Functional rescue of vitamin C synthesis deficiency in human cells using adenoviral-based expression of murine l-gulono-γ-lactone oxidase

l-Gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase (GULO) is a critical enzyme present in most mammalian species that is required for the terminal step in vitamin C biosynthesis. Primates are absolutely dependent on exogenously supplied dietary vitamin C due to inactivation of the Gulo gene by mutation over 40 million years ago. In this study, we report the cloning and expression of the murine l-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase cDNA and gene. The cDNA (2.3 kb) encodes an open reading frame of 440 amino acids that shows high homology to the rat l-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase (>94%). The Gulo gene is 22 kb long and contains 12 exons. The 11 introns range in size from 479 to 5641 bp. Northern blot analysis revealed high expression of Gulo transcript in the liver. To investigate whether metabolic loss of vitamin C biosynthesis in human cells can be corrected by heterologous expression of GULO, we constructed a first-generation adenoviral vector expressing the murine GULO cDNA under the transcriptional control of the murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) early promoter. Low rescue efficiency of Gulo-expressing adenoviral constructs and reduced viral growth in HEK293 cells were observed, suggesting that overexpression of Gulo may be inhibitory to cell growth. Placement of a removable stuffer fragment flanked by lox sites between the MCMV promoter and the Gulo gene resulted in efficient vector rescue and normal viral replication in parental HEK293 cells and high-level expression of Gulo in HEK293 cells expressing Cre recombinase. Cells infected with Gulo-expressing vectors overexpressed an FAD-containing protein that corresponded in size to that predicted for recombinant GULO protein and expressed a functional enzyme as measured by the conversion of l-gulono-gamma-lactone to ascorbic acid in cell-free extracts. The cloning of the murine Gulo cDNA and the construction of Gulo-expressing adenoviral vectors are vital steps toward determining the role of vitamin C in basic metabolism and in disease.