The anti-glioma effect of suicide gene therapy using BMSC expressing HSV TK combined with overexpression of Cx43 in glioma cells

• Published in: Cancer gene therapy Vol. 17; no. 3; pp. 192 - 202
• Main Authors: Huang, Q, Liu, X-Z, Kang, C-S, Wang, G-X, Zhong, Y, Pu, P-Y
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.03.2010; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Animals; Apoptosis; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Bone marrow; Bone Marrow Cells - cytology; Brain tumors; Care and treatment; Cell culture; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell migration; Cell Movement - genetics; Cell Movement - physiology; Cells, Cultured; Cerebral hemispheres; Connexin 43; Connexin 43 - genetics; Connexin 43 - metabolism; Connexin 43 - physiology; Disease Models, Animal; Ganciclovir; Gene Expression; Gene Therapy; Genetic aspects; Genetic Therapy; Glioma; Glioma - therapy; Glioma cells; Gliomas; Health aspects; Herpes simplex; Herpes simplex virus; Humans; Male; Mesenchymal stem cells; Methods; Microspheres; original-article; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - genetics; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - metabolism; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - physiology; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Simplexvirus - genetics; Simplexvirus - metabolism; Stem cell transplantation; Stem cells; Stem Cells - cytology; Stem Cells - metabolism; Stem Cells - physiology; Suicide; Suicide genes; Survival analysis; Thymidine; Thymidine kinase; Thymidine Kinase - genetics; Thymidine Kinase - metabolism; Transfection; Tumor cells; Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes; Xenografts; China; glioma; HSV–TK/GCV suicide gene therapy; bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells; connexin 43
• ISSN: 0929-1903; 1476-5500
• DOI: 10.1038/cgt.2009.64

The disseminated neoplastic foci of malignant gliomas are essentially responsible for the limited efficacy of current available therapeutic modalities. Bone marrow-derived stem cells (BMSCs) have the ability to migrate into these tumors and even track infiltrating tumor cells, making them to be promising cellular vehicles for delivering therapeutic agents to glioma cells. The herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV–TK)/ganciclovir (GCV) suicide gene therapy with a potent bystander effect has been considered as one of the most promising therapeutic strategies for malignant gliomas. In this study, we evaluate the anti-glioma effect of suicide gene therapy using BMSCs expressing HSV–TK combined with overexpression of connexin 43 (Cx43), which can restore the gap junction of intercellular communication and may enhance the bystander effect of suicide gene therapy. To assess the potential of BMSCs to track glioma cells, a spheroid co-culture system in matrigel was used to show that some BMSCs migrated to C6 glioma cell microspheres. Transwell assay showed the tumor tropic property of BMSCs. In addition, BrdU-labeled BMSCs injected directly into the cerebral hemisphere opposite to the established C6 rat gliomas were capable of migrating into the xenograft gliomas. C6 cell growth was more intensively inhibited by HSV–TK/GCV treatment mediated by BMSCs, and could be further enhanced by combination with Cx43 transfection into glioma cells. The same result was observed in vivo by the growth of C6 gliomas and the survival analysis of rats bearing C6 glioma. In conclusion, Cx43 combined with HSV–TK/GCV gene therapy using BMSCs as vehicles was highly effective in a rat glioma model and therefore hold great potential as a novel approach for the gene therapy of human malignant gliomas.