Publications by authors named "R Eckenberg"

Article Synopsis
  • Retroviral vectors used in gene therapy can cause problems like clonal skewing or even leukemia, highlighting the need for thorough analyses of where these vectors integrate into the genome.
  • Current techniques like LAM-PCR have limitations in identifying all genomic integrants due to reliance on specific restriction motifs, leading to incomplete understanding of their biological effects.
  • A new nonrestrictive LAM-PCR method has been developed, which improves the retrieval of integration sites without being hindered by restriction motifs, offering a more comprehensive analysis for both preclinical and clinical samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The genomic integration of a lentiviral vector developed for the treatment of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) was assessed by localizing the vector insertion sites (IS) in a murine model of gene therapy for the disease.

Methods: Transduced hematopoietic progenitor cells were transplanted into mice or cultured in vitro. The IS were determined in the genomic DNA from blood, the bone marrow of the animals and from cultured cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Gene therapy has been proposed as a potential treatment for Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS), a severe primary immune deficiency characterized by multiple hematopoietic-specific cellular defects. In order to develop an optimal lentiviral gene transfer cassette for this application, we compared the performance of several internal promoters in a variety of cell lineages from human WAS patients. Vectors using endogenous promoters derived from short (0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The only natural mechanism of malaria transmission in sub-Saharan Africa is the mosquito, generally Anopheles gambiae. Blocking malaria parasite transmission by stopping the development of Plasmodium in the insect vector would provide a useful alternative to the current methods of malaria control. Toward this end, it is important to understand the molecular basis of the malaria parasite refractory phenotype in An.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF