<ol>
<li>The evening before transformation, plate 293T cells at 3-5x106 cells/6 cm tissue cultureplate. Note: We use 293T cells for their ease of transfection and efficacyas virus producing cells. These cells are deficient in packaging the virus unless a helper plasmid is introduced. </li>
<li>The first morning, gently remove medium and replace with 4 ml 293T cell med containing 25 mM Chloroquine. Put in incubator for 1 hr. Note: the plate should be about 80% confluent. </li>
<li>Meanwhile, prepare virus-making mixture for 2 plates at a time, in 5 ml tubes:<ol>
<li>2 x 10 mg retroviral plasmid construct</li>
<li>2 x 5 mg packaging construct (EcoPak), </li>
<li>2 x 62 ml CaCl</li>
<li>complete to 1 ml with sterile ddH2O Note: While the retroviral plasmid encodes the oncogene of interest and a marker, EcoPak encodes gag-pol-env. Together with the 293T cells, they will produce an ecotropic retrovirus(RV) specific for mouse cells, but not infective for human cells. Both Chloroquine and CaCl2 have been shown to increase transfection efficiency. </li>
</ol></li>
<li>Add 1ml of 2x sterileHBS drop-wise to the mixture, while gently vortexing the tube.</li>
<li>Immediately add this solution to 2 plates, 1 ml each, gently, drop by drop. </li>
<li>Put in incubator for 7 to 11 hrs.</li>
<li>In the evening (7 to 11 hrs. later), gently remove medium, and very gently replace with 5 ml fresh 293T medium. Put in incubator until noon, the next day. Note: this step is important, as you need to take off the chloroquine from the cells. If kept for extended periods of time, chloroquine is toxic. The solution in the plates looks fuzzy, due to a very fine, dust-like precipitation of the transfection mixture. Note: It is important to do all media changes with extreme gentleness, as the cells have been sensitized by the chloroquine, and can easily detach from the plate. </li>
<li>Next day, 18 to 24 hrs. before retrieving the virus (around noon), gently remove medium, and very gently replace with 3 ml fresh 293T medium. Replace in incubator O/N.</li>
<li>The third morning (18 to 24 hrs. later), gently suck up the medium form the plates with a 10 ml syringe fitted with an 18 G needle. This supernatant contains the retrovirus.</li>
<li>Change the needle to a 45 mm syringe filter, invert syringe several times to mix the solution well, pass supernatant through filter, and aliquot in cryotubes Note: Alternatively, if you are making 3+ plates of virus, pool all supernatants of the same virus into a 50 ml conical tube. Mix well, then aliquot supernatants containing the retrovirus in cryotubes by filtering. </li>
<li>The tubes containing the virus-full supernatants are kept in -80&deg;C until used.</li>
</ol>

