Various radiotracers based on uracil nucleosides (e.g. [124I]2'-fluoro-2'-deoxy-5-iodo-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosyluracil, [124I]FIAU) and acycloguanosine derivatives (e.g. [18F]9-[(3-fluoro-1-hydroxy-2-propoxy) methyl] guanine, [18F]FHPG) have been proposed for the non-invasive imaging of herpes simplex virus type 1 thymidine kinase (HSV1-tk) reporter gene expression. However, these radiotracers have been evaluated in different in vitro and in vivo models, precluding a direct comparison. Therefore, we directly compared [18F]FHPG and radioiodinated FIAU to assess their potential for PET imaging of transgene expression. The uptake of [125I]FIAU, [18F]FHPG and [3H]acyclovir was determined in vitro using four different HSV1-tk expressing cell lines and their respective negative controls. The in vitro tracer uptake was generally low in non-transduced parental cell lines. In HSV1-tk expressing cells, [3H]acyclovir showed approximately a twofold higher tracer accumulation, the [18F]FHPG uptake increased by about sixfold and the [125I]FIAU accumulation increased by about 28-fold after 120-min incubation of T1115 human glioblastoma cells. Similar results were found in the other cell lines. In addition, biodistribution and positron emission tomography (PET) studies with [18F]FHPG and [124/125I]FIAU were carried out in tumour-bearing BALB/c mice. Significantly higher specific accumulation of radioactivity was found for [125I]FIAU compared with [18F]FHPG. The ratio of specific tracer accumulation between [125I]FIAU and [18F]FHPG increased from 21 (30 min p.i.) to 119 (4 h p.i.). PET imaging, using [124I]FIAU, clearly visualised and delineated HSV1-tk expressing tumours, whereas only a negligible uptake of [18F]FHPG was observed. This study demonstrated that in vitro and in vivo, the radioiodinated uracil nucleoside FIAU has a significantly higher specific accumulation than the acycloguanosine derivative [18F]FHPG. This suggests that [124I]FIAU should be the preferred reporter probe for PET imaging of HSV1-tk gene expression. Thus, further attempts to develop suitable PET tracers for the assessment of HSV1-tk gene expression should also focus on 18F-labelled uracil derivatives.

The human gene termed LGI1 (leucine-rich gene - glioma inactivated) has been isolated recently, and is supposed to be an additional candidate tumor suppressor gene involved in the formation and progression of glioblastoma multiforme [Chernova et al. (1998) Oncogene 17:2873-2881]. To test this hypothesis and to complete the characterization of the gene, we performed various detailed studies on the genomic structure, the mRNA expression level, the integrity of the cDNA, and retroviral gene transfer into LGI1-deficient cell lines. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms in the promotor region and a highly polymorphic intragenic microsatellite repeat between exon 4 and 5 were found. Phylogenetic sequence analysis techniques were applied, which showed functional relationships between LGI1 and TRK and SLIT protein families that are known to be involved in development and maintenance of the nervous system. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis showed LGI1 to be present on 10q24 in each of 11 glioma-derived cell lines evaluated. Sequence analysis of the LGI1 transcript did not detect any mutation. Relative amounts of LGI1 mRNA copy numbers as measured by the real-time fluorescence detection LightCycler technology differed more than three orders of magnitude and were significantly reduced in 10 of 11 cell lines. Retroviral gene transfer into LGI1-deficient glioma-derived cell lines could not substantiate any difference to control infected cultures regarding growth rate, S phase transition, and maintenance of marker gene expression. The strong homology to proteins involved in development, differentiation, or maintenance of the nervous system provides evidence for a function of the LGI1 protein in neural tissue. The observation that translocation or deletion of the LGI1 locus or mutation of the coding sequence of the LGI1 mRNA is not a frequent event in malignant glioma cell lines suggests that epigenetic factors lead to substantial differences in the amount of LGI1 mRNA expression. In addition, that the effect is lacking after retroviral gene transfer in cell culture suggests that binding of some kind of a ligand is essential for its biological activity.

