In vivo expression of GFP transgene delivered via a replicating feline leukemia virus

We previously described replication-competent feline leukemia virus (FeLV) vectors with high-level and stable expression of a green fluorescent protein (GFP) or a suicide transgene in cell cultures in vitro. Considering that FeLV might potentially be used to deliver therapeutic genes in vivo, we first evaluated the expression of the GFP gene introduced in cats by the FeLV, Rickard subgroup A (FRA) construct. Eight newborn kittens were either inoculated with pFRA-GFP plasmid DNA intradermally, or challenged intraperitoneally with FRA-GFP-infected feline fibroblasts. During a 12-week observation period, five cats were shown to be progressively viremic. Quantitative PCR and RT-PCR analyses of plasma and tissue samples from these cats showed that GFP was retained in FeLV DNA or RNA to a variable degree, ranging from 0.002 to 27.890%. Tissue DNA samples were analyzed by PCR for the status of GFP and the env-transgene complex. While the proviruses carrying the GFP transgene were shown to be minor species, all tissues, however, retained the full-length GFP transgene. Despite the occurrence of predominant species with various deletions in the viral genome, approximately 1-3% of the total cell population was GFP-positive in the lymphoid tissues as visualized by laser confocal microscopy. Co-localization of immunofluorescent cells indicated that CD3-positive T cells, dendritic cells and macrophages were the major targets for GFP expression. These findings on the detectable in vivo expression of GFP for as long as a period of 3 months could be viewed positively for contemplating a therapeutic strategy for control of FeLV infection in the cats.