<ol>
	<li>DuBridge, R. B., Tang, P., Hsia, H. C., Leong, P. M., Miller, J. H., Calos, M. P. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Analysis+of+mutation+in+human+cells+by+using+an+Epstein-Barr+virus+shuttle+system.">Analysis of mutation in human cells by using an Epstein-Barr virus shuttle system.</a> Mol Cell Biol. 7, 379-387 (1987).</li><li>Cherry, S. R., Biniszkiewicz, D., van Parijs, L., Baltimore, D., Jaenisch, R. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Retroviral+expression+in+embryonic+stem+cells+and+hematopoietic+stem+cells.">Retroviral expression in embryonic stem cells and hematopoietic stem cells.</a> Mol Cell Biol. 20, 7419-7426 (2000).</li><li>Finer, M. H., Dull, T. J., Qin, L., Farson, D., Roberts, M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=kat:+A+high-efficiency+retroviral+transduction+system+for+primary+human+T+lymphocytes.">kat: A high-efficiency retroviral transduction system for primary human T lymphocytes.</a> Blood. 83, 43-50 (1994).</li><li>Naviaux, R. K., Costanzi, E., Haas, M., Verma, I. M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+pCL+vector+system:+rapid+production+of+helper-free,+high-titer,+recombinant+retroviruses.">The pCL vector system: rapid production of helper-free, high-titer, recombinant retroviruses.</a> J Virol. 70, 5701-5705 (1996).</li><li>Pear, W. S., Miller, J. P., Xu, L., Pui, J. C., Soffer, B., Quackenbush, R. C., Pendergast, A. M., Bronson, R., Aster, J. C., Scott, M. L., Baltimore, D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Efficient+and+rapid+induction+of+a+chronic+myelogenous+leukemia-like+myeloproliferative+disease+in+mice+receiving+P210+bcr/abl-transduced+bone+marrow.">Efficient and rapid induction of a chronic myelogenous leukemia-like myeloproliferative disease in mice receiving P210 bcr/abl-transduced bone marrow.</a> Blood. 92, 3780-3792 (1998).</li><li>Pear, W. S., Nolan, G. P., Scott, M. L., Baltimore, D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Production+of+high-titer+helper-free+retroviruses+by+transient+transfection.">Production of high-titer helper-free retroviruses by transient transfection.</a> Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 90, 8392-8396 (1993).</li><li>Stocking, C., Kollek, R., Bergholz, U., Ostertag, W. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Long+terminal+repeat+sequences+impart+hematopoietic+transformation+properties+to+the+myeloproliferative+sarcoma+virus.">Long terminal repeat sequences impart hematopoietic transformation properties to the myeloproliferative sarcoma virus.</a> Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 82, 5746-5750 (1985).</li><li>Van Etten, R. A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Models+of+chronic+myeloid+leukemia.">Models of chronic myeloid leukemia.</a> Curr Oncol Rep. 3, 228-237 (2001).</li><li>Van Etten, R. A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Studying+the+pathogenesis+of+BCR-ABL++leukemia+in+mice.">Studying the pathogenesis of BCR-ABL+ leukemia in mice.</a> Oncogene. 21, 8643-8651 (2002).</li></ol>

Four critical points will assure the success of a good viral stock: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<ol>
<li>The 293T producing cells have to be very healthy, meaning they have been split on a very regular schedule, were never overgrown, and are plated at the optimized density of 3.5-5 million per 6 cm tissue culture plate, so that they reach a density of 80% of the plate on the morning of the transfection.&nbsp; </li>
<li>Addition of chloroquine improves transfection efficiency and subsequent virus titer, about 3- ...

<table><tbody><tr><td>293T cells</td><td>cell-line</td><td></td><td></td><td>Split 1:3 to 1:4 every 3 days, otherwise they will tend to clump with replating and will not transfect as well. </td></tr><tr><td>293T cell medium</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>DMEM/hi-glu + 10 % FBS + 1% Pen/Strep + 1% L-Glutamine (1% NEAA, optional). We obtain our tissue culture slutions from CellGro.</td></tr><tr><td>coding DNA plasmid</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>Twice purified by CsCl. MSCV backbone, encoding oncogene and marker of choice (Neo, GFP, etc.)</td></tr><tr><td>EcoPak</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>also called pMCV-Ecopac: ecotropic packaging plasmid, encoding gag-pol-env</td></tr><tr><td>2x HBS</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>For 500 ml: 8.0 g NaCl+ 0.37 g KCl + 106.5 mg Na2HPO4 (anhydrous; 201.1 mg if 7xH2O) + 1.0 g dextrose (D-glucose) + 5.0 g HEPES powder. Dissolve in 450 ml dH2O (milli-Q), adjust pH to 7.05 with NaOH, then complete to 500 ml with dH2O. Sterile filter thru 0.45 &amp;#x03BC; filter. Store at room temperature, with the cap on tight.</td></tr><tr><td>2M CaCl2</td><td></td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>miliQ H2O</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>sterile-filtered</td></tr><tr><td>Chloroquine</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>1000x stock is 25 mM in PBS- (w/o Ca2+/Mg2+), stored at -20C. Add fresh to the medium when needed.</td></tr><tr><td>6 cm plates</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>for tissue culture</td></tr><tr><td>Incubator</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>for tissue culture. Set at 37C, 10% CO2.</td></tr><tr><td>10 cc sterile syringes</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>Sterile. One per virus type.</td></tr><tr><td>18G needles</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>single use, one per virus type.</td></tr><tr><td>45 um syringe filters</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>5 ml plastic tubes</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>Sterile, to mix transfection solution, for up to 2 plates at a time (2 ml). We use Falcon tubes.</td></tr><tr><td>50 ml conical tubes</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>cryovials</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>2 and 4 ml, for virus aliquots.</td></tr><tr><td colspan="5">&lt;p&gt;All reagents used in the transfection must be sterile-filtered (CaCl&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;, 2x HBS, miliQ H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O) and kept sterile.&lt;/p&gt;</td></tr></tbody></table>

production of replication-defective retrovirus by transient transfection of 293t cells

