Effects of Cytokines on the Efficiency of Gene* Transfer Into Murine Hematopoietic Progenitors

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of cytokines on the efficiency of gene transfer into mutine hematopoietic progenitors and human K562 cells mediated by retrovirus (RV) containing bacterial neomycin-resistant (neoR) gene. Cytokines were used in bone marrow cell preincubation and retrovirus vectors -containing supernatant transfection each for 24 hours.The transfected cells were planted in semisolid culture with or without G418. The efficiency of gene transfer into hematopoietic progenitors was estimated by biological assay and PCR analysis. The most efficient combination of cytokines,IL-la /IL-3/SCF,increased the efficiency of gene transfer into murine CFU-GM from 6.04±1.34% to 43.60±5.95%.SCF alone most efficiently facilitated the gene transfer efficiency from 19.04±1.58% to 54.46±2.13X.The results suggest that the combination of IL-la /IL-3/SCF can increase the efficiency of gene transfer into hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and progenitors,and in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) by autologous bone marrow transplant ion (ABMT),SCF can facilitate gene transfer into hematopoietic cells in gene-marking clinical studies.