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Screening pigs for xenotransplantation: expression of porcine endogenous retroviruses in transgenic pig skin

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Abstract

Pigs seem to be the answer to worldwide organ donor shortage. Porcine skin may also be applied as a dressing for severe burns. Genetic modifications of donor animals enable reduction of immune response, which prolongs xenograft survival as temporary biological dressing and allows achieving resistance against xenograft rejection. The risk posed by porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) cannot be eliminated by breeding animals under specific-pathogen-free conditions and so all recipients of porcine graft will be exposed to PERVs. Therefore our study has been focused on the assessment of PERV DNA and mRNA level in skin samples of transgenic pigs generated for xenotransplantation. Porcine skin fragments were obtained from 3- to 6-month-old non-transgenic and transgenic Polish Landrace pigs. Transgenic pigs were produced by pronuclear DNA microinjection and were developed to express the human α-galactosidase and the human α-1,2-fucosyltransferase gene. The copy numbers of PERV DNA and RNA were evaluated using real-time Q-PCR and QRT-PCR. Comparative analysis of all PERV subtypes revealed that PERV-A is the main subtype of PERVs in analyzed skin samples. There was no significantly different copy number of PERV-A, PERV-B and PERV-C between non-transgenic pigs, pigs with the human α-galactosidase and pigs expressing the human α-1,2-fucosyltransferase gene, except of PERV-C DNA. It brings the conclusion, that transgenesis process exerts no influence on PERVs transinfection. That is another step forward in the development of pig skin xenografts as burn wounds dressing.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the project: Development of an innovative technology using transgenic porcine tissues for biomedical purposes. Acronym MEDPIG. Program INNOMED (No. INNOMED 1/20106/07/2013/6), which was financed by the National Centre for Research and Development.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food and Nutrition, School of Pharmacy with the Division of Laboratory Medicine in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia, Jednosci 8, 41-200, Sosnowiec, Poland

    Magdalena Kimsa-Dudek

  2. Department of Molecular Biology, School of Pharmacy with the Division of Laboratory Medicine in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia, Jednosci 8, 41-200, Sosnowiec, Poland

    Barbara Strzalka-Mrozik, Malgorzata W. Kimsa, Irena Blecharz, Joanna Gola, Bartlomiej Skowronek, Adrian Janiszewski & Urszula Mazurek

  3. Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Wolynska 35, Poznan, Poland

    Daniel Lipinski, Joanna Zeyland, Marlena Szalata & Ryszard Slomski

  4. Institute of Human Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Strzeszynska 32, Poznan, Poland

    Daniel Lipinski, Marlena Szalata & Ryszard Slomski

Authors
  1. Magdalena Kimsa-Dudek
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  2. Barbara Strzalka-Mrozik
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  3. Malgorzata W. Kimsa
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  4. Irena Blecharz
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  5. Joanna Gola
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  6. Bartlomiej Skowronek
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  7. Adrian Janiszewski
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  8. Daniel Lipinski
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  9. Joanna Zeyland
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  10. Marlena Szalata
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  11. Ryszard Slomski
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  12. Urszula Mazurek
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Correspondence to Magdalena Kimsa-Dudek.

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Kimsa-Dudek, M., Strzalka-Mrozik, B., Kimsa, M.W. et al. Screening pigs for xenotransplantation: expression of porcine endogenous retroviruses in transgenic pig skin. Transgenic Res 24, 529–536 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-015-9871-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-015-9871-y

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