Roadmap to cellular reprogramming--manipulating transcriptional networks with DNA, RNA, proteins and small molecules.

Recent reports demonstrate that the plasticity of mammalian somatic cells is much higher than previously assumed and that ectopic expression of transcription factors may have the potential to induce the conversion of any cell type into another. Fibroblast cells can be converted into embryonic stem cell-like cells, neural cells, cardiomyocytes, macrophage-like cells as well as blood progenitors. Additionally, the conversion of astrocytes into neurons or neural stem cells into monocytes has been demonstrated. Nowadays, in the era of systems biology, continuously growing holistic data sets are providing increasing insights into core transcriptional networks and cellular signaling pathways. This knowledge enables cell biologists to understand how cellular fate is determined and how it could be manipulated. As a consequence for biomedical applications, it might be soon possible to convert patient specific somatic cells directly into desired transplantable other cell types. The clinical value, however, of such reprogrammed cells is currently limited due to the invasiveness of methods applied to induce reprogramming factor activity. This review will focus on experimental strategies to ectopically induce cell fate modulators. We will emphasize those strategies that enable efficient and robust overexpression of transcription factors by minimal genetic alterations of the host genome. Furthermore, we will discuss procedures devoid of any genomic manipulation, such as the direct delivery of mRNA, proteins, or the use of small molecules. By this, we aim to give a comprehensive overview on state of the art techniques that harbor the potential to generate safe reprogrammed cells for clinical applications.

Conditional mutagenesis by cell-permeable proteins: potential, limitations and prospects.

The combination of two powerful technologies, the Cre/loxP recombination system and the protein transduction technique, holds great promise for the advancement of biomedical and genome research by enabling precise and rapid control over mutation events. Protein transduction is a recently developed technology to deliver biologically active proteins directly into mammalian cells. It involves the generation of fusion proteins consisting of the cargo molecule to be delivered and a so-called protein transduction domain. Recently, the derivation of cell permeable variants of the DNA recombinase Cre has been reported. Cre is a site-specific recombinase that recognizes 34 base pair loxP sites and has been widely used to genetically engineer mammalian cells in vitro and in vivo. Recombinant cell-permeable Cre recombinase was found to efficiently induce recombination of loxP-modified alleles in various mammalian cell lines. Here we review recent advances in conditional expression and mutagenesis employing cell-permeable Cre proteins. Moreover, this review summarizes recent findings of studies aimed at deciphering the molecular mechanism of the cellular uptake of cell-permeable fusion proteins.

New variants of inducible Cre recombinase: a novel mutant of Cre-PR fusion protein exhibits enhanced sensitivity and an expanded range of inducibility.

We have developed a novel inducible Cre mutant with enhanced recombinase activity to mediate genetic switching events. The protein, designated Cre*PR, is composed of a new Cre mutant at the N-terminus followed by the ligand-binding domain (LBD) of the progesterone receptor (PR). The response to low doses of inducer is significantly enhanced by elongating the C-terminus of the PR LBD from amino acid 891 to 914. The mutant Cre lacks the first 18 amino acids and contains a Val-->Ala substitution at position 336, thereby destroying a cryptic splice donor at the 3'-end of CRE: The latter mutation reduces unwanted background recombinase activity in the absence of the synthetic ligand RU486 by a factor of at least 10 to an almost undetectable level. Thus, the recombinase activity turns out to be inducible by a factor of >200. We expect Cre*PR to serve as a valuable tool for conditional expression of genes both in vitro and in vivo.

The human 37-kDa laminin receptor precursor interacts with the prion protein in eukaryotic cells.

