Long P. Le

Fluorescently labeled adenovirus with pIX-EGFP for vector detection.

Adenoviruses are extensively studied in terms of their use as gene therapy vectors and pathogenesis. These vectors have been targeted on both transcriptional and transductional levels to achieve cell-specific gene delivery. Current detection strategies, including reporter gene expression, viral component detection, and vector labeling with fluorophores, have been applied to analyze adenoviral vectors; however, these methods are inadequate for assessing transductional targeting. As an alternative to conventional vector detection techniques, we developed a specific genetic labeling system whereby an adenoviral vector incorporates a fusion between capsid protein IX and EGFP. DNA packaging and thermostability were marginally hampered by the modification while DNA replication, cytopathic effect, and CAR-dependent binding were not affected. The fluorescent label was associated with the virus capsid and conferred a fluorescent property useful in detecting adenoviral particles in flow cytometry, tracking, and tissue sections. We believe our genetic adenovirus labeling system has important implications for vector development, detecting adenovirus vectors in targeting schemes, and studying adenovirus biology. In addition, this technique has potential utility for dynamic monitoring of adenovirus replication and spread.

Infectivity-Enhanced Cyclooxygenase-2-Based Conditionally Replicative Adenoviruses for Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Treatment

The employment of conditionally replicative adenoviruses (CRAd) constitutes a promising alternative for cancer treatment; however, in the case of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) the lack of an appropriate tumor-specific promoter and relative resistance to adenovirus infection have hampered the construction of CRAds with clinically applicable specificity and efficacy. By combining transcriptional targeting with infectivity enhancement for CRAds, we generated novel cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2) promoter-controlled replicative viral agents for the treatment of EAC. We used infectivity enhancement based on incorporation of an RGD-4C motif into the HI loop of the adenoviral (Ad) fiber knob domain as well as replacement of the Ad5 knob with the Ad3 knob. The Cox-2 promoter was highly active in EAC, whereas showing no significant activity in Cox-2-negative cell lines and primary cells isolated from normal mouse esophagus and stomach. Evaluation of infectivity-enhanced vectors revealed that the transduction and virus-cell binding ability of Ad5/Ad3-chimera were significantly more efficient than that of unmodified and Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD)-modified vectors. All of the Cox-2 CRAds demonstrated replication and subsequent oncolysis in EAC cells but not in Cox-2-negative cells in vitro, thus confirming the dependence of their replication on the Cox-2 promoter activity. Ad5/Ad3 CRAds exhibited significantly improved oncolysis and progeny production compared with unmodified and RGD-modified vectors without sacrificing tumor selectivity. Whereas unmodified and RGD-modified CRAds showed insignificant therapeutic effect in vivo, Ad5/Ad3 CRAds remarkably suppressed tumor growth of established xenografts in mice. Thus, our studies have demonstrated that Ad5/Ad3-chimeric Cox-2 promoter-driven CRAds are selective and potent agents for the treatment of EAC.

A human adenoviral vector with a chimeric fiber from canine adenovirus type 1 results in novel expanded tropism for cancer gene therapy

The development of novel therapeutic strategies is imperative for the treatment of advanced cancers like ovarian cancer and glioma, which are resistant to most traditional treatment modalities. In this regard, adenoviral (Ad) cancer gene therapy is a promising approach. However, the gene delivery efficiency of human serotype 5 recombinant adenoviruses (Ad5) in cancer gene therapy clinical trials to date has been limited, mainly due to the paucity of the primary Ad5 receptor, the coxsackie and adenovirus receptor (CAR), on human cancer cells. To circumvent CAR deficiency, Ad5 vectors have been retargeted by creating chimeric fibers possessing the knob domains of alternate human Ad serotypes. Recently, more radical modifications based on ‘xenotype’ knob switching with non-human adenovirus have been exploited. Herein, we present the characterization of a novel vector derived from a recombinant Ad5 vector containing the canine adenovirus serotype 1 (CAV-1) knob (Ad5Luc1-CK1), the tropism of which has not been previously described. We compared the function of this vector with our other chimeric viruses displaying the CAV-2 knob (Ad5Luc1-CK2) and Ad3 knob (Ad5/3Luc1). Our data demonstrate that the CAV-1 knob can alter Ad5 tropism through the use of a CAR-independent entry pathway distinct from that of both Ad5Luc1-CK2 and Ad5/3-Luc1. In fact, the gene transfer efficiency of this novel vector in ovarian cancer cell lines, and more importantly in patient ovarian cancer primary tissue slice samples, was superior relative to all other vectors applied in this study. Thus, CAV-1 knob xenotype gene transfer represents a viable means to achieve enhanced transduction of low-CAR tumors.