Our lab studies human myeloproliferative diseases induced by such oncogenes as Bcr-Abl or growth factor receptor-derived oncogenes (ZNF198-FGFR1, Bcr-PDGFR&#945;, etc.). We are able to model and study a human-like disease in our mouse model, by transplanting bone marrow cells previously infected with a retrovirus expressing the oncogene of interest. Replication-defective retrovirus encoding a human oncogene and a marker (GFP, RFP, antibiotic resistance gene, etc.) is produced by a transient transfection protocol using 293T cells, a human renal epithelial cell line transformed by the adenovirus E1A gene product. 293 cells have the unusual property of being highly transfectable by calcium phosphate (CaPO4), with up to 50-80% transfection efficiency readily attainable. Here, we co-transfect 293 cells with a retroviral vector expressing the oncogene of interest and a plasmid that expresses the gag-pol-env packaging functions, such as the single-genome packaging constructs kat or pCL, in this case the EcoPak plasmid. The initial transfection is further improved by use of chloroquine. Stocks of ecotropic virus, collected as culture supernatant 48 hrs. post-transfection, can be stored at -80&deg;C and used for infection of cell-lines in view of transformation and in vitro studies, or primary cells such as mouse bone marrow cells, that can then be used for transplant in our mouse model.

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Production of Replication-Defective Retrovirus by Transient Transfection of 293T cells at JoVE.com

Natural Selection | Biology Video Collection

Production of Replication-Defective Retrovirus by Transient Transfection of 293T cells

This technique demonstrates an efficient way to prepare replication-defective retroviral stocks encoding a human oncogene, and subsequently used for induction of myeloproliferative disease in the mouse model.

Our lab studies human myeloproliferative diseases induced by such oncogenes as Bcr-Abl or growth factor receptor-derived oncogenes (ZNF198-FGFR1, ...

production-replication-defective-retrovirus-transient-transfection

Universidad de Cartagena UDEC

Research

JoVE Journal

Biology

19.5K Views.  Tufts University. This technique demonstrates an efficient way to prepare replication-defective retroviral stocks encoding a human oncogene, and subsequently used for induction of myeloproliferative disease in the mouse model.

Video: Production of Replication-Defective Retrovirus by Transient Transfection of 293T cells

Retroviral Transduction of T-cell Receptors in Mouse T-cells

T-cell receptors (TCRs) play a central role in the immune system. TCRs on T-cell surfaces can specifically recognize peptide antigens presented by antigen presenting cells (APCs)1. This recognition leads to the activation of T-cells and a series of functional outcomes (e.g. cytokine production, killing of the target cells). Understanding the functional role of TCRs is critical to harness the power of the immune system to treat a variety of immunology related diseases (e.g. cancer or autoimmunity).
It is convenient to study TCRs in mouse models, which can be accomplished in several ways. Making TCR transgenic mouse models is costly and time-consuming and currently there are only a limited number of them available2-4. Alternatively, mice with antigen-specific T-cells can be generated by bone marrow chimera. This method also takes several weeks and requires expertise5. Retroviral transduction of TCRs into in vitro activated mouse T-cells is a quick and relatively easy method to obtain T-cells of desired peptide-MHC specificity. Antigen-specific T-cells can be generated in one week and used in any downstream applications. Studying transduced T-cells also has direct application to human immunotherapy, as adoptive transfer of human T-cells transduced with antigen-specific TCRs is an emerging strategy for cancer treatment6.
Here we present a protocol to retrovirally transduce TCRs into in vitro activated mouse T-cells. Both human and mouse TCR genes can be used. Retroviruses carrying specific TCR genes are generated and used to infect mouse T-cells activated with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 antibodies. After in vitro expansion, transduced T-cells are analyzed by flow cytometry.

We present a protocol to produce antigen-specific mouse T-cells using retroviral transduction

T-cell receptors (TCRs) play a central role in the immune system. TCRs on T-cell surfaces can specifically recognize peptide antigens presented by antigen ...

