Abstract
One of the challenges of oncolytic virotherapy is the inability to easily track or monitor virus activity during treatment. Here we describe the construction and functional characterization of Ad/hTC-GFP-E1, an oncolytic virus whose transgenes GFP and E1A are both under the control of a synthetic promoter (hTC). This promoter consists of sequences from the human telomorase reverse transcriptase promoter and a minimal cytomegalovirus (CMV) early promoter. The tumor-specific expression of E1A and GFP was demonstrated by Western blot and fluorescent microscope analyses, and the tumor-specific cytotoxicity by crystal-violet staining and cell viability assays. Viral replication and tumor cell lysis occured at multiplicities of infection (MOI) as low as 100 viral particles per cell in sensitive cell lines. No overt cytotoxic effect was observed in normal human fibroblasts, even at MOIs over 2000 vp. The presence of oncolytic vector was easily visualized and quantitated in vitro and in vivo, in correlation with viral replication. Intralesional administration of the virus into subcutaneous H1299 (NSCLC) tumor xenografts significantly suppressed tumor growth and provided a survival benefit. Together, these results demonstrate that an hTERT-specific oncolytic adenovirus expressing an hTERT-specific transgene is applicable for cancer therapy.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Pierrette Lo for editorial review. This article represents partial fulfillment of the requirements for a PhD degree by JJD. The study was supported by the following grants: National Cancer Institute grants RO1 CA 092487-01A1 and RO1 CA 098582-01A1 (both to B Fang), National Cancer Institute Lung Specialized Program of Research Excellence, and National Institutes of Health Core Grant CA-16672, and Lockton Grant-Matching Funds.
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Davis, J., Wang, L., Dong, F. et al. Oncolysis and suppression of tumor growth by a GFP-expressing oncolytic adenovirus controlled by an hTERT and CMV hybrid promoter. Cancer Gene Ther 13, 720–723 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.cgt.7700944
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.cgt.7700944
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