Noninvasive visualization of adenovirus replication with a fluorescent reporter in the E3 region

To overcome the inefficacy and undesirable side effects of current cancer treatment strategies, conditionally replicative adenoviruses have been developed to exploit the unique mechanism of oncolysis afforded by tumor-specific viral replication. Despite rapid translation into clinical trials and the established safety of oncolytic adenoviruses, the in vivo function of these agents is not well understood due to lack of a noninvasive detection system for adenovirus replication. To address this issue, we propose the expression of a reporter from the adenovirus E3 region as a means to monitor replication. Adenovirus replication reporter vectors were constructed with the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) gene placed in the deleted E3 region under the control of the adenoviral major late promoter while retaining expression of the adenovirus death protein to conserve the native oncolytic capability of the virus. Strong EGFP fluorescence was detected from these vectors in a replication-dependent manner, which correlated with viral DNA replication. Fluorescence imaging in vivo confirmed the ability to noninvasively detect fluorescent signal during replication, which generally corresponded with the underlying level of viral DNA replication. EGFP representation of viral replication was further confirmed by Western blot comparison with the viral DNA content in the tumors. Imaging reporter expression controlled by the adenoviral major late promoter provides a viable approach to noninvasively monitor adenovirus replication in preclinical studies and has the potential for human application with clinically relevant imaging reporters.

Infectivity enhancement for adenoviral transduction of canine osteosarcoma cells

The full realization of conditionally replicative adenoviruses (CRAds) for cancer therapy has been hampered by the limited knowledge of CRAd function in vivo and particularly in an immunocompetent host. To address this issue, we previously proposed a canine adenovirus type 2 (CAV2)-based CRAd for clinical evaluation in canine patients with osteosarcoma (OS). In this study, we evaluated infectivity-enhancement strategies to establish the foundation for designing a potent CAV2 CRAd with effective transduction capacity in dog osteosarcoma cells. The results indicate that the native CAV2 fiber–knob can mediate increased binding, and consequently gene transfer, in both canine osteosarcoma immortalized and primary cell lines relative to previously reported Ad5 infectivity-enhancement strategies. Gene delivery was further enhanced by incorporating a polylysine polypeptide onto the carboxy terminus of the CAV2 knob. This vector demonstrated improved gene delivery in osteosarcoma xenograft tumors. These data provide the rationale for generation of infectivity-enhanced syngeneic CAV2 CRAds for clinical evaluation in a dog osteosarcoma model.

Productive Replication of Human Adenovirus Type 5 in Canine Cells

ABSTRACT Development of immunocompetent patient-like models that allow direct analysis of human adenovirus-based conditionally replicative adenoviruses (CRAds) would be beneficial for the advancement of these oncolytic agents. To this end, we explored the possibility of cross-species replication of human adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) in canine cells. With a panel of canine tumor cell lines of both epithelial and mesenchymal derivations, we demonstrate that human Ad5 can productively infect canine cells. Since the biological behavior and clinical presentation of certain dog tumors closely resemble those of their human counterparts, our results raise the possibility of exploiting canine models for preclinical analysis of candidate CRAd agents designed for human virotherapy.

In vivo analysis of a genetically modified adenoviral vector targeted to human CD40 using a novel transient transgenic model.

Retargeting is necessary to overcome the limitations of adenovirus (Ad)‐based gene therapy vectors. To this end, we previously constructed an adenovirus with the fiber knob domain replaced by a fibritin trimerization motif fused to the CD40 ligand (Ad5Luc.FF/CD40L). We demonstrated the utility of this fiber replacement strategy for targeting CD40 (hCD40) on human dendritic cells in vitro. The in vivo targeting capacity of this virus, however, is unknown, and there is a limited repertoire of animal models that present hCD40 at an accessible site. Therefore, a new animal model for evaluating CD40‐targeted vectors is required.