Immunology and Infection

Protocol for the Direct Conversion of Murine Embryonic Fibroblasts into Trophoblast Stem Cells

Trophoblast stem cells (TSCs) arise as a consequence of the first cell fate decision in mammalian development. They can be cultured in vitro, retaining the ability to self-renew and to differentiate into all subtypes of the trophoblast lineage, equivalent to the in vivo stem cell population giving rise to the fetal portion of the placenta. Therefore, TSCs offer a unique model to study placental development and embryonic versus extra-embryonic cell fate decision in vitro. From the blastocyst stage onwards, a distinct epigenetic barrier consisting of DNA methylation and histone modifications tightly separates both lineages. Here, we describe a protocol to fully overcome this lineage barrier by transient over-expression of trophoblast key regulators Tfap2c, Gata3, Eomes and Ets2 in murine embryonic fibroblasts. The induced trophoblast stem cells are able to self-renew and are almost identical to blastocyst derived trophoblast stem cells in terms of morphology, marker gene expression and methylation pattern. Functional in vitro and in vivo assays confirm that these cells are able to differentiate along the trophoblast lineage generating polyploid trophoblast giant cells and chimerizing the placenta when injected into blastocysts. The induction of trophoblast stem cells from somatic tissue opens new avenues to study genetic and epigenetic characteristics of this extra-embryonic lineage and offers the possibility to generate trophoblast stem cell lines without destroying the respective embryo.

Here we present a protocol for the direct conversion of murine embryonic fibroblasts into fully functional and stable trophoblast stem cells by ten day over-expression of Tfap2c, Gata3, Eomes and Ets2.

Trophoblast stem cells (TSCs) arise as a consequence of the first cell fate decision in mammalian development. They can be cultured in vitro, retaining ...

Developmental Biology

A Tetracycline-regulated Cell Line Produces High-titer Lentiviral Vectors that Specifically Target Dendritic Cells

Lentiviral vectors (LVs) are a powerful means of delivering genetic material to many types of cells. Because of safety concerns associated with these HIV-1 derived vectors, producing large quantities of LVs is challenging. In this paper, we report a method for producing high titers of self-inactivating LVs. We retrovirally transduce the tet-off stable producer cell line GPR to generate a cell line, GPRS, which can express all the viral components, including a dendritic cell-specific glycoprotein, SVGmu. Then, we use concatemeric DNA transfection to transfect the LV transfer plasmid encoding a reporter gene GFP in combination with a selectable marker. Several of the resulting clones can produce LV at a titer 10-fold greater than what we achieve with transient transfection. Plus, these viruses efficiently transduce dendritic cells in vitro and generate a strong T cell immune response to our reporter antigen. This method may be a good option for producing strong LV-based vaccines for clinical studies of cancer or infectious diseases.

Here, we use retroviral transduction and concatemeric transfection to create a cell line that can express the components of a lentiviral vector (LV) in the absence of tetracycline. This LV encodes GFP and is pseudotyped with a glycoprotein, SVGmu, which is specific for a receptor on dendritic cells.

Lentiviral  vectors (LVs) are a powerful means of delivering genetic material to many types  of cells. Because of safety concerns associated with these ...

Production of Lentiviral Vectors for Transducing Cells from the Central Nervous System