Prions are thought to consist of infectious proteins that cause transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. According to overwhelming evidence, the pathogenic prion protein PrPSc converts its host encoded isoform PrPC into insoluble aggregates of PrPSc, concomitant with pathological modifications (for review, see refs. 1-3). Although the physiological role of PrPC is poorly understood, studies with PrP knockout mice demonstrated that PrPC is required for the development of prion diseases. Using the yeast two-hybrid technology in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we identified the 37-kDa laminin receptor precursor (LRP) as interacting with the cellular prion protein PrPC. Mapping analysis of the LRP-PrP interaction site in S. cerevisiae revealed that PrP and laminin share the same binding domain (amino acids 161 to 180) on LRP. The LRP-PrP interaction was confirmed in vivo in insect (Sf9) and mammalian cells (COS-7). The LRP level was increased in scrapie-infected murine N2a cells and in brain and spleen of scrapie-infected mice. In contrast, the LRP concentration was not significantly altered in these organs from mice infected with the bovine spongiform encephalopathic agent (BSE), which have a lower PrPSc accumulation. LRP levels, however, were dramatically increased in brain and pancreas, slightly increased in the spleen and not altered in the liver of crapie-infected hamsters. These data show that enhanced LRP concentrations are correlated with PrPSc accumulation in organs from mice and hamsters. The laminin receptor precursor, which is highly conserved among mammals and is located on the cell surface, may act as a receptor or co-receptor for the prion protein on mammalian cells.

Prion protein PrPc interacts with molecular chaperones of the Hsp60 family.

Prions mediate the pathogenesis of certain neurodegenerative diseases, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. The prion particle consists mainly, if not entirely, of PrPSc, a posttranslationally modified isoform of the cellular host-encoded prion protein (PrPc). It has been suggested that additional cellular factors might be involved in the physiological function of PrPc and in the propagation of PrPSc. Here we employ a Saccharomyces cerevisiae two-hybrid screen to search for proteins which interact specifically with the Syrian golden hamster prion protein. Screening of a HeLa cDNA library identified heat shock protein 60 (Hsp60), a cellular chaperone as a major interactor for PrPc. The specificity of the interaction was confirmed in vitro for the recombinant proteins PrPc23-231 and rPrP27-30 fused to glutathione S-transferase with recombinant human Hsp60 as well as the bacterial GroEL. The interaction site for recombinant Hsp60 and GroEL proteins was mapped between amino acids 180 and 210 of the prion protein by screening with a set of recombinant PrPc fragments. The binding of Hsp60 and GroEL occurs within a region which contains parts of the putative alpha-helical domains H3 and H4 of the prion protein.

Recombinant prion protein rPrP27-30 from Syrian golden hamster reveals proteinase K sensitivity.

PrP27-30 represents the protease-resistant core of the prion protein and was found to be the main component in Scrapie prion preparations. Recombinant (r) PrP27-30 corresponding to aa 90-231 from the Syrian golden hamster prion protein was expressed as a fusion with GST in E. coli and secreted from insect cells infected with recombinant baculoviruses, GST::rPrP27-30 isolated from either system was purified to homogenity by glutathione-Sepharose chromatography. rPrP27-30 from both systems was generated by direct cleavage of GST::rPrP27-30 in the presence of thrombin revealing a molecular weight of 17 kDa. GST::rPrP27-30 as well as the authentic protein rPrP27-30 were identified by immunoblotting employing a polyclonal antibody directed against a peptide corresponding to aa 95-110 of the Syrian golden hamster prion protein. In contrast to scrapie prior PrP27-30, the recombinant proteins GST::rPrP27-30 and rPrP27-30 were both sensitive towards proteinase K, suggesting that the molecules lack infectivity.

Overexpression of active Syrian golden hamster prion protein PrPc as a glutathione S-transferase fusion in heterologous systems.

This article describes a procedure which permits for the first time the isolation of the prion protein PrPc from the Syrian golden hamster in heterologous systems. Using a glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion approach, milligram amounts of stable, soluble, and homogeneous GST::PrPc protein were obtained in Escherichia coli and with baculovirus-infected insect cells. Authentic PrPc was released from the immobilized fusion protein by direct cleavage with thrombin. GST::PrPc expressed in these two expression systems and also authentic PrPc released by thrombin cleavage were recognized by a polyclonal antibody directed against amino acid 95 to 110 of the golden hamster PrPc protein. GST::PrPc was not detected by a monoclonal antibody recognizing the region encompassing amino acids 138 to 152 of the human prion protein. The fusion protein was sensitive to proteinase K digestion, demonstrating that the cellular rather than the proteinase K-resistant scrapie isoform was produced.