The chimeric cytokine Hyper-IL-6 enhances the efficiency of lentiviral gene transfer in hepatocytes both in vitro and in vivo.

Lentiviral vectors have been used for gene transfer into the liver but their ability to efficiently transduce quiescent hepatocytes remains controversial. Lentivirus-mediated gene transfer is more efficient in cycling cells. We determine the effect of H-IL6 in the lentiviral transduction. The lentiviral vector was used to transduce HepG2 cells and mice liver cells, previously treated with H-IL6. The highest transduction level was observed in HepG2 cells treated with 30 ng/mL H-IL6 and in the mice that received 4 microg H-IL6. Our results suggest that H-IL6 is an inducer of lentiviral gene transfer into the liver cells without any toxicity.