Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.1.21 (thymidine kinase)
 7,561 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

IL-12 is a heterodimeric cytokine that is known to induce tumor regression and long-term antitumor immunity. Recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors are advantageous for gene therapy in that they lack pathogenicity in humans, infect dividing as well as nondividing cells, and show a broad range of infectivity. We constructed an rAAV vector expressing interleukin-12 (IL-12) for cancer immunotherapy studies in a mouse model by inserting murine IL-12 (mIL-12) p35 and p40 cDNAs into the plasmid pRep4 and inserting the encephalomyocarditis virus internal ribosomal entry site between the p35 and p40 cDNAs. The mIL-12 expression cassette containing the Rous sarcoma virus promoter and a simian virus 40 polyadenylation signal was subcloned into the AAV plasmid p008Sub/NeoR, which contains two AAV inverted terminal repeat sequences and the NeoR gene driven by the thymidine kinase promoter. rAAV virions (10(4) infectious particles/ml) were generated by cotransfection of rAAV-mIL-12 and a helper plasmid (pAAV/Ad) into 293 cells previously infected with adenovirus 5. After infection of D6 fibroblasts with rAAV-mIL-12, G418-resistant clones were isolated. Each of the 1D D6 clones isolated produced up to 5.2 ng/10(6) cells/48 hours of mIL-12 as determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Induction of interferon-gamma, enhanced lymphocyte proliferation, and cytotoxicity assays confirmed biologically functional IL-12 production by the vector. This is the first report indicating that an rAAV vector expresses mIL-12, which can be used to model the effects of mIL-12 alone and/or in combination with other antitumor agents.
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PMID:Construction of a recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vector expressing murine interleukin-12 (IL-12). 1077 Jun 41

Adenovirus-mediated gene transfer of Fas ligand (FasL) inhibits neointimal formation in balloon-injured rat carotid arteries. Vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cells coexpressing murine FasL and p35, a baculovirus gene that inhibits caspase activity, are not susceptible to FasL-mediated apoptosis in vitro but are capable of inducing apoptosis of VSM cells that do not express p35. We reasoned that coexpression of p35 in FasL-transduced VSM cells in vivo would promote their survival, enhance FasL-induced apoptosis of adjacent VSM cells, and thereby facilitate a greater inhibition of neointimal formation. In balloon-injured rabbit femoral arteries, either Ad2/FasL/p35 or Ad2/FasL was infused into the injured site and withdrawn 20 min later. Both vectors induced a dose-dependent reduction (p < 0.05) of the neointima-to-media ratio when assessed 14 days later. However, Ad2/FasL/p35 exhibited a significantly greater inhibition of neointimal formation than Ad2/FasL. In a more clinically relevant model of restenosis, rabbit iliac arteries were injured with an angioplasty catheter under fluoroscopic guidance. Adenoviral vectors were delivered locally to the injured site over a period of 2 min, using a porous infusion balloon catheter. Twenty-eight days after gene transfer angiographic and histologic assessments indicated a significant (p < 0.05) inhibition of iliac artery lumen stenosis and neointimal formation by Ad2/FasL/p35 (5 x 10(11) particles per artery). The extent of inhibition was comparable to that achieved with Ad2/TK, an adenoviral vector encoding thymidine kinase (5 x 10(11) particles per artery) and coadministration of ganciclovir for 7 days. These data suggest that coexpression of p35 in FasL-transduced VSM cells is more potent at inhibiting neointimal formation and as such represents an improved gene therapy approach for restenosis.
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PMID:Enhancement of Fas ligand-induced inhibition of neointimal formation in rabbit femoral and iliac arteries by coexpression of p35. 1177 3

We report the use of plasmid DNA-mediated combination gene therapy for tumor-bearing mice using in vivo electroporation, also called electro-gene therapy (EGT), that resulted in uncomplicated and complete cures in more than 90% of the mice. Subcutaneously inoculated CT26 tumors in syngeneic BALB/c mice were subjected to repeated EGT treatments consisting of intratumoral co-injection of naked plasmids encoding the cytokine interleukin-12 (IL-12) (p35 and p40 subunits) and the suicide gene herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-tk), followed by in vivo electroporation. The early anti-tumor effect was always stronger, and the rate of cure, as seen in the long-term follow-up, was always greater in the groups treated with combination EGT than in those treated with IL-12 or HSV-tk EGT alone. Systemic levels of IL-12 and IFN-gamma increased in both combination and IL-12-alone EGT-treated groups. Moreover, combination EGT for established subcutaneous tumors strongly reduced hematogenous lung metastases and increased survival time when live CT26 tumor cells were injected through the tail vein. Limited experiments on C57/B16 mice with murine melanoma also showed very similar trends. These results suggest that this simple and safe method of plasmid-mediated combination EGT may provide a potentially effective gene therapy for cancer.
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PMID:Combination electro-gene therapy using herpes virus thymidine kinase and interleukin-12 expression plasmids is highly efficient against murine carcinomas in vivo. 1550 10