Stem cells as vehicles for gene therapy: novel strategy for HIV infection

Restoration of bone marrow and immune function by means of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation has been attempted in AIDS patients but has not been successful as the donor-derived cells, or their progeny, inevitably became infected. A hairpin ribozyme that specifically cleaves HIV-1 RNA has been developed by F. Wong-Staal et al. and has been demonstrated to confer resistance against HIV-1 infection. Allogeneic transplantation of CD34+ cells or their pluripotent subsets, transduced by vectors bearing this ribozyme gene, can protect the stem cells and their progeny from HIV-1 infection and eventually restores immune function. We have provided evidence that long-term repopulating stem cells can be mobilized into peripheral blood by growth factors. The combination of G-CSF and GM-CSF seems to yield a high frequency of pluripotent stem cells with a CD34+ subset profile that is similar to placental and umbilical cord blood (PUCB). We have then demonstrated a highly efficient transduction of CD34+ cells from PUCB and mobilized leukapheresis products by retroviral vectors bearing the ribozyme gene. Expression of the ribozyme gene, as shown by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, was of similar magnitude (70%-90% of cells that grow into colonies). Challenge of the progeny macrophages from such transduced CD34+ cells with monocyte-trophic strains of HIV-1 showed that they were resistant to infection. Thus allogeneic transplantation of CD34+ cells or their pluripotent subsets, transduced with ribozyme gene, can be a promising strategy for the treatment of HIV infection.