Adenovirus-mediated gene transfer to keratinocytes - A review

The introduction and expression of a foreign gene provide a powerful tool f or investigating functions and regulation of a gene of interest; however, k eratinocytes have a major drawback in that foreign genes are hardly transfe cted by conventional methods and stable transformants are most difficult to establish in normal keratinocytes with a limited short life span. To overc ome these problems, we used an adenovirus vector, Ax, developed by Saito et al, which yields desired recombinant viruses at an efficiency about 100-fo ld that of conventional methods, and by which genes are expressed at a high level under the control of a composite CAG promoter. We established Ax vec tors carrying various isoforms of protein kinase C (PKC), Using these vecto rs, we found that the eta and delta isoforms of PKC, but not the alpha and zeta isoforms, mediate terminal differentiation in normal human keratinocyt es. These Ax-vectors are also applicable to organ culture of mouse embryos. Advantages and disadvantages of adenovirus vectors and their use for kerat inocyte biology are reviewed.