Construction and gene expression analysis of a single-stranded DNA minivector based on an inverted terminal repeat of adeno-associated virus.

The plasmid vectors currently used for nonviral gene transfer have the disadvantage of carrying a bacterial backbone and an antibiotic resistance gene, which may cause side effects. The adeno-associated virus (AAV) genome is a linear single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) molecule with palindromic inverted terminal repeat (ITR) sequences forming double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) hairpin (HP) structures at each end. Based on the AAV genome, we constructed an AAV-ITR ssDNA minivector that consists of a GFP expression cassette flanked by both ITR sequences of 125 nucleotides. The minivectors were produced by digestion of the parental plasmids followed by denaturation. The self-complementary inverted T-shaped HP structure of the minivector was automatically formed. The HEK 293T cells were transfected with the AAV-ITR ssDNA minivector, plasmid, and dsDNA expression cassette. The results showed that AAV-ITR ssDNA minivector had relatively low gene expression efficiency in vitro. However, we found that the GFP expression efficiency of the D sequence-deleted AAV-ITR ssDNA minivector was significantly increased and was similar to those obtained with the plasmid and dsDNA expression cassette. Our data suggest that the AAV-ITR ssDNA minivector may be a new type of gene expression vector for gene therapy besides the virus and plasmid.