Chondroitinase activity can be transduced by a lentiviral vector in vitro and in vivo

The enzyme chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) can break down scar tissue after spinal cord injury, helping axons to regrow. Delivering ChABC continuously is difficult, so the researchers used a lentiviral vector (LV) to deliver the gene for ChABC. They created a lentiviral vector (Chase/LV) that encodes chondroitinase AC (Chase) and a green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter. This allows them to track which cells are producing the enzyme. The study showed that cells infected with Chase/LV produced the enzyme, which broke down CSPGs and promoted axon growth in lab dishes and in the spinal cords of rats.

• 1
  Neural precursor cells infected with Chase/LV expressed the GFP reporter, and the expression increased over time in culture, indicating successful transduction and expression of the transgene.
• 2
  Supernatant from Chase/LV-infected cells degraded CSPG, as confirmed by dot blot assay and the ability of neurites to grow into the CSPG area in chick DRG cultures.
• 3
  A single injection of Chase/LV into the spinal cord resulted in sustained secretion of the enzyme, with activity detected for 8 weeks by GFP expression and evidence of digested CSPG.