Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.2.1.23 (beta-galactosidase)
14,648 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We report virus-free transfer of a "suicide" gene into tumoral cells. The system can be used in vitro or in vivo to induce tumor cell death. A plasmid carrying the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-TK) gene with its 5'- and 3'-flanking regions was used both alone and in liposomes to transduce B16 cells. In vitro, a 5-day treatment with ganciclovir after transfection with the HSV-TK gene in liposomes induced a significant lysis of B16 melanoma cells as assessed by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide test. The efficacy of transfection was determined using liposomes harboring the beta-galactosidase reporter gene and was around 10%. Thus, the cytotoxicity observed resulted presumably from a large bystander effect. In vivo, direct transfer of the TK DNA into established B16 melanoma tumors in C57B6 mice followed by i.p. ganciclovir treatment induced a 50% reduction of tumor weight after 8 days and an increased necrosis. Despite the use of the nonspecific strong TK promoter, no necrosis was detected in normal tissues surrounding the tumor or elsewhere. Thus, this system of tumor transfection, which does not involve any viral vector, is safe and straightforward and seems to be suitable for testing in clinical trials.
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PMID:Virus-free transfer of the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene followed by ganciclovir treatment induces tumor cell death. 981 89

Pulmonary metastases are the main cause of death of patients with several types of cancer, including osteosarcoma, renal cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma, and breast cancer. Previously, we demonstrated that intralesional injection of the recombinant adenovirus (Ad) vector containing the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (TK) gene driven by an osteocalcin (OC) promoter (Ad-OC-TK) effectively suppressed the growth of osteosarcoma cells in vitro and tumors in vivo in a tumor-specific manner when supplemented with the prodrug acyclovir (ACV). In this communication, we studied the potential efficacy of the treatment of osteosarcoma pulmonary metastases with a systemic delivery route of Ad-OC-TK supplemented with ACV. We established osteosarcoma lung metastases in nude mice by the intravenous injection of rat osteosarcoma cells, ROS 17/2.8. These cells colonized and formed tumor nodules within 1 week in the lungs of nude mice. Whereas systemic delivery of a recombinant Ad vector containing the Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) gene driven by a Rous sarcoma virus universal promoter (Ad-RSV-beta-gal) resulted in the nonspecific expression of beta-gal activity in the lung parenchyma, Ad-OC-beta-gal administration resulted in specific beta-gal expression in tumor cells deposited in the lung. When nude mice bearing ROS 17/2.8 lung tumors were treated with systemic Ad-OC-TK through tail vein administration, subsequent intraperitoneal ACV treatment significantly decreased the number of tumor nodules (P < .0001) and the net lung wet weight (P = .0005) while significantly increasing (.005 < P < .01) the survival of animals, when compared with untreated and Ad-OC-TK- or ACV-treated control groups. These results suggest that Ad-OC-TK/ACV may be used as a systemic therapy for the treatment of osteosarcoma lung metastasis.
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PMID:In vivo suppression of osteosarcoma pulmonary metastasis with intravenous osteocalcin promoter-based toxic gene therapy. 982 46

The ability to specifically and efficiently express selected genes in tumor cells is an important goal for cancer gene therapy. Transcriptional targeting of adenovirus to tumor cells, thereby limiting their expression to specific cell types, represents one experimental approach to this problem. We have previously shown that a recombinant adenovirus containing the murine tyrosinase promoter coupled to a dimer of the tyrosinase-enhancer element can target the expression of beta-galactosidase cDNA to melanoma cells. We now report that this same promoter/enhancer cassette can efficiently drive the expression of the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene in melanoma cells. Infection of melanoma cells with the AdmTyr-tk virus along with subsequent ganciclovir treatment induces S phase cell cycle arrest associated with a profound change in cell size and morphology. Treated cells remain viable for prolonged periods, but clonogenic assays demonstrate that the cell cycle arrest is irreversible. In contrast, nonmelanoma cells are unaffected by this treatment regimen, exhibiting normal growth kinetics, metabolic activity, and cell cycle progression. The therapeutic efficacy of the AdmTyr-tk virus was tested in vivo using a xenograft model of human melanoma. The injection of the AdmTyr-tk virus into established subcutaneous tumor nodules in combination with systemic ganciclovir administration led to a decreased tumor growth rate and to complete tumor regressions in some cases. These studies demonstrate the feasibility of selectively targeting growth-inhibitory genes to melanoma cells in vitro and in vivo.
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PMID:Melanoma-specific cytotoxicity induced by a tyrosinase promoter-enhancer/herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase adenovirus. 982 47