Efficient gene delivery in the central nervous system (CNS) is important in studying gene functions, modeling neurological diseases and developing therapeutic approaches. Lentiviral vectors are attractive tools in transduction of neurons and other cell types in CNS as they transduce both dividing and non-dividing cells, support sustained expression of transgenes, and have relatively large packaging capacity and low toxicity 1-3. Lentiviral vectors have been successfully used in transducing many neural cell types in vitro 4-6 and in animals 7-10.
Great efforts have been made to develop lentiviral vectors with improved biosafety and efficiency for gene delivery. The current third generation replication-defective and self-inactivating (SIN) lentiviral vectors are depicted in Figure 1. The required elements for vector packaging are split into four plasmids. In the lentiviral transfer plasmid, the U3 region in the 5' long terminal repeat (LTR) is replaced with a strong promoter from another virus. This modification allows the transcription of the vector sequence independent of HIV-1 Tat protein that is normally required for HIV gene expression 11. The packaging signal (&Psi;) is essential for encapsidation and the Rev-responsive element (RRE) is required for producing high titer vectors. The central polypurine tract (cPPT) is important for nuclear import of the vector DNA, a feature required for transducing non-dividing cells 12. In the 3' LTR, the cis-regulatory sequences are completely removed from the U3 region. This deletion is copied to 5' LTR after reverse transcription, resulting in transcriptional inactivation of both LTRs. Plasmid pMDLg/pRRE contains HIV-1 gag/pol genes, which provide structural proteins and reverse transcriptase. pRSV-Rev encodes Rev which binds to the RRE for efficient RNA export from the nucleus. pCMV-G encodes the vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G) that replaces HIV-1 Env. VSV-G expands the tropism of the vectors and allows concentration via ultracentrifugation 13. All the genes encoding the accessory proteins, including Vif, Vpr, Vpu, and Nef are excluded in the packaging system. The production and manipulation of lentiviral vectors should be carried out according to NIH guidelines for research involving recombinant DNA (<a href="http://oba.od.nih.gov/oba/rac/Guidelines/NIH_Guidelines.pdf" target="_blank">http://oba.od.nih.gov/oba/rac/Guidelines/NIH_Guidelines.pdf</a>). An approval from individual Institutional Biological and Chemical Safety Committee may be required before using lentiviral vectors. Lentiviral vectors are commonly produced by cotransfection of 293T cells with lentiviral transfer plasmid and the helper plasmids encoding the proteins required for vector packaging. Many lentiviral transfer plasmids and helper plasmids can be obtained from Addgene, a non-profit plasmid repository (<a href="http://www.addgene.org/" target="_blank">http://www.addgene.org/</a>). Some stable packaging cell lines have been developed, but these systems provide less flexibility and their packaging efficiency generally declines over time 14, 15. Commercially available transfection kits may support high efficiency of transfection 16, but they can be very expensive for large scale vector preparations. Calcium phosphate precipitation methods provide highly efficient transfection of 293T cells and thus provide a reliable and cost effective approach for lentiviral vector production.
In this protocol, we produce lentiviral vectors by cotransfection of 293T cells with four plasmids based on the calcium phosphate precipitation principle, followed by purification and concentration with ultracentrifugation through a 20% sucrose cushion. The vector titers are determined by fluorescence- activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis or by real time qPCR. The production and titration of lentiviral vectors in this protocol can be finished with 9 days. We provide an example of transducing these vectors into murine neocortical cultures containing both neurons and astrocytes. We demonstrate that lentiviral vectors support high efficiency of transduction and cell type-specific gene expression in primary cultured cells from CNS.

In this protocol we describe production, purification and titration of lentiviral vectors. We provide an example of lentiviral vector-mediated gene delivery in primary cultured neurons and astrocytes. Our methods may also apply to other cell types in vitro and in vivo.

Efficient gene delivery in the central nervous system (CNS) is important in studying gene functions, modeling neurological diseases and developing ...

Neuroscience

Lentivirus Production

RNA interference (RNAi) is a system of gene silencing in living cells. In RNAi, genes homologous in sequence to short interfering RNAs (siRNA) are silenced at the post-transcriptional state. Short hairpin RNAs, precursors to siRNA, can be expressed using lentivirus, allowing for RNAi in a variety of cell types. Lentiviruses, such as the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, are capable to infecting both dividing and non-dividing cells. We will describe a procedure which to package lentiviruses. Packaging refers to the preparation of competent virus from DNA vectors. Lentiviral vector production systems are based on a 'split' system, where the natural viral genome has been split into individual helper plasmid constructs. This splitting of the different viral elements into four separate vectors diminishes the risk of creating a replication-capable virus by adventitious recombination of the lentiviral genome. Here, a vector containing the shRNA of interest and three packaging vectors (p-VSVG, pRSV, pMDL) are transiently transfected into human 293 cells. After at least a 48-hour incubation period, the virus containing supernatant is harvested and concentrated. Finally, virus titer is determined by reporter (fluorescent) expression with a flow cytometer.

To make lentiviruses, DNA vectors are transfected into human 293 cells. After harvest and concentrating the supernatant, virus titer is determined by fluorescence expression with a flow cytometer.

RNA interference (RNAi) is a system of gene silencing in living cells. In RNAi, genes homologous in sequence to short interfering RNAs (siRNA) are ...

