Abstract
Hypoxia promotes vascularization by stabilization and activation of the hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α), which constitutes a target for angiogenic gene therapy. However, gene therapy is hampered by low gene delivery efficiency and non-specific side effects. Here, we developed a gene transfer technique based on magnetic targeting of magnetic nanoparticle-lentivirus (MNP-LV) complexes allowing site-directed gene delivery to individual wounds in the dorsal skin of mice. Using this technique, we were able to control HIF-1α dependent wound healing angiogenesis in vivo via site-specific modulation of the tyrosine phosphatase activity of SHP-2. We thus uncover a novel physiological role of SHP-2 in protecting HIF-1α from proteasomal degradation via a Src kinase dependent mechanism, resulting in HIF-1α DNA-binding and transcriptional activity in vitro and in vivo. Excitingly, using targeting of MNP-LV complexes, we achieved simultaneous expression of constitutively active as well as inactive SHP-2 mutant proteins in separate wounds in vivo and hereby specifically and locally controlled HIF-1α activity as well as the angiogenic wound healing response in vivo. Therefore, magnetically targeted lentiviral induced modulation of SHP-2 activity may be an attractive approach for controlling patho-physiological conditions relying on hypoxic vessel growth at specific sites.