Autologous Bone Marrow Transplantation - Blog Science Connections

Expression of Human Adenosine Deaminase in
the Hematopoietic Cells of Monkeys
Martin A. Eglitis, Philip W. Kantoff, Al Gillio, Claudio Boridignon,
Jeanne R. McLachlin, Robert C. Moen, Nancy A. Kernan,
Donald B. Kohn, Sheau-Fung Yu, Stefan Karlsson,
Euelyn M. Karson, James A. Zwiebel, Eli Gilboa,
R. Michael Blaese, Arthur Nienhuis,
Richard J. O'Reilly, and
W. French Anderson
Recently developed retroviral vectors appear to be promising as vehicles for
introducing genes into bone marrow cells. A number of qualities make them
particularly attractive for gene transfer: 1) they have a wide host range, 2) a
single copy can be inserted into the genomic DNA of the cell, and 3) they can
be inserted with no apparent harm to the cell. Several laboratories have used
such vectors successfully to transfer functioning genes into the hematopoietic
cells of mice, both in vitro and in vivo (1-5).
Based on such early successes in mice, we have attempted to establish a
model for autologous bone marrow transplant/gene transfer in nonhuman
primates. These studies have been carried out in two locations with two different
species of monkey. One was at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center using cynomolgus macaques, which have been used there for several
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