Tiedong Wang

Characterization of a hypertriglyceridemic transgenic miniature pig model expressing human apolipoprotein CIII

Hypertriglyceridemia has recently been considered to be an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease, in which apolipoprotein (Apo)CIII is one of the major contributory factors, as it is strongly correlated with plasma triglyceride levels. Although ApoCIII transgenic mice have been generated as an animal model for the study of hypertriglyceridemia, the features of lipoprotein metabolism in mice differ greatly from those in humans. Because of the great similarity between pigs and humans with respect to lipid metabolism and cardiovascular physiology, we generated transgenic miniature pigs expressing human ApoCIII by the transfection of somatic cells combined with nuclear transfer. The expression of human ApoCIII was detected in the liver and intestine of the transgenic pigs. As compared with nontransgenic controls, transgenic pigs showed significantly increased plasma triglyceride levels (83 ± 36 versus 38 ± 4 mg·dL−1, P < 0.01) when fed a chow diet. Plasma lipoprotein profiling by FPLC in transgenic animals showed a higher peak in large‐particle fractions corresponding to very low‐density lipoprotein/chylomicrons when triglyceride content in the fractions was assayed. There was not much difference in cholesterol content in FPLC fractions, although a large low‐density lipoprotein peak was identified in both nontransgenic and transgenic animals, resembling that found in humans. Further analysis revealed markedly delayed clearance of plasma triglyceride, accompanied by significantly reduced lipoprotein lipase activity in post‐heparin plasma, in transgenic pigs as compared with nontransgenic controls. In summary, we have successfully generated a novel hypertriglyceridemic ApoCIII transgenic miniature pig model that could be of great value for studies on hyperlipidemia in relation to atherosclerotic disorders.

Production of a reporter transgenic pig for monitoring Cre recombinase activity

The pig is thought to be the most suitable non-human source of organs for xenotransplantation and is widely used as a model of human disease. Using pigs as disease models requires the design of conditional Cre recombinase-loxP gene modifications, which, in turn, requires a Cre-expressing pig with defined patterns of expression controlled by the use of a tissue-specific promoter. In order to monitor Cre recombinant expression in vivo, it is important to create a reporter strain. We have generated reporter a pig that is based on a single vector that drives the ubiquitous expression of the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). The EGFP gene is expressed only after Cre-mediated excision of loxP-flanked stop sequences. These reporter transgenic pigs will be of great value for monitoring Cre recombinase activity in vivo.

Human MxA protein inhibits the replication of classical swine fever virus

Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) has a spherical enveloped particle with a single stranded RNA genome, the virus belonging to a pestivirus of the family Flaviviridae is the causative agent of an acute contagious disease classical swine fever (CSF). The interferon-induced MxA protein has been widely shown to inhibit the life cycle of certain RNA viruses as members of the Bunyaviridae family and others. Interestingly, it has been reported that expression of MxA in infected cells was blocked by CSFV and whether MxA has an inhibitory effect against CSFV remains unknown to date until present. Here, we report that CSFV replicated poorly in cells stably transfected with human MxA. The proliferation of progeny virus in both PK-15 cell lines and swine fetal fibroblasts (PEF) continuously expressing MxA was shown significantly inhibited as measured by virus titration, indirect immune fluorescence assay and real-time PCR.

Construction of transgenic swine with induced expression of Cre recombinase.

Miniature pigs have been recognized as valuable experimental animals in medical research. However, porcine models related to gene knockout of human diseases are not widely available. The objective of this study was to establish Mx1-Cre pigs using somatic cell nuclear transfer. In this study, we created transgenic pigs using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Transfer of 210, 230, 250 and 215 zygotes to four surrogates produced 10 piglets. The Cre recombinase expression in transgenic pigs was studied using reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR and immunohistochemistry. Mx1-Cre swine were shown to harbor the Cre gene in their genomic DNA using the PCR. In conclusion, Mx1-Cre transgenic piglets were successfully produced by SCNT. These transgenic swine, in conjunction with inducible systems for controlling Cre expression and function, are likely to have a profound impact on the study of human diseases.

Nitro-oleic acid downregulates lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 expression via the p42/p44 MAPK and NFκB pathways.

Nitro-oleic acid (OA-NO2), acting as anti-inflammatory signaling mediators, are involved in multiple signaling pathways. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) is well known as a cardiovascular risk biomarker. Our results showed that OA-NO2 downregulated the expression of Lp-PLA2 in a time- and dose-dependent manner, whereas native OA had no such effect. Furthermore, OA-NO2 could repress Lp-PLA2 expression in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of apo CIII-transgenic (apo CIII TG) pigs, which exhibited higher Lp-PLA2 expression and activity than did wild-type (WT) pigs. OA-NO2 inhibited Lp-PLA2 expression in macrophages, independent of nitric oxide formation and PPARγ-activation. However, OA-NO2 downregulates Lp-PLA2 by inhibiting the p42/p44 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and the nuclear factor κB (NFκB) pathways. When used to mediate anti-inflammatory signaling, the regulation of inflammatory cytokines and SOD by OA-NO2 might be associated with the reduction of Lp-PLA2. These results suggested that OA-NO2 might exert a vascular-protective effect partially via Lp-PLA2 inhibition.

