's abstract) Immunosuppressive gene therapy holds promise as an inductive therapy in transplantation. However, many fundamental aspects of this technology must be addressed before it may be applied to clinical transplantation. These include questions regarding the use of viral vs. non-viral vectors, underlying mechanisms of action, effects on systemic immunity, and the duration of transgene expression. The investigators have developed a model of TGFbeta1 gene transfer into mouse vascularized cardiac allografts to address these issues. Donor hearts are perfused with either DNA-liposome complexes or adenoviral vectors which encode the active form of TGFbeta1. Interestingly, CD4+ cells are readily suppressed by this modality, while CD8+ cells are not. This differential sensitivity is most pronounced when adenoviral vectors are used. The overall hypothesis to be tested is that transient depletion of CD8+ cells will enhance the efficacy of immunosuppressive gene therapy. Hence, the Specific Aims will: 1) Define mechanisms by which TGFbeta1 gene transfer mediates immunosuppressive activities. T cell functional assays will identify critical immune functions which are either turned off or turned on by TGFbeta1 gene transfer, and adoptive transfer studies will determine if regulatory cells are induced by TGFbeta1 gene transfer. 2) Elucidate mechanisms by which adenoviral mediated TGFbeta1 gene transfer stimulates CD8+ cells. The investigators will test the hypothesis that adenoviral vectors, but not DNA-liposome complexes, stimulate production of inflammatory cytokines which over-ride TGFbeta1 suppression of CD8+ cells. 3) Determine the impact of TGFbeta1 gene transfer on systemic immune surveillance. They will assess the effects of TGFbeta1 gene transfer on primary and memory responses to Listeria and on antibody responses to influenza immunization. 4) Determine if TGFbeta1 gene expression may be silenced following initial inductive immunosuppression. Tetracycline regulated promoters will be used to limit the duration of TGFbeta1 expression, and gene transfer of decorin, which binds and neutralizes TGFbeta1, will be employed to neutralize the transgene product. This study will provide insight for optimizing immunosuppressive gene therapy in clinical transplantation.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AI031946-09
Application #
6613853
Study Section
Surgery, Anesthesiology and Trauma Study Section (SAT)
Program Officer
Koh, Crystal Y
Project Start
1995-07-01
Project End
2005-06-30
Budget Start
2003-07-01
Budget End
2005-06-30
Support Year
9
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$340,071
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Department
Surgery
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
073133571
City
Ann Arbor
State
MI
Country
United States
Zip Code
48109
Welling, Theodore H; Lu, Guanyi; Csencsits, Keri et al. (2008) Regulation of alloimmune Th1 responses by the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 following transplantation. Surgery 143:394-403
Brown, David L; Bishop, D Keith; Wood, Sherri Y et al. (2006) Short-term anti-CD40 ligand costimulatory blockade induces tolerance to peripheral nerve allografts, resulting in improved skeletal muscle function. Plast Reconstr Surg 117:2250-8
Csencsits, K; Wood, S C; Lu, G et al. (2006) Transforming growth factor beta-induced connective tissue growth factor and chronic allograft rejection. Am J Transplant 6:959-66
Rovak, Jason M; Bishop, D Keith; Boxer, Leslie K et al. (2005) Peripheral nerve transplantation: the role of chemical acellularization in eliminating allograft antigenicity. J Reconstr Microsurg 21:207-13
Csencsits, Keri; Wood, Sherri Chan; Lu, Guanyi et al. (2005) Transforming growth factor-beta1 gene transfer is associated with the development of regulatory cells. Am J Transplant 5:2378-84
Nathan, Meera J; Mold, Jeffrey E; Wood, Sherri C et al. (2004) Requirement for donor and recipient CD40 expression in cardiac allograft rejection: induction of Th1 responses and influence of donor-derived dendritic cells. J Immunol 172:6626-33
Csencsits, Keri L; Bishop, D Keith (2003) Contrasting alloreactive CD4+ and CD8+ T cells: there's more to it than MHC restriction. Am J Transplant 3:107-15
Nathan, Meera J; Yin, Dengping; Eichwald, Ernst J et al. (2002) The immunobiology of inductive anti-CD40L therapy in transplantation: allograft acceptance is not dependent upon the deletion of graft-reactive T cells. Am J Transplant 2:323-32
Chan, S Y; Goodman, R E; Szmuszkovicz, J R et al. (2000) DNA-liposome versus adenoviral mediated gene transfer of transforming growth factor beta1 in vascularized cardiac allografts: differential sensitivity of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells to transforming growth factor beta1. Transplantation 70:1292-301
DeBruyne, L A; Li, K; Bishop, D K et al. (2000) Gene transfer of virally encoded chemokine antagonists vMIP-II and MC148 prolongs cardiac allograft survival and inhibits donor-specific immunity. Gene Ther 7:575-82

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