Retroviral-mediated transfer of the human acid sphingomyelinase cDNA: correction of the metabolic defect in cultured Niemann-Pick disease cells.
| dc.creator | Suchi, M | |
| dc.creator | Dinur, T | |
| dc.creator | Desnick, R J | |
| dc.creator | Gatt, S | |
| dc.creator | Pereira, L | |
| dc.creator | Gilboa, E | |
| dc.creator | Schuchman, E H | |
| dc.date | 1992-04-15 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-08-03T01:31:58Z | |
| dc.description | Types A and B Niemann-Pick disease (NPD) result from inherited deficiencies of the lysosomal hydrolase, acid sphingomyelinase (ASM; sphingomyelin cholinephosphohydrolase, EC 3.1.4.12). To evaluate the feasibility of somatic gene therapy for the treatment of these disorders, retroviral-mediated gene transfer was used to introduce the full-length ASM cDNA into cultured fibroblasts from two unrelated type A NPD patients. The ASM activities in these cells were less than 4% of mean normal levels, and, consequently, they accumulated approximately 3-fold elevated levels of sphingomyelin. After retroviral-mediated transfer of the ASM cDNA, ASM activities in the NPD cells increased to levels up to 16-fold those found in normal fibroblasts. In addition, the sphingomyelin content was reduced to normal levels, indicating that the vector-encoded enzyme was properly targeted to lysosomes, where it was enzymatically active and able to degrade the accumulated substrate. In situ cell-loading studies also were undertaken to evaluate the effects of retroviral-mediated gene transfer on the pathology of NPD fibroblasts. When a pyrene derivative of sphingomyelin was introduced into the lysosomes of cultured fibroblasts from a type A NPD patient by using apolipoprotein E-mediated endocytosis, only approximately 6% of the delivered substrate was degraded. In contrast, normal cells and NPD cells transduced (i.e., "corrected") by retroviral-mediated gene transfer could degrade approximately 80% of the delivered sphingomyelin. These results provided further evidence that retroviral-mediated gene transfer may be used to correct the pathology of NPD cells. Cell-loading studies were also used to develop a selection system for discriminating between NPD cells and those transduced by retroviral-mediated gene transfer. This selection scheme was based on the fluorescence emission of intact NPD cells, which, when loaded with pyrene-labeled sphingomyelin, was 3- to 5-fold that of normal or transduced cells. As a consequence, the NPD and transduced cells could be efficiently sorted by flow cytometry with a fluorescence-activated cell sorter. In addition, the NPD cells could be selectively killed by photosensitization after irradiation with a long-wavelength UV light. These results should permit direct selection of ASM-expressing cells after retroviral-mediated gene transfer without the need to preselect for a cotransferred marker gene. | |
| dc.identifier | https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC48839/ | |
| dc.identifier | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1565614/ | |
| dc.identifier | https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.89.8.3227 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://repo.dare.co.zw/handle/123456789/155375 | |
| dc.language | en | |
| dc.publisher | National Academy of Sciences | |
| dc.source | Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A | |
| dc.subject | Research Article | |
| dc.title | Retroviral-mediated transfer of the human acid sphingomyelinase cDNA: correction of the metabolic defect in cultured Niemann-Pick disease cells. | |
| dc.type | Text |