Early lethality of shRNA-transgenic pigs due to saturation of microRNA pathways *#

RNA interference (RNAi) is considered as a potential modality for clinical treatment and anti-virus animal breeding. Here, we investigate the feasibility of inhibiting classical swine fever virus (CSFV) replication by short hairpin RNA (shRNA) in vitro and in vivo. We generate four different shRNA-positive clonal cells and two types of shRNA-transgenic pigs. CSFV could be effectively inhibited in shRNA-positive clonal cells and tail tip fibroblasts of shRNA-transgenic pigs. Unexpectedly, an early lethality due to shRNA is observed in these shRNA-transgenic pigs. With further research on shRNA-positive clonal cells and transgenic pigs, we report a great induction of interferon (IFN)-responsive genes in shRNA-positive clonal cells, altered levels of endogenous micro-RNAs (miRNA), and their processing enzymes in shRNA-positive cells. What is more, abnormal expressions of miRNAs and their processing enzymes are also observed in the livers of shRNA-transgenic pigs, indicating saturation of miRNA/shRNA pathways induced by shRNA. In addition, we investigate the effects of shRNAs on the development of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos. These results show that shRNA causes adverse effects in vitro and in vivo and shRNA-induced disruption of the endogenous miRNA pathway may lead to the early lethality of shRNA-transgenic pigs. We firstly report abnormalities of the miRNA pathway in shRNA-transgenic animals, which may explain the early lethality of shRNA-transgenic pigs and has important implications for shRNA-transgenic animal preparation.

Establishment of a Transgenic Pig Fetal Fibroblast Reporter Cell Line for Monitoring Cre Recombinase Activity

The pig is considered to be the most suitable nonhuman source of organs for xenotransplantation and is widely used as a model of human disease. The Cre-LoxP system provides a powerful means of cell- or tissue-specific deletion of a targeted gene in cells or tissues of interest. Pigs expressing Cre recombinase have a profound impact on the study of gene function and the generation of animal models of human diseases. To monitor Cre recombinase expression in vivo, it is important to create reporter strains. As a first step in the production of such transgenic pigs, we generated porcine fetal fibroblast cell lines conditionally expressing the gene for enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). The EGFP gene is expressed only after Cre-mediated excision of LoxP-flanked stop sequences. These fetal fibroblast cell lines will be of great value for constructing reporter transgenic pigs.

Apolipoprotein CIII regulates lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 expression via the MAPK and NFκB pathways

Apolipoprotein CIII (apo CIII), a small glycoprotein that binds to the surfaces of certain lipoproteins, is associated with inflammatory and atherogenic responses in vascular cells. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) has been proposed as an inflammatory biomarker and potential therapeutic target for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Here, we report that apo CIII increases Lp-PLA2 mRNA and protein levels in dose- and time- dependent manner in human monocytic THP-1 cells, and the increase can be abolished by MAPK and NF&kgr;B pathway inhibitors. Lp-PLA2 inhibitor, 1-linoleoyl glycerol attenuates the inflammation induced by apo CIII. In turn, exogenous Lp-PLA2 expression upregulates apo CIII and the upregulation can be inhibited by 1-linoleoyl glycerol in HepG2 cells. Moreover, plasma Lp-PLA2 level is correlated with apo CIII expression in pig liver. In vivo, Lp-PLA2 expression in monocytes and its activity in serum were significantly increased in human apo CIII transgenic porcine models compared with wild-type pigs. Our results suggest that Lp-PLA2 and apo CIII expression level is correlated with each other in vitro and in vivo.

Comparative analysis of the activity of two promoters in insect cells

Insect cell expression system is widely used for the production of many thousands of recombinant proteins. Non-lytic vector-based expression provides a reliable result for investigating gene functions and molecular pathways, because baculovirus-mediated expression will lyse cells eventually. There are currently two major commercial vector providers. The pIB/V5-His vector from invitrogen uses the OpIE2 promoter and the pIEX-4 vector from novagen uses the IE1 promoter and hr5 enhancer. To compare the activity of these two promoters, we replaced the OpIE2 promoter in the pIB/V5-His vector with the hr5IE1 promoter from pIEX-4. By measuring the activity of β-galactosidase under control of these two promoters, we found that the hr5-IE1 promoter showed about 20% higher activity than the OpIE2 promoter for both transient and stable expression. To facilitate protein expression in the secretion pathway, we cloned an AKH signal peptide downstream of the hr5-IE1 promoter. By comparing the cytosolic expression and localization of GFP, AKH-GFP and AKH-GFP-GPI, we found that the AKH signal peptide was sufficient to guide the passenger protein into the secretion pathway. Furthermore, to allow researchers to use different antibiotics for stable expression, we replaced the blasticidin resistance ORF with the zeocin resistance ORF and found that the two vectors yielded similar expression levels. Taken together, the hr5-IE1 is a stable and more effective combination to direct expression in insect cell. Vectors constructed in this study will provide a new choice for biological researchers using insect cell model systems.

Inhibiting cyprinid herpesvirus-3 replication with CRISPR/Cas9

ObjectivesThe potential of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to repress CyHV-3 was tested in vitro.ResultsBy targeting two basic target genes necessary for the early transcription of CyHV-3, we show that virus transcription and particle release were significantly decreased by CRISPR/Cas9, as measured by quantitative real-time PCR and virus titration experiments, respectively.Conclusions(A) The effectiveness is confirmed of the CRISPR/Cas9 system at repressing exogenous genes, including large viral genomic DNA, by introducing site-specific mutations in vitro. (B) The CyHV-3 virus replicates poorly in Cas9-positive cells