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Systemic delivery of a recombinant protein by genetically modified mesothelial cells reseeded on the parietal peritoneal surface.

To evaluate the ability of genetically modified peritoneal mesothelial cells to deliver recombinant proteins to the systemic circulation, we used our previously described mesothelial cell-based ex vivo gene therapy strategy. Rat primary peritoneal mesothelial cells, isolated from parietal peritoneum by enzymatic digestion, were stably transfected (using strontium phosphate DNA co-precipitation) with the plasmid pSVTKgh to express a secreted reporter gene product, human growth hormone (hgh). Such hgh-secreting mesothelial cells were reseeded on the denuded peritoneal surface of syngeneic recipients and delivery of the reporter gene product to the systemic circulation was monitored by analysis of serum samples for the presence of hgh at various times after mesothelial cell implantation. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis demonstrated that the hgh-transfected mesothelial cells repopulated the denuded areas and remained attached there for at least 12 weeks. Moreover, these genetically modified mesothelial cells continued to express the reporter gene product in vivo and secreted hgh in sufficient quantity to be detected in the systemic circulation (ie statistically significant amounts of hgh could be measured in the serum of cyclosporine A-treated rats for at least 2 months; Mann-Whitney test, P < 0.05). Our results demonstrate the successful, sustained, systemic delivery of a recombinant protein by genetically modified peritoneal mesothelial cells following their reattachment to the peritoneal surface, and suggest the potential of ex vivo mesothelial cell-mediated gene therapy for the treatment of inherited or acquired disorders requiring delivery of therapeutic proteins to the circulation.