Construction and characterization of an adenoviral vector encoding human bone morphogenetic protein-2

OBJECTIVES: Construction of adenoviral vectors can be complicated and time-consuming. The aim of this study was to construct an adenoviral vector expressing human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2). METHODS: An adenoviral vector expressing human BMP-2 was constructed using the Gateway™ technique based on site-specific recombination. Briefly, BMP-2 cDNA was obtained by polymerase chain reaction, inserted into the pMD19-T cloning vector, and subcloned into a shuttle vector. The DNA sequence encoding BMP-2 was then subcloned from pEC3.1-BMP2 into the pAd/BLOCK-iT™-DEST adenoviral vector genome, which was then linearized and used to transfect 293 cells for adenovirus packaging. Adenovirus particles were generated with a titer of 1 × 10(10) infectious units/mL. RESULTS: Potent expression of BMP-2 mRNA and protein was detected in adenovirus-infected 293 cells, confirming that the adenoviral vector encoding BMP-2 was successfully constructed. CONCLUSIONS: This recombinant adenoviral vector encoding BMP-2 can be applied in future studies to explore the roles of BMP-2 in various cell types and tissues.