Chloromycetin resistance of clinically isolated E coli is conversed by using EGS technique to repress the Chloromycetin acetyl transferase

AIM： To explore the possibility of repression of chloromycetin （Cm） acyl transferase by using external guided sequence （EGS） in order to converse the clinical E coli isolates from Cm- resistant to Cm- sensitive. METHODS： EGS directed against chloromycetin acetyl transferase gene （cat） was cloned to vector pEGFP-C1 which contains the kanamycin （Kin） resistance gene. The recombinant plasmid pEGFP-C1＋EGScatl＋cat2 was constructed and the blank vector without EGS fragment was used as control plasmids. By using the CaCl2 transformation method, the recombinant plasmids were introduced into the clinically isolated Cm resistant but Km sensitive E coli strains. Transformants were screened on LB agar plates containing Kin. Extraction of plasmids and PCR were applied to identify the positive clones. The growth curve of EGS transformed bacteria cultured in broth with Cm resistance was determined by using spectrophotometer at A600. Drug sensitivity was tested in solid culture containing Cm by using KB method. RESULTS： Transformation studies were carried out on 16 clinically isolated Cm-resistant （250 μg/mL of Cm） E colistrains by using pEGFP-C1-EGScatlcat2 recombinant plasmid. Transformants were screened on LB-agar plates containing Km after the transformation using EGS. Of the 16 tested strains, 4 strains were transformed successfully. Transformants with EGS plasmid showed growth inhibition when grown in liquid broth culture containing 200 μg/mL of Cm. In drug sensitivity test, these strains were sensitive to Cm on LB-agar plates containing 200 μg/mL of Cm. Extraction of plasmids and PCR amplification showed the existence of EGS plasmids in these four transformed strains. These results indicated that the Cat of the four clinical isolates had been suppressed and the four strains were converted to Cm sensitive ones. CONCLUSION： The EGS directed against Cat is able to inhibit the expression of Cat, and hence convert Cm- resistant bacteria to Cm-sensitive ones. Thus, the EGS has the capability of converting the phenotype of clinical drug-resistant isolates strains to drug-sensitive ones.

Gene therapeutic approaches to inhibit hepatitis B virus replication

Acute and chronic hepatitis B virus(HBV) infections remain to present a major global health problem. The infection can be associated with acute symptomatic or asymptomatic hepatitis which can cause chronic inflammation of the liver and over years this can lead to cirrhosis and the development of hepatocellularcarcinomas. Currently available therapeutics for chronically infected individuals aim at reducing viral replication and to slow down or stop the progression of the disease. Therefore, novel treatment options are needed to efficiently combat and eradicate this disease. Here we provide a state of the art overview of gene therapeutic approaches to inhibit HBV replication. We discuss non-viral and viral approaches which were explored to deliver therapeutic nucleic acids aiming at reducing HBV replication. Types of delivered therapeutic nucleic acids which were studied since many years include antisense oligodeoxynucleotides and antisense RNA, ribozymes and DNAzymes, RNA interference, and external guide sequences. More recently designer nucleases gained increased attention and were exploited to destroy the HBV genome. In addition we mention other strategies to reduce HBV replication based on delivery of DNA encoding dominant negative mutants and DNA vaccination. In combination with available cell culture and animal models for HBV infection, in vitro and in vivo studies can be performed to test efficacy of gene therapeutic approaches. Recent progress but also challenges will be specified and future perspectives will be discussed. This is an exciting time to explore such approaches because recent successes of gene therapeutic strategies in the clinic to treat genetic diseases raise hope to find alternative treatment options for patients chronically infected with HBV.