Transduction of human PBMC-derived dendritic cells and macrophages by an HIV-1-based lentiviral vector system

Professional antigen-presenting cells, such as dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages, are target cells for gene therapy of infectious disease and cancer. However, transduction of DCs and macrophages has proved difficult by most currently available gene transfer methods. Several recent studies have shown that lentiviral vector systems can efficiently transduce many nondividing and differentiated cell types. In this study, we examined the gene transfer to DCs and macrophages using a lentiviral vector system. Human DCs were propagated from the adherent fraction of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) by culture in medium containing GM-CSF, IL-4, and TNF-alpha. Human macrophages were propagated from adherent PBMCs in medium containing GM-CSF. High titers of a replication-defective vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein G pseudotyped HIV-1-based vector encoding the enhanced yellow fluorescent protein were produced. In immature DCs (culture days 3 and 5), transduction efficiencies of 25 to 35% were achieved at a multiplicity of infection of 100. However, the transduction efficiency was decreased in more mature DCs (culture day 8 or later). Furthermore, monocyte-derived macrophages were also transduced by the lentiviral vector system. In addition, Alu-LTR PCR demonstrated the integration of the HIV-1 provirus into the cellular genome of the transduced DCs and macrophages. Allogeneic mixed lymphocyte reactions revealed similar antigen-presenting functions of untransduced and lentivirally transduced DCs. Thus, the results of this study demonstrate that both PBMC-derived DCs and macrophages can be transduced by lentiviral vectors.