Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors expressing the normal cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) cDNA complement the cystic fibrosis (CF) defect in vitro. Unlike other DNA virus vectors, AAV is a stably integrating virus, which could make possible long-term in vivo complementation of the CF defect in the airway epithelium. We report AAV-CFTR gene transfer and expression after infection of primary CF nasal polyp cells and after in vivo delivery of AAV-CFTR vector to one lobe of the rabbit lung through a fiberoptic bronchoscope. In the rabbit, vector DNA could be detected in the infected lobe up to 6 months after administration. A 26-amino acid polypeptide sequence unique to the recombinant AAV-CFTR protein was used to generate both oligonucleotide probes and a polyclonal antibody which allowed the unambiguous identification of vector RNA and CFTR protein expression. With these reagents, CFTR RNA and protein were detected in the airway epithelium of the infected lobe for up to 6 months after vector administration. AAV vectors do, therefore, efficiently promote in vivo gene transfer to the airway epithelium which is stable over several months. These findings indicate that AAV-CFTR vectors could potentially be very useful for gene therapy.
The most common cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator mutation, ⌬ F508-CFTR, is a partially functional chloride channel that is retained in the endoplasmic reticulum and degraded. We hypothesize that a known transcriptional regulator, sodium 4-phenylbutyrate (4PBA), will enable a greater fraction of ⌬
Antisera against two peptides, corresponding to different domains of the cystic fibrosis gene product CFTR, have been raised and extensively characterized. Both antisera recognize CFTR as a 165-kDa polypeptide in Western analysis of cells transfected with CFTR cDNA as well as in epithelial cell lines. The cell and tissue distribution of CFTR has been studied by immunocytochemistry. CFTR is abundant in epithelial cells, including those lining sweat ducts, small pancreatic ducts, and intestinal crypts. Unexpectedly, the level of CFTR in lung epithelia is relatively low, while it is abundant in the epithelia of kidney tubules. The protein appears to be restricted to the apical, rather than basolateral, regions of epithelial cells and at least a proportion is associated with the plasma membrane. The cell and tissue distributions of CFTR are consistent with a function for this protein as a chloride channel or as a regulator of channel activity.
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