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A recombinant gene encoding human growth hormone (hGH) was stably introduced into cultured myoblasts with a retroviral vector. After injection of genetically engineered myoblasts into mouse muscle, hGH could be detected in serum for 3 months. The fate of injected myoblasts was assessed by coinfecting the cells with two retroviral vectors, one encoding hGH and the other encoding beta-galactosidase from Escherichia coli. These results provide evidence that myoblasts, which can fuse into preexisting multinucleated myofibers that are vascularized and innervated, may be advantageous as vehicles for systemic delivery of recombinant proteins.
Dhawan et al. (Fri,) studied this question.