Notch signal strength controls cell fate in the haemogenic endothelium.

Acquisition of the arterial and haemogenic endothelium fates concurrently occur in the aorta-gonad-mesonephros (AGM) region prior to haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) generation. The arterial programme depends on Dll4 and the haemogenic endothelium/HSC on Jag1-mediated Notch1 signalling. How Notch1 distinguishes and executes these different programmes in response to particular ligands is poorly understood.

Identification of Cdca7 as a novel Notch transcriptional target involved in hematopoietic stem cell emergence.

Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) specification occurs in the embryonic aorta and requires Notch activation; however, most of the Notch-regulated elements controlling de novo HSC generation are still unknown. Here, we identify putative direct Notch targets in the aorta-gonad-mesonephros (AGM) embryonic tissue by chromatin precipitation using antibodies against the Notch partner RBPj. By ChIP-on-chip analysis of the precipitated DNA, we identified 701 promoter regions that were candidates to be regulated by Notch in the AGM.

Notch and Wnt signaling in the emergence of hematopoietic stem cells.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), which reside in the marrow of adult mammals and sustain hematopoiesis for the lifetime of the organism, are specified and generated during embryonic development. We are just beginning to understand how HSC develop from more primitive cells and the complexity of the signaling pathways involved. In this work, we review the role of two crucial pathways, Notch and Wnt, in the specification and development of HSC and their nascent microenvironment, the arterial vessels.

Lentivirus production is influenced by SV40 large T-antigen and chromosomal integration of the vector in HEK293 cells.

Currently, lentiviral vectors for research and gene therapy are produced from 293-T cells that are transiently transfected with plasmids encoding the vector and helper functions. However, transiently transfected vectors as well as the presence of SV40 virus large T-antigen (T-Ag) cause serious technical and safety considerations. We aimed to exploit single copy integration sites in the HEK293 genome supporting lentiviral vector production.

Production of retroviral vectors: review.

Retroviral vectors are presently amongst the most widely used vectors in gene therapy clinical trials to target pathologies of different origins, such as cancers, genetic diseases or neurological disorders. This review provides an overview on the evolution of retroviral vector design and production for gene therapy applications, including state of the art developments in flexible producer cells and safe vectors. In addition, production and purification processes will be addressed, with a particular focus on the improvements undertaken to increase vector productivity and to reduce the rapid loss of infectivity, which presently represent the main challenges in retroviral vectors production for gene therapy.

Recombinant protein expression by targeting pre-selected chromosomal loci.

Background: Recombinant protein expression in mammalian cells is mostly achieved by stable integration of transgenes into the chromosomal DNA of established cell lines. The chromosomal surroundings have strong influences on the expression of transgenes. The exploitation of defined loci by targeting expression constructs with different regulatory elements is an approach to design high level expression systems.