Derivation of a triple mosaic adenovirus based on modification of the minor capsid protein IX

Adenoviral capsid protein IX (pIX) has been shown to be a potential locale to insert targeting, imaging-related and therapeutic modalities by genetic modification. Recent evidences suggested that capsid protein mosaicism could be a promising strategy for improving the utility of Ad vector. In this study, we explored a method to genetically generate triple pIX mosaic Ad serotype 5 (Ad5) displaying three types of pIX on a single virion. pIXs were modified at their carboxy termini with a Flag sequence, a hexahistidine sequence (His(6)) or a monomeric red fluorescent protein (mRFP1), respectively. Western blotting analysis and fluorescence microscopy of the purified recombinant viruses indicated that all three modified pIXs were incorporated into the viral particles. Immuno-gold electron microscopy (EM) further confirmed that three types of pIX indeed co-existed on an individual virion. These results firstly validated a triple mosaic capsid configuration on pIX, and demonstrated the possibility of further radical design.

Adenoviral protein V promotes a process of viral assembly through nucleophosmin 1.

Adenoviral infection induces nucleoplasmic redistribution of a nucleolar nucleophosmin 1/NPM1/B23.1. NPM1 is preferentially localized in the nucleoli of normal cells, whereas it is also present at the nuclear matrix in cancer cells. However, the biological roles of NPM1 during infection are unknown. Here, by analyzing a pV-deletion mutant, Ad5-dV/TSB, we demonstrate that pV promotes the NPM1 translocation from the nucleoli to the nucleoplasm in normal cells, and the NPM1 translocation is correlated with adenoviral replication. Lack of pV causes a dramatic reduction of adenoviral replication in normal cells, but not cancer cells, and Ad5-dV/TSB was defective in viral assembly in normal cells. NPM1 knockdown inhibits adenoviral replication, suggesting an involvement of NPM1 in adenoviral biology. Further, we show that NPM1 interacts with empty adenovirus particles which are an intermediate during virion maturation by immunoelectron microscopy. Collectively, these data implicate that pV participates in a process of viral assembly through NPM1.

Strategies to enhance transductional efficiency of adenoviral‐based gene transfer to primary human fibroblasts and keratinocytes as a platform in dermal wounds

Genetically modified keratinocytes and fibroblasts are suitable for delivery of therapeutic genes capable of modifying the wound healing process. However, efficient gene delivery is a prerequisite for successful gene therapy of wounds. Whereas adenoviral vectors (Ads) exhibit superior levels of in vivo gene transfer, their transductional efficiency to cells resident within wounds may nonetheless be suboptimal, due to deficiency of the primary adenovirus receptor, coxsackie‐adenovirus receptor (CAR). We explored CAR‐independent transduction to fibroblasts and keratinocytes using a panel of CAR‐independent fiber‐modified Ads to determine enhancement of infectivity. These fiber‐modified adenoviral vectors included Ad 3 knob (Ad5/3), canine Ad serotype 2 knob (Ad5CAV‐2), RGD (Ad5.RGD), polylysine (Ad5.pK7), or both RGD and polylysine (Ad5.RGD.pK7). To evaluate whether transduction efficiencies of the fiber‐modified adenoviral vectors correlated with the expression of their putative receptors on keratinocytes and fibroblasts, we analyzed the mRNA levels of CAR, αυ integrin, syndecan‐1, and glypican‐1 using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Analysis of luciferase and green fluorescent protein transgene expression showed superior transduction efficiency of Ad5.pK7 in keratinocytes and Ad5.RGD.pK7 in fibroblasts. mRNA expression of αυ integrin, syndecan‐1 and glypican‐1 was significantly higher in primary fibroblasts than CAR. In keratinocytes, syndecan‐1 expression was significantly higher than all the other receptors tested. Significant infectivity enhancement was achieved in keratinocytes and fibroblasts using fiber‐modified adenoviral vectors. These strategies to enhance infectivity may help to achieve higher clinical efficacy of wound gene therapy.