Genomics & Gene Therapy Vectors

Dr. Alaka Mullick
Tel.: (514) 496-6281
Fax: (514) 496-5143
E-mail: alaka.mullick@cnrc-nrc.gc.ca
biography

Group Fact Sheet (pdf)

The Genomics and Gene Therapy Vectors group develops versatile and commercially viable expression systems for functional studies and therapeutic applications. The group has developed efficient vectors for generating stable cell lines needed for functional studies (for example, apoptosis or programmed cell death) as well for the production of large quantities of monoclonal antibodies by mammalian cells in bioreactors. In this field, the group's proprietary technology is based on the design of vectors carrying the genes of the immunoglobulin light and heavy chains on the same plasmid, while expression of these genes is controlled by efficient expression cassettes linked to antibiotic resistance markers that facilitate the selection of high producing clones. Stable cell lines yielding industrial levels of various recombinant antibodies in suspension, serum-free cultures have been obtained. The group is also known for its proprietary gene-switch, the cumate switch, which makes it possible to turn on expression of the desired antibody during the production phase, thus allowing for increased yields. Genetic modification of the production hosts via cell gene-engineering using various anti-apoptotic genes, is also being evaluated, with a view to improving cell viability in large-scale cultures

Mullick A, Elias M, Harakidas P, Marcil A, Witheway M, Ge B, Hudson TJ, Caron AW, Bourget L, Picard S, Jovcevski O, Massie B, Thomas DY (2004) Gene Expression in HL60-Granulocytoids and Human Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes Exposed to Candida albicans. Infect. Immun. 72: 414-429.

Bourbeau D, Lavoie G, Nalbantoglu J, Massie B (2004) Suicide Gene Therapy with Ad-CD and Ad-CD::UPRT in Human Gliomas: Different Sensitivities Correlate with p53 Status. J. Gene Med. 6: 1320-1332.

Mosser DD, Caron AW, Bourget L, Meriin AB, Sherman MY, Morimoto RI, Massie B (2000) The Chaperone Function of hsp70 is Required for Protection against Stress-induced Apoptosis. Mol. Cell. Biol. 20: 7146-7159.

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