Browsing by Author "Sastry, Lakshmi"

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    Certification assays for HIV-1-based vectors: frequent passage of gag sequences without evidence of replication-competent viruses
    (Elsevier, 2003-11-01) Sastry, Lakshmi; Xu, Yi; Johnson, Terry; Desai, Kunal; Rissing, David; Marsh, Jonathan; Cornetta, Kenneth; Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine
    A principal concern regarding the safety of HIV-1-based vectors is replication-competent lentivirus (RCL). We have developed two PCR assays for detecting RCL; the first detects recombination between gag regions in the transfer vector and the packaging construct (sensitivity of detection ∼10–100 copies of target sequence). The second assay uses real-time PCR to detect vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSVG) envelope DNA (sensitivity ∼5–50 VSVG sequences). In an attempt to amplify any RCL, test vectors were used to transduce C8166 and 293 cells, which were then screened weekly for 3 weeks. Psi–gag recombinants were routinely detected (20 of 21 analyses) in four transductions using the RRL-CMV-GFP vector. In contrast, VSVG sequences were detected only once in 21 analyses. Interestingly, p24 levels (as measured by ELISA) were occasionally detectable after 3 weeks of culture. To determine if a true RCL was present, 21-day cell-free medium was used to transduce naïve cells. No evidence of psi–gag or VSVG transfer was detected, indicating that the recombination events were insufficient to reconstitute a true RCL. These findings have important implications for the design and safety of HIV-1-based vectors intended for clinical applications.
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    G2 Cell Cycle Arrest and Cyclophilin A in Lentiviral Gene Transfer
    (Elsevier, 2006-10-01) Zhang, Shangming; Joseph, Guiandre; Pollok, Karen; Berthoux, Lionel; Sastry, Lakshmi; Luban, Jeremy; Cornetta, Kenneth; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Lentiviral vectors derived from the human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) have a higher propensity to transduce nondividing cells compared to vectors based on oncoretroviruses. We report here that genistein, a previously known protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) inhibitor and G2 cell cycle arrest inducer, significantly enhanced lentiviral transduction in a dose-dependent manner. Increased transduction, as measured by vector expression, was seen in a variety of human cell lines, murine primary lymphocytes, and primary human CD34+ peripheral blood progenitor cells as well. Increased vector expression was also associated with an increase in vector DNA copy number, as assessed by quantitative PCR. Genistein-mediated G2 cell cycle arrest, rather than PTK inhibition, appears to be the major factor responsible for increased gene transfer. Genistein also increases cyclophilin A (CypA) protein, a cellular protein important for efficient HIV-1 infection. While we show that CypA−/− Jurkat cells transduce poorly with lentiviral vectors, genistein does increase gene transfer in CypA-deficient cells. CypA and G2 cell cycle arrest appear to be two independent factors important for efficient lentiviral gene transfer. The role of genistein and other G2-arresting agents may be useful for improving the efficiency of lentiviral gene therapy.
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    Testing for Replication Competent Lentivirus Associated with HIV1 Lentiviral Vectors
    (Elsevier, 2003-05-01) Sastry, Lakshmi; Xu, Yi; Johnson, Terry; Cornetta, Ken; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine