Pituitary-targeting Adenovirus Vector Construction Service

Pituitary adenomas constitute the most frequent neuroendocrine pathology in humans. Clinical manifestations of pituitary adenomas arise from the overproduction of hormones in microadenomas or from mass effects in larger tumors. In recent years, gene therapy has developed rapidly in the clinical applications, and new gene therapy techniques have become a powerful tool for the treatment of pituitary adenomas. As a world-class provider of biotechnology, Creative Biolabs provides omnidirectional technologies to meet diverse needs of our customers. With our professional experience and advanced adenovirus vector construction platform, we are confident in offering the best service for the treatment of a range of diseases.

Introduction of Pituitary-targeting Adenovirus Vector

Studies with adenoviral vectors have demonstrated that this vector system can be used to effectively transfer different types of genes into normal rat anterior pituitary (AP) cells in primary culture as well as in the corticotropic AtT₂₀ and GH₃ tumor cell lines. A recombinant adenoviral vector carrying the HSV-tk gene under the control of the human cytomegalovirus (hCMV) promoter, was used to transfer the tk gene to GH₃ and AtT₂₀ cells. Incubation of treated GH₃ and AtT₂₀ cells with the prodrug ganciclovir (GCV) caused ample destruction of the cultures. Gene therapy using adenoviral vectors harboring the tk gene under the control of specific AP hormone promoters, namely human GH (hGH), was effective for the treatment of GH₃ in vitro. An adenoviral vector encoding the tk gene under the control of the human prolactin (hPRL) promoter was also effective in inducing apoptosis in GH₃ cell cultures exposed to GCV. Furthermore, adenoviral vectors harboring the tk gene under both a promiscuous human cytomegalovirus (hCMV) and hPRL promoter showed expression of the transgene for up to 3 months in situ in the normal rat anterior pituitary.

Figure 1. Characterization of HSV-tk expressing recombinant adenovirus. (Windeatt, 2000)

The Service of Pituitary-targeting Adenovirus Vector Construction

Gene therapy is a reasonable strategy for the treatment of pituitary tumors, both in vitro and in vivo. Combining pituitary cell type-specific promoters, particularly hCMV or hPRL, the suicide transgene could potentiate the efficacy of the surgery and provide long-term remission and even cure for many types of pituitary tumors. Therefore, we offer a large number of adenoviral vector construction services, including adenoviral vectors that specifically target pituitary tumors, such as hCMV, hPRL or hGH.

Figure 2. The composition of hCMV.

Creative Biolabs is the right partner to help you bring new gene therapy approaches to the market. The adenoviral vectors construction requires in-depth expertise and flexible implementation. Over the years, we have accumulated scientific experience and are very proud of our high-quality adenovirus vector design services to ensure your requirements are met. If you are interested in our services, please feel free to contact us, our experienced technicians will provide you with the most detailed questions and answers.

Reference

1. Windeatt S.; et al. (2000). Adenovirus-mediated herpes simplex virus type-1 thymidine kinase gene therapy suppresses oestrogen-induced pituitary prolactinomas. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 85(3):1296-305.