Viral and Plasmid Transduction Systems:
Methods to Modify Immune Cells for Cancer Immunotherapy
Jing Xu
Immunotherapy is a treatment that utilizes the human immune system to reject diseases. It is a promising alternative method for inoperable cancer and also an attractive postoperative treatment possibly in conjunction with traditional chemotherapy and radiation therapy. One idea is to extract immune cells from the patient, modify them as a drug or a vehicle for drug delivery, and give them back to the patient. Thus, the severe side-effect caused by chemotherapy and radiation therapy can possibly be avoided.
In order to achieve this goal, a high-efficient system is needed for introduction of therapeutic to different immune cells. In this study, both viral and non-viral systems including two viral transduction systems, and two plasmid transfection systems are tested on three types of human immune cells (namely T cells, monocytes and macrophages). Here we used the green fluorescence protein (GFP, which is visible by naked eye) as a reporter to indicate a successful delivery.
From the results, one of the plasmid transfection systems, the Amaxa Nucleotransfection system, is the most efficient in modifying T cells among all the methods due to high transfection rates, quick transgene expression and high cell viability. The adenovirus vector with double modification is an ideal tool for modifying monocytes and macrophages, while lentivirus is an effective tool to achieve long-lasting transgene expression. These results can be used as a reference for further optimization of the delivering systems.
Degree project in biology, Master of Science (2 years), 2011 Examensarbete i biologi 30 hp till masterexamen, 2011
Biology Education Centre and Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology (IGP), Rudbeck Laboratory, Uppsala University
Supervisor: Professor Magnus Essand