Muscle and melanoma tissue of fish in the genus Xiphophorus were examined for their ability to take up and express foreign DNA. Supercoiled plasmid DNA containing a firefly luciferase reporter gene with expression driven by the cytomegalovirus enhancer and thymidylate kinase promoter was directly injected into the muscle or melanoma of individual Xiphophorus. Expression levels gradually increased to a maximum at 6 days after injection in both tissues, and this level was maintained for at least 10 days after injection. In both muscle and melanoma, there was a clear relationship between dose injected and reporter gene activity, with maximal expression at a dose of 20 microg of plasmid injected. At higher doses expression levels declined, suggesting the possibility that the uptake mechanism can be inhibited by high concentrations of DNA. Histochemical localization using a beta-galactosidase construct revealed high expression of the enzyme in isolated muscle fibers. The activity of a second coinjected reporter gene, sea pansy (Renilla reniformis) luciferase, was highly correlated with the activity of the firefly luciferase reporter gene in both tissues (R2 >.940), suggesting that the majority of variation between samples results from variation in overall DNA uptake between individuals. When firefly luciferase activity is expressed as a function of activity of the coinjected reporter, the variation between samples is greatly reduced. As a result, small differences in activity between constructs can be detected. This demonstrates the usefulness of the system for gene expression analysis in vivo.
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PMID:Efficient gene transfer into Xiphophorus muscle and melanoma by injection of supercoiled plasmid DNA. 989 13

Analysis of the expression of a number of known genes in cultured human cells has revealed UVB-induced changes that may be specific for melanocytic cells. The response of c-fos, p53 and HIV-LTR reporter constructs to UVB and UVC was reduced in MM96L melanoma cells compared to HeLa. Cell cycle arrest produced by UVA, gamma radiation, cisplatin or the antimetabolite deoxyinosine differed from that of UVB. Cell cycle analysis after multiple doses of UVB raised the possibility that UVB-induced pRb depletion could result in increased mutation and thus enhanced tumourigenesis of irradiated melanocytes in skin subjected to a defined pattern of UVB exposure. To extend the analysis of gene expression in cultured melanocytic cells to uncharacterised genes, promoter trap cell clones containing unknown genes 'tagged' by a beta-galactosidase reporter construct were generated from MM96L cells. Altered gene expression in clones treated with a panel of DNA-damaging agents was quantitated by measurement of beta-galactosidase activity. Of the clones containing 'tagged' endogenous promoters induced by UVB, 52% were induced only by UVB and not by other DNA-damaging agents (cisplatin, N-methyl-N-nitro-nitrsoguanidine, fotemustine). One third of the clones were also activated by TPA suggesting that general DNA damage responses involving PKC are activated less frequently than unique pathways of gene activation. Overall, 60% of the 50 clones that responded to the panel of agents were induced by only one of the agents, indicating that a high proportion of genes are induced by agent-specific mechanisms. In the long term, promoter trapping may allow the full repertoire of UVB-inducible genes to be characterised.
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PMID:UVB-specific regulation of gene expression in human melanocytic cells: cell cycle effects and implication in the generation of melanoma. 992 Apr 26

Two ligand oligopeptides GV1 and GV2 were designed according to the putative binding region of VEGF to its receptors. GV1, GV2 and endosome releasing oligopeptide HA20 were conjugated with poly-L-lysine or protamine and the resulting conjugates could interact with DNA in a noncovalent bond to form a complex. Using pSV2-beta-galactosidase as a reporter gene, it has been demonstrated that exogenous gene was transferred into bovine aortic arch-derived endothelial cells (ABAE) and human malignant melanoma cell lines (A375) in vitro. In vivo experiments, exogenous gene was transferred into tumor vascular endothelial cells and tumor cells of subcutaneously transplanted human colon cancer LOVO, human malignant melanoma A375 and human hepatoma graft in nude mice. This system could also target gene to intrahepatically transplanted human hepatoma injected via portal vein in nude mice. These results are correlated with the relevant receptors (flt-1, flk-1/KDR) expression on the targeted cells and tissues.
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PMID:A novel gene delivery system targeting cells expressing VEGF receptors. 1032 85

The Fab fragment of monoclonal antibody B4G7 against human epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor was conjugated with cationic poly-L-lysine and the resulting conjugate was further complexed with reporter genes or therapeutic genes. This Fab/DNA complex was designated as "Fab immunogene." The Fab immunogene transfer in vitro was mediated through the EGF receptors in two melanoma cell lines. The frequency of cells expressing beta-galactosidase (beta-Gal) reporter gene was approximately 1%. The induction of suicide effects after Fab immunogene transfer of herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (TK) or Escherichia coli cytosine deaminase (CD) gene was quite remarkable, and the growth of melanoma cells was inhibited for over 7 days in the presence of ganciclovir (GCV) or 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC). Similarly, when melanoma cells treated in vitro with the Fab immunogene carrying TK or CD were transplanted into the back of nude mouse, subsequent systemic administration of GCV or 5-FC effectively suppressed the growth of tumors, indicating the occurrence of in vivo suicide effects.
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PMID:Ex vivo delivery of suicide genes into melanoma cells using epidermal growth factor receptor-specific Fab immunogene. 1036 86

