Fibronectin Fragment CH-296 Inhibits Apoptosis and Enhances ex Vivo Gene Transfer by Murine Retrovirus and Human Lentivirus Vectors Independent of Viral Tropism in Nonhuman Primate CD34+ Cells

The fibronectin fragment CH-296 improved gene transfer to cytokine-mobilized nonhuman primate CD34+ cells irrespective of tropism to the MoMLV, GaLV, and VSV-G envelope proteins using murine stem cell virus (MSCV) and human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1)-based retrovirus vectors. For the HIV-1 lentivirus vector, CH-296 enhanced gene transfer in the absence of added hematopoietic growth factors necessary for ex vivo stem cell expansion. In the presence of CH-296, apoptosis of CD34+ cells was inhibited, and in mobilized peripheral blood CD34+ cells, cell division was stimulated as measured by cell history/tracking experiments.