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a disorder of the lymphohematopoietic system, whereby phagocytes of affected patients are unable to kill microorganisms. CGD is caused by a functional defect in the phagocytic nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphatase (NADPH) oxidase (phox) enzyme complex, leading to a lack of microbicidal metabolites. As a therapeutic approach toward the predominant X-linked form of CGD, we have developed a bicistronic retroviral vector containing the coding sequences of gp91-phox and a cytoplasmically truncated version of the human low-affinity receptor for nerve growth factor (deltaLNGFR). Full reconstitution of superoxide-generating activity was achieved with this vector in a gp91-phox-deficient cell line. Using an optimized gene transfer protocol, up to 85% of the CD34+ cells obtained from the bone marrow of X-CGD patients were transduced. CD15+ cells differentiated in vitro from transduced X-CGD CD34+ cells showed correction of NADPH oxidase activity to 45-52% of normal levels whereas deltaLNGFR expression was found in 40-67% of the CD15+ cells. Moreover, immunoblots prepared from extracts of transduced CD15+ cells revealed gp91-phox protein levels similar to those found in neutrophils derived from normal CD34+ cells. Taking into consideration that superoxide production in only 5 to 10% of wild-type neutrophils is sufficient to protect X-CGD heterozygotes from serious infections, the results achieved in this study shows that for X-CGD patients a curative approach based on the genetic modification of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells is feasible.

These data could suggest a minimal role for ZAC/Lot1 in a subgroup of HNSCC tumors.

The human hemopoietic cell kinase (HCK) is a member of the src family of protein tyrosine kinases specifically expressed in myeloid cells and to a minor extent in B-lymphoid cells. HCK expression is up-regulated at the transcriptional level during myeloid differentiation of hematopoietic cells. To elucidate the molecular basis of the differential HCK gene expression, the genomic region containing the HCK promoter was isolated and functionally characterized. A DNA fragment containing 101 base pairs of the 5-flanking sequence showed strong promoter activity in the macrophage cell line RAW264 but was inactive in the non-monocytic cell lines HUT-78 and NIH-3T3. Site-directed mutagenesis of the proximal promoter region showed that two GC-rich sequence elements are essential for transcriptional activity in myeloid cells. Electrophoretic mobility shift analysis using nuclear extracts obtained from RAW264 cells and from the promonocytic cell line U-937 revealed the formation of at least three distinct protein-DNA complexes at each of these sites, one of which was found to contain the transcription factor Sp1. Expression of a reporter gene linked to the ؊101 HCK promoter region was up-regulated by Sp1, but not by other members of the Sp1 family of transcription factors, in Drosophila Schneider cells. A synergistic effect on HCK promoter activity was observed at high concentrations of Sp1. Our results show that Sp1 plays an essential role in the regulation of the differential gene expression of the HCK gene. The human hematopoietic cell kinase (HCK)1 belongs to a family of cytoplasmic protein tyrosine kinases for which c-src serves as an archetype (1-4). All members of the family share common structural features, including a catalytic domain in their COOH-terminal half, two regulatory domains known as SH2 and SH3 domains, an N-terminal domain unique to each of the family members and a myristylation site at the amino terminus (5-7).The HCK protein interacts physically with numerous receptors (8 -10) and its catalytic activity is stimulated upon engagement of myeloid-specific receptors (11)(12)(13)(14). Inactivation of the HCK gene by homologous recombination in ES cells results in a mild phenotype in HCK-deficient mice, characterized by impaired phagocytosis in macrophages (15).Like many of the other src-related kinases, HCK expression has been detected in cells of the granulocytic and monocytic lineage (1, 2) and at low levels in B lymphocytes (16) and NK cells (17). The expression of the HCK gene is regulated at the level of transcription (18) and increases during myeloid differentiation of normal and leukemic hematopoietic cells. In addition, the expression of HCK is induced in normal human macrophages and bone marrow macrophages after exposure of cells to bacterial lipopolysaccaride (19 -21) while interferon-␥ treatment of the cells itself does not alter HCK expression, but primes macrophages toward a stronger induction of HCK gene expression after LPS stimulation (20,21).Transfections of reporter gene constructs into ...