A major limitation of current ex vivo gene therapy protocols using the liver is that under most circumstances, little if any proliferation of transduced hepatocytes occurs after their transplantation, severely limiting levels of foreign gene expression. Recently, we developed a new model for liver repopulation in the rat in which more than 99% of endogenous hepatocytes can be replaced with transplanted cells. Extensive liver repopulation can be achieved with as little as 10,000 transplanted cells, and we are using this model to study the lineage and proliferative potential of fetal liver cells, hepatocyte progenitor cells, and liver-derived epithelial cell lines. We have initiated studies using this model for ex vivo gene therapy by transducing primary cultures of hepatocytes, hepatocyte progenitor cells and fetal hepatoblasts with lentivirus containing a reporter gene, green fluorescent protein (GFP), and then transplanting the transduced cells into the liver of suitably prepared hosts. Our fist hypothesis is that hepatocyte progenitor cells or fetal hepatoblasts will have a higher efficiency of viral transduction than primary adult. Our second hypothesis is that progenitor cells or fetal hepatoblasts will be superior to hepatocytes in maintaining long-term expression of transduced genes after they are transplanted into the liver. Our third hypothesis is that amplification of lentivirus transduced cells in the host liver will result in a high level of foreign gene expression throughout the organ, and thus achieve a level of expression suitable for effective gene therapy. These hypotheses will be tested in our new rat hepatic cell transplantation model using lentivirus-GFP. Once optimal conditions for effective gene transfer and expression are achieved, we will use this approach in an attempt to correct defective copper metabolism in the Long Evans Cinnamon (LEC) rat, a model for Wilson's disease, using a cloned Wilson's disease gene. Ultimately, we hope to adapt both cell transplantation and ex vivo gene therapy methods to humans with various inherited and acquired liver diseases, as these approaches are complementary but will have different clinical applications.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01DK056496-01
Application #
6011698
Study Section
General Medicine A Subcommittee 2 (GMA)
Program Officer
Doo, Edward
Project Start
1999-09-01
Project End
2004-06-30
Budget Start
1999-09-01
Budget End
2000-06-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
1999
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
009095365
City
Bronx
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10461
Petkov, Petko M; Zavadil, Jiri; Goetz, David et al. (2004) Gene expression pattern in hepatic stem/progenitor cells during rat fetal development using complementary DNA microarrays. Hepatology 39:617-27
Oertel, Michael; Rosencrantz, Richard; Chen, Yuan-Qing et al. (2003) Repopulation of rat liver by fetal hepatoblasts and adult hepatocytes transduced ex vivo with lentiviral vectors. Hepatology 37:994-1005
Sandhu, J S; Petkov, P M; Dabeva, M D et al. (2001) Stem cell properties and repopulation of the rat liver by fetal liver epithelial progenitor cells. Am J Pathol 159:1323-34
Dabeva, M D; Petkov, P M; Sandhu, J et al. (2000) Proliferation and differentiation of fetal liver epithelial progenitor cells after transplantation into adult rat liver. Am J Pathol 156:2017-31