Recombinant adenovirus-mediated intestinal trefoil factor gene therapy for burn-induced intestinal mucosal injury

Intestinal trefoil factor (ITF) is a small polypeptide with potential medical values whose main pharmacological effects are to alleviate gastrointestinal mucosal injury caused by various injury factors and promote the repair of damaged mucosa. However, its low yield limits its application. The purpose of our study was to construct a recombinant adenoviral vector containing the hITF gene and observe the therapeutic effect of burn-induced intestinal mucosal injury using in vitro and in vivo analysis. First, a recombinant shuttle plasmid was constructed by ligating a pAdTrack-CMV vector with a full-length hITF gene containing a signal peptide and the mature peptide, followed by the recombinant Ad-hITF adenovirus vector after linearization and homologous recombination with the backbone plasmid in the competent BJ5183 strain. Second, the hITF expression level was detected using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blotting after Ad-hITF infection of colon cancer HT-29 cells. The recombinant adenovirus significantly promoted cell migration in an in vitro wounding model. Finally, we confirmed that the recombinant adenovirus could significantly expedite the healing of intestinal mucosal injury after establishing a mouse model in which severe burns were stimulated and the recombinant adenovirus was delivered by intragastric injection. In summary, we constructed a recombinant adenoviral vector containing the hITF gene and confirmed its role in promoting repair of the intestinal mucosa. Our study provides a novel way to treat burn-induced intestinal mucosal injury.