Recent developments in studies of sperm-mediated gene transfer (SMGT) now provide solid ground for the notion that sperm cells can act as vectors for exogenous genetic sequences. A substantive body of evidence indicates that SMGT is potentially useable in animal transgenesis, but also suggests that the final fate of the exogenous sequences transferred by sperm is not always predictable. The ana...

A new field of gene transfer is emerging as a simple, effective means to drive the expression foreign genes in cells: ultrasound-mediated gene transfer or sonoporation. We report here that sonoporation is an effective means of gene transfer for cultured neurons, a cell type that has been difficult to transfect. Neuronal cell types that are effectively sonoporated include chick retinal neurons, ...

Ligand-conjugated polymer (polyplex) gene delivery vectors have strong potential as targeted, in vivo gene transfer vehicles; however, they are currently limited by low delivery efficiency. A number of barriers to polyplex-mediated delivery have been previously identified, including receptor binding, internalization, endosomal escape, and nuclear localization. However, based on understanding of...

Sonoporation can deliver agents to target local organs by systemic administration, while decreasing the associated risk of adverse effects. Sonoporation has been used for a variety of materials and in a variety of organs. Herein, we demonstrated that local sonoporation to the kidney can offer highly efficient transfer of oligonucleotides, which were systemically administrated to the tubular epi...

Although adenovirus can infect a wide range of cell types, lymphocytes are not generally susceptible to adenovirus infection, in part because of the absence of the expression of the cellular receptor for the adenoviral fiber protein. The cellular receptor for adenovirus and coxsackievirus (CAR) recently was cloned and shown to mediate adenoviral entry by interaction with the viral fiber protein...

Background. Adenoviral gene therapy in liver transplantation has many potential applications, but current vector delivery methods to grafts lack efficiency and require high titers. In this study, we attempted to improve gene delivery efficacy using three different delivery methods to liver grafts with adenoviral vector encoding the LacZ marker gene (AdLacZ). Methods. AdLacZ was delivered to col...

Neural retina can be isolated from mouse embryos and maintained in culture for 2-3 weeks. In such retinal explant cultures, precursor cells differentiate into neurons and glial cells and form three cellular layers, mimicking well the normal development. This explant culture system is suitable for genetic manipulation, such as retrovirus-mediated gene transfer. Retroviral vectors can efficiently...

Adenoviral-mediated gene transfer is suboptimal in human glioma and limits in vivo gene therapy approaches. There is a need for targeted vectors able to enhance gene transfer into the tumor as well as to lower the viral load in the surrounding normal tissues. We evaluated primary human tumor samples by immunohistochemistry and fluorescence-activated cell sorter for expression of the Coxsackie-a...

Microbial genomic sequence analyses have indicated widespread horizontal gene transfer (HGT). However, an adequate mechanism accounting for the ubiquity of HGT has been lacking. Recently, high frequencies of interspecific gene transfer have been documented, catalyzed by Gene Transfer Agents (GTAs) of marine α-Proteobacteria. It has been proposed that the presence of bacterial genes in highly pu...