RESUMO
AIM: To investigate the effects of catalytically superior gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy systems on a rat hepatoma model. METHODS: To increase hepatoma cell chemosensitivity for the prodrug 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC), we generated a chimeric bifunctional SuperCD suicide gene, a fusion of the yeast cytosine deaminase (YCD) and the yeast uracil phosphoribosyltransferase (YUPRT) gene. RESULTS: In vitro stably transduced Morris rat hepatoma cells (MH) expressing the bifunctional SuperCD suicide gene (MH SuperCD) showed a clearly marked enhancement in cell killing when incubated with 5-FC as compared with MH cells stably expressing YCD solely (MH YCD) or the cytosine deaminase gene of bacterial origin (MH BCD), respectively. In vivo, MH SuperCD tumors implanted both subcutaneously as well as orthotopically into the livers of syngeneic ACI rats demonstrated significant tumor regressions (P<0.01) under both high dose as well as low dose systemic 5-FC application, whereas MH tumors without transgene expression (MH naive) showed rapid progression. For the first time, an order of in vivo suicide gene effectiveness (SuperCD>> YCD>>BCD>>>negative control) was defined as a result of a direct in vivo comparison of all three suicide genes. CONCLUSION: Bifunctional SuperCD suicide gene expression is highly effective in a rat hepatoma model, thereby significantly improving both the therapeutic index and the efficacy of hepatocellular carcinoma killing by fluorocytosine.
Assuntos
Antimetabólitos Antineoplásicos/uso terapêutico , Citosina Desaminase/metabolismo , Flucitosina/uso terapêutico , Genes Transgênicos Suicidas , Neoplasias Hepáticas Experimentais/terapia , Neoplasias Hepáticas/terapia , Pentosiltransferases/metabolismo , Animais , Antimetabólitos Antineoplásicos/metabolismo , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Citosina Desaminase/genética , Modelos Animais de Doenças , Flucitosina/metabolismo , Terapia Genética , Neoplasias Hepáticas/tratamento farmacológico , Neoplasias Hepáticas/patologia , Neoplasias Hepáticas Experimentais/tratamento farmacológico , Neoplasias Hepáticas Experimentais/patologia , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Transplante de Neoplasias , Pentosiltransferases/genética , Ratos , Proteínas Recombinantes de Fusão/genética , Proteínas Recombinantes de Fusão/metabolismo , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolismoRESUMO
Treatment by gene replacement is critical in the field of gene therapy. Suitable vectors for the delivery of therapeutic genes have to be generated and tested in preclinical settings. Recently, extraordinary features for a local gene delivery by Sendai virus vectors (SeVV) have been reported for different tissues. Here we show that direct intravenous application of SeVV in mice is not only feasible and safe, but it results in the secretion of therapeutic proteins to the circulation, for example, human clotting Factor IX (hFIX). In vitro characterization of first-generation SeVV demonstrated that secreted amounts of hFIX were at least comparable to published results for retroviral or adeno-associated viral vectors. Furthermore, as a consideration for application in humans, SeVV transduction led to efficient hFIX synthesis in primary human hepatocytes, and SeVV-encoded hFIX proteins could be shown to be functionally active in the human clotting cascade. In conclusion, our investigations demonstrate for the first time that intravenous administration of negative-strand RNA viral vectors may become a useful tool for the wide area of gene replacement requirements.
