Functionality of a bicistronic construction containing HEXA and HEXB genes encoding β-hexosaminidase A for cell-mediated therapy of GM2 gangliosidoses

Tay-Sachs disease and Sandhoff disease are severe hereditary neurodegenerative disorders caused by a deficiency ofβ-hexosaminidase A(HexA)enzyme,which results in the accumulation of GM2 gangliosides in the nervous system cells.In this work,we analyzed the efficacy and safety of cell-mediated gene therapy for Sandhoff disease and Sandhoff disease using a bicistronic lentiviral vector encoding cDNA of HexAα-andβ-subunit genes separated by the nucleotide sequence of a P2A peptide(HEXA-HEXB).The functionality of the bicistronic construct containing the HEXA-HEXB genetic cassette was analyzed in a culture of HEK293T cells and human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells(hUCBMCs).Our results showed that the enzymatic activity of HexA in the conditioned medium harvested from genetically modified HEK293T-HEXA-HEXB and hUCBMCs-HEXA-HEXB was increased by 23 and 8 times,respectively,compared with the conditioned medium of native cells.Western blot analysis showed that hUCBMCs-HEXA-HEXB secreted both completely separated HEXA and HEXB proteins,and an uncleaved protein containing HEXA+HEXB linked by the P2A peptide.Intravenous injection of genetically modified hUCBMCs-HEXA-HEXB to laboratory Wistar rats was carried out,and the HexA enzymatic activity in the blood plasma of experimental animals,as well as the number of live cells of immune system organs(spleen,thymus,bone marrow,lymph nodes)were determined.A significant increase in the enzymatic activity of HexA in the blood plasma of laboratory rats on days 6 and 9(by 2.5 and 3 times,respectively)after the administration of hUCBMCsHEXA-HEXB was shown.At the same time,the number of live cells in the studied organs remained unchanged.Thus,the functionality of the bicistronic genetic construct encoding cDNA of the HEXA and HEXB genes separated by the nucleotide sequence of the P2A peptide was shown in vitro and in vivo.We hypothesize that due to the natural ability of hUCBMCs to overcome biological barriers,such a strategy can restore the activity of the missing enzyme in the central nervous system of patients with GM2 gangliosidoses.Based on the obtained data,it can be concluded that intravenous administration of hUCBMCs with HexA overexpression is a promising method of the therapy for GM2 gangliosidoses.The animal protocol was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of the Kazan Federal University(No.23)on June 30,2020.

Construction and expression of the bicistronic expression vector with RANTES and SDF-1 genes

Objective: To construct bicistronic expression vector with RANTES and SDF-1 genes, the ligands of HIV-1 principal coreceptors, and identify its expression. Methods: RANTES-KDEL was amplified from plasmid pCMV-R-K by PCR and cloned into eukaryotic expression vector pCMV-S/K. Gene transfection into HeLa cells was carried out by lipofectin. Indirect immumofluorescence and radioimmunoprecipitation were used to confirm the expression of RANTES and SDF-1. Results: The construction of pCMV-R-K-S-K was confirmed by enzymatic digestion and sequencing. RANTES and SDF-1 were shown expressed in HeLa cells by indirect immumofluorescence and radioimmunoprecipitation. Conclusion: pCMV-R-K-S-K was constructed and expressed in cell line Hela successfully, which will contribute to further study of gene therapy of AIDS by HIV-1 coreceptors knockout.

Construction and expression of a bicistronic vector containing human bone morphogenetic protein 2 and vascular endothelial growth factor-165 genes in vitro

It has been well documented that bone morphogenetic .proteins （BMPs）, a group of proteins belonging to the transforming growth factor-β （TGFβ） superfamily, can induce bone formation, both in vivo and in vitro. Bone morphogenetic protein-2 （BMP2） is a potent osteoinductive factor and is being evaluated as a bone growth inducer for orthopedic applications.1 Vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF）, the best-characterized angiogenic factor,