腺相关病毒携带hTERT启动子调控的TRAIL基因特异性杀伤肿瘤细胞

背景与目的:腺相关病毒(adeno-associated virus)作为载体已被广泛用于肿瘤的基因治疗研究.肿瘤坏死因子相关凋亡诱导配体(tumor necrosis factorrelated apoptosis.inducing ligand,TRAIL)基因可迅速诱导多种肿瘤细胞的凋亡.是一个安全有效的肿瘤杀伤基因.本研究旨在构建能在肿瘤细胞内特异性表达TRAIL基因的靶向腺相关病毒,并探讨其体外抗肿瘤效应的可能机制.方法:利用肿瘤特异性启动子端粒酶逆转录酶(human telomerase reverse transcfiptase,hTERT)构建特异性杀伤肿瘤细胞的腺相关病毒载体pAAV-hTERT-TRAIL.通过与pAAV-Rc、pHelper共转染HEK293细胞包装出病毒AAV-hTERT-TRAIL.将该病毒体外转染人结肠癌SW620细胞、人肝癌HepG2细胞、人肺癌A549细胞和正常细胞NHLF、MRC5后,检测TRAIL基因的肿瘤特异性表达.MTT法检测其对细胞增殖的影响,ELISA、Western blot法以及流式细胞仪检测细胞的凋亡,并分析其体外抗肿瘤效应的可能机制.结果:成功包装出病毒AAVhTERT-TRAIL.RT-PCR、Western blot和免疫组化法均证实AAV-hTERT-TRAIL能介导TRAIL基因在肿瘤细胞内特异性表达,但在正常细胞内不表达.以100 MOI AAV-IlTERTTRAIL感染细胞96 h后,SW620、A549和HepG2细胞的增殖率分别是41.55%、44.29%、49.95%,NHLF和MRC5细胞的增殖率分别是84.59%和87.22%.Western blot检测发现AAV-hTERT-TRAIL可激活Caspase通路.流式细胞仪和ELISA方法检测证实AAV-hTERT-TRAIL可诱导细胞凋亡.结论:hTERT的存在增强了腺相关病毒所携带TRAIL基因表达的肿瘤靶向性和对正常细胞的安全性.由它调控的杀伤基因可介导肿瘤细胞特异性的细胞毒效应.

Specific antitumor effect of adeno-associated virus vector carrying TRAIL gene under the control of hTERT promoter

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Adeno-associated virus (AAV) has been widely used in tumor gene therapy. Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a safe and potent anti-tumor gene which could induce apoptosis of many tumor cells. This study was to use tumor-specific promoter hTERT to construct AAV-hTERT-TRAIL, and explore its antitumor effect and mechanism in vitro. METHODS: Purified AAV-hTERT-TRAIL was obtained after co-transfection of HEK293 with pAAV-hTERT-TRAIL and two other help plasmids. After transfection of AAV-hTERT-TRAIL into three tumor cell lines, SW620, HepG2, A549 and two normal cell lines, NHLF and MRC5, the expression of TRAIL was detected by RT-PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry (IHC); the influence of AAV-hTERT-TRAIL transfection on cell proliferation was evaluated using MTT assay. Activation of caspase-3 and PARP was measured by Western blot. Cell apoptosis was assessed using ELISA and flow cytometry. RESULTS: AAV-hTERT-TRAIL was successfully packaged in HEK293 cells. After AAV-hTERT-TRAIL infection, specific expression of TRAIL was detected in three tumor cell lines, but not in two normal cell lines. Cell proliferation rates in SW620, A549, HepG2, NHLF and MRC5 cells were 41.55%, 44.29%, 49.95%, 84.59% and 87.22%, respectively after transfection of AAV-hTERT-TRAIL at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 100 for 96 h. AAV-hTERT-TRAIL activated caspase-3 apoptotic pathway and induced apoptosis in tumor cell lines, but not in normal cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: hTERT increases selectivity and safety of AAV vector. hTERT promoter controls the expression of anti-tumor genes to specifically induce death of tumor cells.