Inhibition of chemokine expression by adenovirus early region three (E3) genes

Lesokhin, AM; Delgado-Lopez, F; Horwitz, MS

Abstract

Adenoviruses (Ad) have a variety of immunoregulatory genes, many of which are clustered in a 3.5-kb segment of DNA known as early region 3 (E3). Ad E3 codes for proteins that downregulate surface expression of class I major histocompatibility antigens and also inhibit tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)- and Fas-induced cytolysis. We were interested in determining whether chemokine production or activity might also be inhibited by Ad E3 and we have studied this function in a human astrocytoma cell line, U373. Astrocytes constitute a part of the blood-brain barrier, and chemokines (IP-10, IL-8, MCP-1-4, and MlPs) expressed by them may contribute to leukocyte infiltration within the brain during inflammation. When U373 cells are activated by the proinflammatory molecule TNF-alpha, the increase in chemokine MCP-1, IL-8, and IP-10 transcripts is blocked by a recombinant Ad expressing the E3 genes under cytomegalovirus promoter control. Comparable Ads expressing green fluorescent protein in place of E3 have no effect on these chemokines. Ads also have been extensively studied as gene therapy vectors and most have a deletion of the E3 region to permit the insertion of larger fragments of foreign DNA. Our results suggest that construction of Ad vectors to include E3 expression cassettes will improve the efficacy and safety of such viral-based gene therapy protocols.

Más información

Título según WOS: ID WOS:000177049500034 Not found in local WOS DB
Título de la Revista: JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY
Volumen: 76
Número: 16
Editorial: AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY
Fecha de publicación: 2002
Página de inicio: 8236
Página final: 8243
DOI:

10.1128/JVI.76.16.8236-8243.2002

Notas: ISI