Objective： Intratumoral administration of adenoviral vector encoding herpes simplex virus （HSV） thymidine kinase （TK） gene （Ad-TK） followed by systemic ganciclovir （GCV） is an effective approach in treating experimental hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC）. However, hepatotoxicity due to unwanted vector spread and suicide gene expression limited the application of this therapy, miR-122 is an abundant, liver-specific microRNA whose expression is decreased in human primary HCC and HCC-derived cell lines. These different expression profiles provide an opportunity to induce tumor-specific gene expression by miR-122 regulation. Methods： By inserting miR-122 target sequences （miR-122T） in the 3＇ untranslated region （UTR） ofTK gene, we constructed adenovirus （Ad） vectors expressing miR-122-regulated TK （Ad-TK-122T） and report genes. After intratumoral administration of Ad vectors into an orthotopic miR-122-deficient HCC mouse model, we observed the miR-122-regulated transgene expression and assessed the antitumor activity and safety of Ad-TK-122T. Results： Insertion of miR-122T specifically down-regulated transgene expression in vitro and selectively protected the miR-122-positive cells from killing by TK/GCV treatment. Insertion of miR-122T led to significant reduction of tansgene expression in the liver without inhibition of its expression in tumors in vivo, resulting in an 11-fold improvement of tumor-specific transgene expression. Intratumoral injection of Ad vectors mediated TK/GCV system led to a vector dosage-dependent regression of tumor. The insertion of miR-122T does not influence the antitumor effects of suicide gene therapy. Whereas mice administrated with Ad-TK showed severe lethal hepatotoxicity at the effective therapeutic dose, no liver damage was found in Ad-TK-122T group. Conclusions： miR-122-regulated TK expression achieved effective anti-tumor effects and increased the safety of intratumoral delivery of adenovirus-mediated TK/GCV gene therapy for miR-122-defici
Gang WangXiaoyan DongWenhong TianYue LuJianyan HuYunfan LiuJie YuchiXiaobing Wu
用我们建立的活细胞miRNA活性谱检测技术测定BHK21、HEK293和Vero三种肾来源细胞系中58种miRNA活性谱,发现miR-206在BHK21细胞中具有特征性高活性。鉴于miR-206是典型的横纹肌特征性miRNA,进一步以小鼠成肌细胞C2C12及人胚肾细胞HEK293为对照,检测了BHK21细胞中miR-206的活性及表达水平。之后,用马血清诱导培养BHK21细胞,检测诱导前后BHK21细胞中骨骼肌肌球蛋白重链(Slowskeletal myosin heavy chain,MHC)表达情况,miR-206活性和表达水平以及受miR-206负调控的Connexin43(Cx43)的表达水平。结果发现,miR-206在BHK21细胞中活性和表达水平都明显高于C2C12细胞;马血清诱导后,BHK21细胞中MHC表达水平升高,miR-206活性和表达水平都升高,而Cx43表达水平下降。结果提示BHK21细胞具有成肌细胞特性。本研究首次发现BHK21细胞中miR-206的高活性,从miRNA角度证实了BHK21细胞来源于肾间质细胞,而不是肾实质细胞。研究结果还提示BHK21细胞有可能作为一种体外模型用于miR-206的功能研究。
