Lentivirus transduced interleukin-1 receptor antagonist gene expression in murine bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells in vitro.

Genetically modified mesenchymal stem cells have been used in attempts to increase the expression of interleukin‑1 receptor antagonist (IL‑1Ra); however, the attempts thus far have been unsuccessful. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the lentivirus transduced IL‑1Ra gene was able to be stably expressed in murine bone marrow‑derived mesenchymal stem cells (mBMSCs) in vitro. In the present study, third generation lentiviral (Lv) vectors transducing the IL‑1Ra/green fluorescent protein (copGFP) gene were constructed and transfected into mBMSCs to establish the Lv.IL‑1Ra.copGFP/mBMSCs, which were evaluated using fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, cell viability analysis using a cell counting kit‑8 kit, Trypan blue staining and an MTT growth kinetics assay. The expression of IL‑1Ra was analyzed using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. The results demonstrated that the Lv.IL‑1Ra/copGFP vector was successfully constructed. The mBMSCs exhibited a short proliferation life, however they had good growth kinetics at an early stage and improved viability following efficient transduction of the IL‑1Ra gene. IL‑1Ra was overexpressed following transfection of mBMSCs. In conclusion, lentiviral vector transduced mBMSCs were able to efficiently express exogenous Il‑1Ra under certain conditions and had a marked capacity for proliferation.