Proximity Ligation Assay to Study Oncogene-Derived Transcription-Replication Conflicts

Both DNA replication and RNA transcription utilize genomic DNA as their template, necessitating spatial and temporal separation of these processes. Conflicts between the replication and transcription machinery, termed transcription-replication conflicts (TRCs), pose a considerable risk to genome stability, a critical factor in cancer development. While several factors regulating these collisions have been identified, pinpointing primary causes remains difficult due to limited tools for direct visualization and clear interpretation. In this study, we directly visualize TRCs using a proximity ligation assay (PLA), leveraging antibodies specific to PCNA and phosphorylated CTD of RNA polymerase II. This approach allows precise measurement of TRCs between replication and transcription processes mediated by RNA polymerase II. The method is further enhanced through DNA primers conjugated covalently to these antibodies, coupled with PCR amplification using fluorescent probes, providing a highly sensitive and specific means of detecting endogenous TRCs. Fluorescence microscopy enables the visualization of these conflicts, offering a powerful tool to study genome instability mechanisms associated with cancer. This technique addresses the gap in direct TRC visualization, allowing for a more comprehensive analysis and understanding of the underlying processes driving genome instability in cells.

Here, we present a sensitive and specific method to detect oncogene-induced transcription-replication conflicts (TRCs) using the proximity ligation assay (PLA). This approach leverages specific antibodies targeting PCNA and phospho-CTD RNAPII, enabling the assessment of TRC prevalence between RNA polymerase II transcription and DNA replication machinery.

Both DNA replication and RNA transcription utilize genomic DNA as their template, necessitating spatial and temporal separation of these processes. ...

Cancer Research

Designing, Packaging, and Delivery of High Titer CRISPR Retro and Lentiviruses via Stereotaxic Injection

Replication defective lentiviruses or retroviruses are capable of stably integrating transgenes into the genome of an infected host cell. This technique has been widely used to encode fluorescent proteins, opto- or chemo-genetic controllers of cell activity, or heterologous expression of human genes in model organisms. These viruses have also successfully been used to deliver recombinases to relevant target sites in transgenic animals, or even deliver small hairpin or micro RNAs in order to manipulate gene expression. While these techniques have been fruitful, they rely on transgenic animals (recombinases) or frequently lack high efficacy and specificity (shRNA/miRNA). In contrast, the CRISPR/Cas system uses an exogenous Cas nuclease which targets specific sites in an organism's genome via an exogenous guide RNA in order to induce double stranded breaks in DNA. These breaks are then repaired by non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), producing insertion and deletion (indel) mutations that can result in deleterious missense or nonsense mutations. This manuscript provides detailed methods for the design, production, injection, and validation of single lenti/retro virus particles that can stably transduce neurons to express a fluorescent reporter, Cas9, and sgRNAs to knockout genes in a model organism.

The CRISPR/Cas9 system offers the potential to make targeted genome editing accessible and affordable to the scientific community. This protocol is intended to demonstrate how to create viruses that will knockout a gene of interest using the CRISPR/Cas9 system, and then inject them stereotaxically into the adult mouse brain.

Replication defective lentiviruses or retroviruses are capable of stably integrating transgenes into the genome of an infected host cell. This technique ...

Transduction of Human Cells with Polymer-complexed Ecotropic Lentivirus for Enhanced Biosafety

Stem and tumor cell biology studies often require viral transduction of human cells with known or suspected oncogenes, raising major safety issues for laboratory personnel. Pantropic lentiviruses, such as the commonly used VSV-G pseudotype, are a valuable tool for studying gene function because they can transduce many cell types, including non-dividing cells. However, researchers may wish to avoid production and centrifugation of pantropic viruses encoding oncogenes due to higher biosafety level handling requirements and safety issues. Several potent oncogenes, including c-Myc and SV40 large T antigen, are known to enhance production of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). All other known iPSC-inducing genetic changes (OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, NANOG, LIN28, and p53 loss of function) also have links to cancer, making them of relatively high safety concern as well. 
While these cancer-related viruses are useful in studying cellular reprogramming and pluripotency, they must be used safely. To address these biosafety issues, we demonstrate a method for transduction of human cells with ecotropic lentivirus, with additional emphasis on reduced cost and convenient handling. We have produced ecotropic lentivirus with sufficiently high titer to transduce greater than 90% of receptor-expressing human cells exposed to the virus, validating the efficacy of this approach. 
Lentivirus is often concentrated by ultracentrifugation; however, this process takes several hours and can produce aerosols infectious to human biomedical researchers. As an alternative, viral particles can be more safely sedimented onto cells by complexation with chondroitin sulfate and polybrene (CS/PB). This technique increases the functional viral titer up to 3-fold in cells stably expressing murine retrovirus receptor, with negligible added time and cost. Transduction of human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) is maximally enhanced using CS/PB concentrations approximately 4-fold lower than the optimal value previously reported for cancer cell lines, suggesting that polymer concentration should be titrated for the target cell type of interest. We therefore describe the use of methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) to assay for polymer toxicity in a new cell type. We observe equivalent viability of HDFs after viral transduction using either polymer complexation or the standard dose of polybrene (PB, 6 &mu;g/ml), indicating minimal acute toxicity.
In this protocol, we describe the use of ecotropic lentivirus for overexpression of oncogenes in human cells, reducing biosafety risks and increasing the transduction rate. We also demonstrate the use of polymer complexation to enhance transduction while avoiding aerosol-forming centrifugation of viral particles.

