Gene therapy relies on the delivery of therapeutic genes into patients’ cells. The microdevices used to reach the cells and to transfer the gene payload are called gene vectors. Viral packaging machinery is often utilized to generate the particles transporting the cargo genes. Lentiviruses, a subgroup of retroviruses, are highly suitable for remodeling into gene transfer vectors because they of...

The estrogen 17β‑estradiol has been proven to serve an indispensable role in the occurrence and development of adenomyosis (ADS). let‑7a/Lin28B axis can control cell proliferation by acting as a tumor‑inhibiting numerous types cancer. However, its ADS remains unknown. present study aimed i) elucidate let‑7a regulating human uterine junctional zone (JZ) smooth muscle cells (SMCs) ADS, ii) evalua...

Hypoxic microenvironment of solid tumors is known to shape malignant phenotypes of cancer cells through the dimeric transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1. In the present study, the therapeutic effect of targeting α subunit of HIF-1 in glioma cells via lentiviral delivery of small hairpin RNA (shRNA) was evaluated. Data from quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry dem...

C-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5) is utilized by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as a co-receptor for cell entry. Suppression of the CCR5 gene by artificial microRNAs (amiRNAs) could confer cell resistance. In previous work, we created a lentivector that encoded the polycistron of two identical amiRNAs that could effectively suppress CCR5. However, tandem repeats in lentiviral vectors led...

The delivery of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) for promoting tissue repair has become a potential new therapy, while hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is an important growth factor with angiogenic, anti-fibrotic, and anti-inflammatory benefits. In this paper, hADSCs were separated, cultured and identified based on the expression of cell surface antigens and multiple differentiation potential. ...

Biased integration remains a key challenge for gene therapy based on lentiviral vector technologies. Engineering of next-generation lentiviral vectors targeting safe genomic harbors for insertion is therefore of high relevance. In a previous paper (Cai et al., 2014a), we showed the use of integrase-defective lentiviral vectors (IDLVs) as carriers of complete gene repair kits consisting of zinc-...

Lentiviral expression clones, which contain long direct repeats, often show dramatic instability in Escherichia coli, leading to difficulties in obtaining valid clones. We show that the reduced-genome E. coli strain MDS42 is capable of stabilizing lentiviral expression clones containing direct repeats, and outperforms many commonly used cloning strains for this purpose. In addition, the strain ...

Retroviral and lentiviral vectors have proven to be particularly efficient systems to deliver genes of interest into target cells, either in vivo or in cell cultures. ey have been used for some time for gene therapy and the development of gene vaccines. Recently retroviral and lentiviral vectors have been used to generate tolerogenic dendritic cells, key professional antigen presenting cells t...

The main function attributed to the Rev proteins of immunodeficiency viruses is the shuttling of viral RNAs containing the Rev responsive element (RRE) via the CRM-1 export pathway from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. This restricts expression of structural proteins to the late phase of the lentiviral replication cycle. Using Rev-independent gag-pol expression plasmids of HIV-1 and simian immunod...

The M€uller glia of fish provide a source for neuronal regeneration after injury, but they do not do so in mammals. We previously showed that lentiviral gene transfer of the transcription factor Achaete-scute homolog 1 (Ascl1/Mash1) in murine M€uller glia cultures resulted in partial reprogramming of the cells to retinal progenitors. The microRNAs (miRNAs) miR-124-9-9* facilitate neuronal repro...