Viruses, Vol. 10, Pages 574: Improved Baculovirus Vectors for Transduction and Gene Expression in Human Pancreatic Islet Cells

Viruses, Vol. 10, Pages 574: Improved Baculovirus Vectors for Transduction and Gene Expression in Human Pancreatic Islet Cells Viruses doi: 10.3390/v10100574 Authors: Leo P. Graves Mine Aksular Riyadh A. Alakeely Daniel Ruiz Buck Adam C. Chambers Fernanda Murguia-Meca Juan-Jose Plata-Muñoz Stephen Hughes Paul R. V. Johnson Robert D. Possee Linda A. King Pancreatic islet transplantation is a promising treatment for type 1 diabetes mellitus offering improved glycaemic control by restoring insulin production. Improved human pancreatic islet isolation has led to higher islet transplantation success. However, as many as 50% of islets are lost after transplantation due to immune responses and cellular injury, gene therapy presents a novel strategy to protect pancreatic islets for improved survival post-transplantation. To date, most of the vectors used in clinical trials and gene therapy studies have been derived from mammalian viruses such as adeno-associated or retrovirus. However, baculovirus BacMam vectors provide an attractive and safe alternative. Here, a novel BacMam was constructed containing a frameshift mutation within fp25, which results in virus stocks with higher infectious titres. This improved in vitro transduction when compared to control BacMams. Additionally, incorporating a truncated vesicular stomatitis virus G protein increased transduction efficacy and production of EGFP and BCL2 in human kidney (HK-2) and pancreatic islet &amp...
Source: Viruses - Category: Virology Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research