Autonomous growth of BALB/MK keratinocytes transfected with a retroviral vector carrying the human epidermal growth factor gene

• Main Authors: Jomuna V. Choudhuri, Monica B. Mathor, Flávia H. Silva, Sang W. Han
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Genética 2008-01-01
• Series: Genetics and Molecular Biology
• Subjects: BALB/MK keratinocytes; epidermal growth factor; retroviral vector
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1415-47572008000500003
• ISSN: 1415-4757; 1678-4685

Epidermal growth factor (EGF), which promotes epidermal regeneration and wound closure, is important for the proliferation and differentiation of epidermal and epithelial tissues in animals. Exogenous EGF is a promising therapeutic agent for wound healing, but its general use is restricted by the limited availability of this protein. In this work, we show that the transfection of mouse BALB/MK keratinocytes, which are totally dependent on EGF for growth and migration, with mature cDNA for human EGF via a retroviral vector abolished the cells requirement for exogenous EGF. The transformed cells had normal morphology and a growth rate that varied according to the source of the retroviral vector used. Keratinocyte transfection with EGF cDNA provides a time- and cost-efficient means of culturing keratinocytes and yields cells that may be useful for skin grafting.