Optimal vaccine scheduling in cancer immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy aims at stimulating the immune system to react against cancer stealth capabilities. It consists of repeatedly injecting small doses of a tumor-associated molecule one wants the immune system to recognize, until a consistent immune response directed against the tumor cells is observed.

We have applied the theory of optimal control to the problem of finding the optimal schedule of injections of an immunotherapeutic agent against cancer. The method employed works for a general ODE system and can be applied to find the optimal protocol in a variety of clinical problems where the kinetics of the drug or treatment and its influence on the normal physiologic functions have been described by a mathematical model.

We show that the choice of the cost function has dramatic effects on the kind of solution the optimization algorithm is able to find. This provides evidence that a careful ODE model and optimization schema must be designed by mathematicians and clinicians using their proper different perspectives.     

Polyethylenimine （PEI）-g-comb-poly（ethylene glycol）-transferrin（Ⅰ）： Tumor-targeted Vector for Gene Delivery In.vitro

The work described the synthesis and evaluation of PEI-g-comb-PEG-transferrin as a potential system for gene therapy in vitro. The MW of PEG was 10KDa, and PEI was 2KDa. Its structure was identified by NMR, FT-IR and TGA spectroscopy. MTT assay found that at concentration up to 4000 n mol/L of the polymer, cell viability was over 85%. The bio-character of polymer/DNA complex was characterized by agarose gel electrophoresis, ethidium bromide exclusion and zeta-potential assay. The polymer could retardate DNA at N/P ratio 3.0-3.5 （mol/mol）. The particle size of the polymer/DNA complex was less than 300 nm. Transfection efficiency of the complex was studied in COS7 and NT2 cell lines.     

Studies of poly-<Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis>-lysine-starch nanoparticle preparation and its application as gene carrier

Anion starch nanoparticle (StNP) with a diameter of 50 nm was prepared in water-in-oil microemulsion, with soluble starch as raw materials and POCl₃ as crosslinking agent. PLL-StNP was prepared by linking poly-L-lysine (PLL) on the surface of StNP. At the same time, the size of PLL-StNP and its stability in aqueous solution were checked by AFM. The analysis of plasmid DNA binding, DNase I enzymatic degradation, toxicity and transfection were done. We discovered that PLL-StNP may be used as non-virus nanoparticle gene carrier. And we developed the method of preparing PLL-StNP gene carrier and used it in cell transfection. As non-virus gene carrier, PLL-StNP has some advantages, such as large load of DNA, high transfection efficiency, low cell toxicity and biodegradability.     

人钠/碘转运体基因转染结肠癌SW480细胞及相关蛋白表达的检测

目的以重组人钠/碘转运体（hNIS）基因转染结肠癌SW480细胞并检测hNIS mRNA及蛋白的表达，为放射性碘治疗非甲状腺肿瘤提供新思路。方法将构建好的重组质粒（pcDNA3.1+-hNIS）进行酶切、测序鉴定并扩增、提取。SW480细胞分为重组质粒（pcDNA3.1+-hNIS）转染组、空白质粒（pcDNA3.1+）转染组、空白对照组，转染后以RT-PCR和Western blot检测各组细胞hNIS mRNA和蛋白的表达。结果酶切和测序结果显示插入的hNIS基因大小和方向均正确。RT-PCR和Western blot显示重组质粒转染组SW480细胞可见hNIS mRNA和蛋白的表达，而空白对照组和空白质粒转染组均未检测到hNIS mRNA和蛋白的表达。结论脂质体法可有效地将hNIS基因转染至SW480细胞并成功表达hNIS蛋白。     

Transfection of Mammalian Cells Using Block Copolypeptide Vesicles

An arginine‐leucine block copolypeptide (R₆₀L₂₀) is synthesized, which is capable of forming vesicles with controllable sizes, able to transport hydrophilic cargo across the cell membrane, and exhibit relatively low cytotoxicity. The R₆₀L₂₀ vesicles also possess the ability to deliver DNA into mammalian cells for transfection. Although the transfection efficiency is lower than that of the commercially available transfection agent Lipofectamine 2000, the R₆₀L₂₀ vesicles are able to achieve transfection with significantly lower cytotoxicity and immunogenicity. This behavior is potentially due to its stronger interaction with DNA which subsequently provides better protection against anionic heparin.

     

Significance of Branching for Transfection: Synthesis of Highly Branched Degradable Functional Poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) by Vinyl Oligomer Combination

A series of degradable branched PDMAEMA copolymers were investigated with the linear PDMAEMA counterpart as gene‐delivery vectors. The branched PDMAEMA copolymers were synthesized by controlled radical cross‐linking copolymerization based on the “vinyl oligomer combination” approach. Efficient degradation properties were observed for all of the copolymers. The degree of branching was found to have a big impact on performance in transfection when tested on different cell types. The product with the highest degree of branching and highest degree of functionality had a superior transfection profile in terms of both transfection capability and the preservation of cell viability. These branched PDMAEMA copolymers show high potential for gene‐delivery applications through a combination of the simplicity of their synthesis, their low toxicity, and their high performance.     

