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)

Herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSVtk) gene transfer followed by ganciclovir administration is a common strategy for experimental cancer therapy. To evaluate the feasibility of using the human calcitonin promoter to target medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), we developed adenovirus vectors containing Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase gene under the control of the CALC-I promoter (AdCTlacZ), or the human cytomegalovirus promoter (AdCMVlacZ). Beta-galactosidase activity driven by the CALC-I promoter was higher than by the CMV promoter in rat MTC cells after infection with adenovirus vectors. AdCTlacZ induced an equal or lower expression level of beta-galactosidase in TT (human MTC), T98G, Cos1, HepG2, and HeLa cells compared with AdCMVlacZ. To inhibit the growth of MTC cells, we developed two adenovirus vectors, AdCMVtk carrying HSVtk driven by the cytomegalovirus promoter and AdDCTtk containing a human CALC-I minigene under the control of the CALC-I promoter. HSVtk is fused to a portion of calcitonin coded in exon 4 to direct cell-specific regulation of splicing. All cell lines infected with AdCMVtk were rendered sensitive to ganciclovir, whereas T98G and Cos1 cells infected with AdDCTtk were not affected. Cell killing was also observed in HeLa, HepG2, rat MTC and TT cells infected with AdDCTtk.
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PMID:Cell-specific induction of sensitivity to ganciclovir in medullary thyroid carcinoma cells by adenovirus-mediated gene transfer of herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase. 1080 92

The present treatment of advanced and metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is unsatisfactory. Tissue-specific cancer gene therapy is a novel alternative approach. We developed a recombinant adenovirus expressing Herpes simplex type 1 thymidine kinase (HSVtk) driven by a modified CALC-I promoter TCP (AdTCPtk). Infection with this virus showed efficient cytotoxic effect on MTC cell lines (rMTC and TT cells) after treatment with ganciclovir (GCV) in vitro. In a syngenic WAG/Rij rat model, the combination of AdTCPtk/GCV treatment with administration of murine interleukin-12 (mIL-12) expressing adenovirus under control of TCP (AdTCPmIL-12) resulted in effective growth suppression of tumor at the treated site and also at a distant untreated site, in comparison to treatment with AdTCPtk/GCV or AdTCPmIL-12 alone. Moreover, intravenous injection of AdTCPtk, or AdTCPtk+AdTCPmIL-12, followed by administration of GCV, did not cause evident toxicity after administration of GCV. These results indicate that this combined system can provide an effective therapy for metastatic MTC with minimal toxicity.
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PMID:Adenovirus-mediated tumor-specific combined gene therapy using Herpes simplex virus thymidine/ganciclovir system and murine interleukin-12 induces effective antitumor activity against medullary thyroid carcinoma. 1468 22