Tumor-specific, hypoxia-regulated, WW domain-containing oxidoreductase-expressing adenovirus inhibits human non-small cell lung cancer growth in vivo

Hum Gene Ther. 2010 Jan;21(1):27-39. doi: 10.1089/hum.2009.021.

Abstract

An elevated level of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is common in solid tumors and correlates with poor prognosis. Therefore, targeting of HIF-1 presents an appealing approach for cancer therapy. In this study, we developed an adenoviral vector carrying a fusion of human WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (hWWOX) and the HIF-1alpha oxygen-dependent degradation domain (ODD) under the control of a synthetic human recombinant telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter (hrTRTP). Luciferase reporter assay showed elevated promoter activity of the synthetic hrTRTP in tested tumor cell lines, but not in WI-38, a nontransformed cell line. Furthermore, adenoviral hrTRTP-hWWOX-Linker-ODD (Ad-TWLH) expression induced apoptosis in a variety of human cancer cell lines under hypoxic conditions dose dependently. Importantly, Ad-TWLH injection into xenografts of A549 tumor cells dramatically reduced tumor size in vivo. Western blot and immunohistochemistry assays also confirmed that hWWOX-Linker-ODD fusion protein was expressed in the A549 xenografts. And the protein level in center part was much higher than that of the circumjacent area. In conclusion, our dual-regulated adenovirus specifically induced apoptosis in human cancer cell lines under hypoxic conditions in vitro and repressed ectopic xenograft tumor growth in vivo, thus providing a novel strategy for hypoxia-targeted cancer gene therapy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adenoviridae / genetics*
  • Animals
  • Apoptosis
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / genetics
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / metabolism
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / pathology*
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / therapy*
  • Cell Hypoxia
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
  • Genes, Reporter
  • Genetic Therapy / methods*
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Lung Neoplasms / therapy*
  • Mice
  • Organ Specificity / genetics
  • Oxidoreductases / genetics
  • Oxidoreductases / metabolism*
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic / genetics
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / genetics
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / metabolism
  • Telomerase / genetics
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins / genetics
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins / metabolism*
  • WW Domain-Containing Oxidoreductase
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Substances

  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins
  • Oxidoreductases
  • WW Domain-Containing Oxidoreductase
  • WWOX protein, human
  • Telomerase