S Yei, CJ Bachurski, TE Weaver, SE Wert, BC Trapnell and JA Whitsett
Genetic Therapy, Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Human surfactant protein B (SP-B) is a 79-amino acid, phospholipid- associated polypeptide expressed by respiratory epithelial cells of the lung. SP-B is essential for lung function, enhancing the spreading and stability of surfactant phospholipids that serve to reduce surface tension at the alveolar air-liquid interface. Congenital absence of SP- B results in neonatal respiratory failure and death. In the present work, we constructed a replication-deficient adenoviral vector, Av1SP- B1, in which the human SP-B cDNA is expressed under control of the Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) promoter in an E1-E3-deleted adenovirus type 5 (Ad5)-based vector system. Av1SP-B1 was produced in 293 kidney cells, directing the synthesis of the SP-B protein and SP-B peptides. Av1SP-B1 directed the synthesis of SP-B mRNA, precursor and active 8-9 kD polypeptide in immortalized mouse lung epithelial cells (MLE-12 cells), demonstrating complete processing to the human SP-B protein by these cells. Synthesis of human SP-B mRNA was detected as early as 12 h after infection and was maximal 48 h after infection in vitro. Northern blot analysis demonstrated that human SP-B mRNA was expressed in the lungs of cotton rats infected with Av1SP-B1 but not in those of uninfected animals or in animals infected with a reporter adenoviral vector, Av1LacZ4. In situ hybridization demonstrated the abundance and localization of the transferred human SP-B mRNA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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