UTR was not related to gross differences in cell-specific splicing. A deletion variant of this UTR further increased lung epithelial cell expression while retaining some cell specificity. These data illustrate the possibilities for using 3' UTR to regulate cell-specific transgene expression. Our improved K18 vector should prove useful for pediatric lung gene therapy applications.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Aug
pubmed:issn
0031-3998
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
48
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
184-90
pubmed:dateRevised
2010-5-11
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2000
pubmed:articleTitle
A human epithelium-specific vector optimized in rat pneumocytes for lung gene therapy.
pubmed:affiliation
Programmes in Lung Biology, Research Medical Research Council Group in Lung Development, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't