Keratinocyte Gene Therapy for Adenosine Deaminase Deficiency: A Model Approach for Inherited Metabolic Disorders

Autor: Pauline M. Schwartz, Lorne B. Taichman, R M Blaese, E S Fenjves
Rok vydání: 1997
Předmět:
Zdroj: Human Gene Therapy. 8:911-917
ISSN: 1557-7422
1043-0342
DOI: 10.1089/hum.1997.8.8-911
Popis: Disorders in which there is toxic buildup of circulating substrate may be treated by furnishing an enzyme reservoir capable of metabolically processing the excess substrate. The epidermal keratinocyte is a potential site for such a reservoir. In this study, we explore the capacity of genetically modified keratinocytes to metabolize extracellular substrate in a culture model that resembles in vivo epidermal architecture. Keratinocytes from adenosine deaminase (ADA)-deficient patients were transduced with a retroviral vector encoding the human ADA gene and the capacity of this tissue to deaminate deoxyadenosine (dAdo) in vitro was measured. The results show that at a substrate concentration of 10 microM, ADA-corrected keratinocytes deaminate dAdo at a rate of 0.38 nmol/min.10(6) cells. These results indicate that keratinocytes process extracellular substrate at rates that suggest complete substrate conversion in a single pass. This study provides a strong indication that the epidermis, the largest and most accessible tissue of the body, is a valuable site for designing clinically relevant gene therapies.
Databáze: OpenAIRE