聚谷氨酸接枝聚乙二醇@碳酸钙遮蔽体系用于提高聚乙烯亚胺基因转染效率

设计并合成了聚谷氨酸-聚乙二醇@碳酸钙(PPG@CaCO₃)纳米遮蔽体系, 用于遮蔽聚乙烯亚胺(PEI). 一方面, 聚谷氨酸-聚乙二醇(PPG)可以降低PEI引起的细胞毒性, 更有利于体内应用; 另一方面, CaCO₃可有效改善PPG导致的转染效率下降, 并在一定程度上提高PEI的细胞转染效率. 对比遮蔽体系PPG@CaCO₃和聚谷氨酸-聚乙二醇@磷酸钙[PPG@Ca₃(PO₄)₂]发现, PPG@CaCO₃在微酸性环境中释放二氧化碳气体是提高细胞转染效率的关键因素. 小鼠体内循环实验表明, PPG@CaCO₃遮蔽体系可以增加载体在血液中的循环时间. 因此, PPG@CaCO₃遮蔽体系对于改善阳离子类基因载体的体内应用起到重要作用.     

γ-Ray-Radiation-Scissioned Chitosan as a Gene Carrier and Its Improved in uitro Gene Transfection Performance

Chitosan (CS) is expected to be an ideal gene carrier for its high biosafety. In this work, CS with low molecular weight were prepared through the γ-ray radiation on the acetic acid solution of CS. The CS chains were scissioned under the γ-ray radiation, and the molecular weight (MW) of CS decreased with the absorbed dose. When the absorbed dose was above 30 kGy, the molecular weight of CS decreased about an order of magnitude. The γ-ray-radiation-scissioned CS can e ectively bind with plasmid (pEGFP) through complex coacervation method, forming pEGFP/ γ-ray-radiation-scissioned CS complex particles with a size of 200-300 nm. The complex particles have good stability and little cytotoxicity. The in uitro gene transfection efficiencies of the pEGFP/ γ-ray-radiation-scissioned CS complex particles were investigated by fluorescence microscope and flow cytometry. The results showed that the gene vectors using γ-ray-radiation-scissioned CS as the carrier will possess better gene transfection efficiency than those using natural high-MW CS as the carrier. The higher the absorbed dose, the smaller the MW of CS and the better transfection efficiency of the corresponding gene vector. This work provides a green and simple method on the preparation of CS-based gene vectors with high efficiency and biosafety.     

重离子辐射提高腺病毒介导小鼠黑色素瘤细胞转染率的研究

探讨12C6+ 离子束辐射对用带有绿色荧光蛋白基因的缺陷性腺病毒（AdCMV GFP）转染小鼠黑色素瘤细胞(B16细胞系)的影响。 采用不同剂量的12C6+ 重离子束辐射经AdCMV GFP 转染的B16细胞， 利用流式细胞仪检测腺病毒的转染率。 结果表明， 12C6＋重离子束辐射能提高腺病毒对B16细胞的转染率， 且具有量效关系。 此外， 先转染后辐射法比起先辐射后转染法能更显著地提高转染率。The effect of 12C6+ beam irradiation on AdCMV GFP (a replication deficient recombinant adenoviral vector containing CMV promoter and green fluorescent protein) gene transfection efficiency for murine melanoma cell B16 has been investigated. B16 cells infected with AdCMV GFP were irradiated by different doses of 12C6+ beam. The transfection efficiency was assessed by flow cytometry (FCM). Results show that 12C6+ beam irradiation can improve tansfection efficiency of AdCMV GFP on murine melanoma cell B16 in a dose dependent manner. In addition， the tansfection efficiency in pre tranfection plus irradiation group is higher than that in pre irradiation plus tranfection group at the same dose irradiation dose.     

A Novel Approach for Introducing Bio-Materials Into Cells

A novel approach was developed to introduce biological materials into cells for gene transfection and gene therapy applications. The method is based on the technique of electrospraying bio-materials into cells. A prototype apparatus was constructed for a feasibility study. The features of the gene transfector include: (1) A dual-capillary assembly to spray suspensions of biological materials. The outer capillary provided sheathing liquid that controlled the charge level on individual particles without altering the properties of suspensions. (2) An air–CO₂ gas mixture was used for suppressing possible corona discharge and kept the same gas composition as those in incubators. (3) The designed chamber enabled the spray to operate at reduced pressure for increasing sprayed particle velocity. In the feasibility study, both suspensions of plasmid and plasmid-coated gold particles were used. The plasmid used was the commercially available Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein gene. COS-1 cells were used as the target and the liquid media was evacuated immediately prior to the spraying process. Electrospraying was conducted at ambient pressure and the duration was no more than 2 min. After the spray transfection, the media was immediately replaced and the cell samples were returned to the incubator for 36 h. Transgene expression was detected by cellular fluorescence. This technology promises to have great potential for gene transfection and therapy studies.