A cDNA encoding a novel galactosyltransferase was identified based on BLAST analysis of expressed sequence tags, and the cDNA clones were isolated from a human melanoma line library. The new cDNA sequence encoded a type II membrane protein with 327 amino acid sequence and showed 38% homology to the Caenorhabditis elegans sqv-3 gene involved in the vulval invagination and oocyte development. Extracts from L cells transfected with the galactosyltransferase cDNA in an expression vector and a fusion protein with protein A exhibited marked galactosyltransferase activity specific for p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-xylopyranoside. Moreover, transfection with the cloned cDNA restored glycosaminoglycan synthesis of galactosyltransferase I-deficient Chinese hamster ovary mutant pgsB-761 cells. Analysis of the enzyme product by beta-galactosidase digestion, mass spectroscopy, and NMR spectroscopy revealed that the reaction product was formed via beta-1,4 linkage, indicating that the enzyme is galactosyltransferase I (UDP-galactose:O-beta-D-xylosylprotein 4-beta-D-galactosyltransferase, EC 2.4.1.133) involved in the synthesis of the glycosaminoglycan-protein linkage region of proteoglycans.
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PMID:Human homolog of Caenorhabditis elegans sqv-3 gene is galactosyltransferase I involved in the biosynthesis of the glycosaminoglycan-protein linkage region of proteoglycans. 1043 55

Seven immunocompetent, revaccinated patients with surgically incurable cutaneous melanoma underwent treatment of dermal and/or subcutaneous metastases with twice-weekly intratumoral injections of escalating doses (10(4)-2 x 10(7) plaque-forming units (PFU)/lesion; 10(4)-8 x 10(7) PFU/session) of a vaccinia/GM-CSF recombinant virus for 6 weeks. Patients with stable or responding disease were maintained on treatment until tumor resolution or progression. Systemic toxicity was infrequent, dose-related, and limited to mild flu-like symptoms that resolved within 24 hours. Local inflammation, at times with pustule formation, was consistently seen with doses of > or =10(7) PFU/lesion. Chronically treated lesions showed a dense infiltration, with CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes, histiocytes, and eosinophils. All seven patients developed an antivaccinia humoral immune response 14-21 days following revaccination. Despite the presence of these antivaccinia antibodies, the reporter gene was expressed, as judged by the development of anti-beta-galactosidase antibodies in all patients. Passenger cytokine gene function was evidenced by the presence of virally encoded GM-CSF mRNA at injection sites both early (weeks 1 and 5) and late (week 31) in the course of treatment. Eosinophilia at treatment sites indicated that physiologically significant levels of functional cytokine were generated. However, there were no changes in the total number of peripheral white blood cells or in the numbers or percentages of polymorphonuclear leukocytes, monocytes, or eosinophils. GM-CSF was not detected in the sera. The two patients with the largest tumor burdens failed to respond even at treatment sites. Three patients had mixed responses, with regression of treated and untreated dermal metastases and progression of disease elsewhere. One patient had a partial response, with regression of injected and uninjected regional dermal metastases. Residual melanoma was excised, rendering the patient disease free. One patient with only dermal metastases confined to the scalp achieved a complete remission. Sequential administration of escalating doses of a GM-CSF recombinant vaccinia virus is safe, effective at maintaining passenger gene function, and can induce tumor regression.
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PMID:Intratumoral recombinant GM-CSF-encoding virus as gene therapy in patients with cutaneous melanoma. 1050 51

Replication-deficient adenovirus vectors are efficient vehicles for delivering therapeutic genes into mammalian cells. However, the high doses required to produce effective gene transfer in vivo can also cause unwanted cellular toxicity. To improve replication-deficient adenovirus transgene expression while minimizing adverse reactions, we have tested polycationic compounds for their ability to enhance adenovirus adsorption. We demonstrate increased transgene expression after mixing adenovirus preparations with polycations, cationic lipids, and CaCl2 prior to transduction in vitro. An E1-deleted adenovirus vector was admixed with various polycations, and beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) activity was evaluated. The optimal polycation concentrations for augmenting adenovirus-mediated gene transfer were 5-10 microg/mL polybrene, 400 microg/mL protamine sulfate, 10 microg/mL N-(1-[2,3-dioleoyloxy]propyl)-N,N,N-trimethylammonium methylsulfate (DOTAP), 2.5 microg/mL Lipofectamine, and 62.5 mM CaCl2. Polycations enhanced beta-gal expression in three of six established cell lines. Similar results were obtained using primary tumor cell cultures, where beta-gal expression was increased 1.5- to 10.7-fold (mean = 3.6) by polybrene, 1.8- to 7.5-fold (mean = 3.4) by DOTAP, and 2.3- to 10.4-fold (mean = 4.8) by protamine sulfate. Adenovirus transduction efficiency in two primary leukemia isolates was improved by 3- and 4.5-fold. We were unable to demonstrate any benefit when adenovirus was admixed with protamine sulfate prior to intratumoral injection in a xenogeneic severe combined immunodeficient mouse melanoma tumor model. Further studies will determine whether polycations can improve intratumoral gene transfer.
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PMID:Polycations and cationic lipids enhance adenovirus transduction and transgene expression in tumor cells. 1050 54


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