Lentiviruses are a valuable research tool for exploring gene function; however, researchers may wish to avoid production of pantropic lentivirus encoding known or suspected oncogenes. As an alternative, we present a safer protocol for use of ecotropic lentivirus on human cells modified to express the ecotropic receptor mSlc7a1.

Stem and tumor cell biology studies often require viral transduction of human cells with known or suspected oncogenes, raising major safety issues for ...

Transduction and Expansion of Primary T Cells in Nine Days with Maintenance of Central Memory Phenotype

Emerging immunotherapies to treat infectious diseases and cancers often involve transduction of cellular populations with genes encoding disease-targeting proteins. For example, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells to treat cancers and viral infections involve the transduction of T cells with synthetic genes encoding CAR molecules. The CAR molecules make the T cells specifically recognize and kill cancer or virally infected cells. Cells can also be co-transduced with other genes of interest. For example, cells can be co-transduced with genes encoding proteins that target cells to specific locations. Here, we present a protocol to transduce primary peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with genes encoding a virus-specific CAR and the B cell follicle homing molecule chemokine receptor type 5 (CXCR5). This procedure takes nine days and results in transduced T cell populations that maintain a central memory phenotype. Maintenance of a central memory or less differentiated phenotype has been shown to associate with persistence of cells post-infusion. Furthermore, cells produced with this method show high levels of viability, high levels of co-expression of the two transduced genes, and large enough quantities of cells for immunotherapeutic infusion. This nine-day protocol may be broadly used for CAR-T cell and other T cell immunotherapy approaches. The methods described here are based on studies presented in our previous publications.

We outline a 9-day protocol for the transduction and expansion of rhesus macaque peripheral blood mononuclear cells which yields cells with excellent co-expression of the genes of interest in sufficient number for infusion studies of cell efficacy.

Emerging immunotherapies to treat infectious diseases and cancers often involve transduction of cellular populations with genes encoding disease-targeting ...

Bioengineering

High Yield Expression of Recombinant Human Proteins with the Transient Transfection of HEK293 Cells in Suspension

The art of producing recombinant proteins with complex post-translational modifications represents a major challenge for studies of structure and function. The rapid establishment and high recovery from transiently-transfected mammalian cell lines addresses this barrier and is an effective means of expressing proteins that are naturally channeled through the ER and Golgi-mediated secretory pathway. Here is one protocol for protein expression using the human HEK293F and HEK293S cell lines transfected with a mammalian expression vector designed for high protein yields. The applicability of this system is demonstrated using three representative glycoproteins that expressed with yields between 95-120 mg of purified protein recovered per liter of culture. These proteins are the human Fc&#947;RIIIa and the rat &#945;2-6 sialyltransferase, ST6GalI, both expressed with an N-terminal GFP fusion, as well as the unmodified human immunoglobulin G1 Fc. This robust system utilizes a serum-free medium that is adaptable for expression of isotopically enriched proteins and carbohydrates for structural studies using mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Furthermore, the composition of the N-glycan can be tuned by adding a small molecule to prevent certain glycan modifications in a manner that does not reduce yield.

Laboratory-scale production of eukaryotic proteins with appropriate post-translational modification represents a significant barrier. Here is a robust protocol with rapid establishment and turnaround for protein expression using a mammalian expression system. This system supports selective amino acid, selective labeling of proteins and small molecule modulators of glycan composition.