Viral vector transduction of the human deoxycytidine kinase cDNA sensitizes glioma cells to the cytotoxic effects of cytosine arabinoside in vitro and in vivo. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Cytosine arabinoside (ara-C) is a cytidine analog that incorporates into replicating DNA and induces lethal DNA strand breaks. Although ara-C is a potent antitumor agent for hematologic malignancies, it has only minimal activity against most solid tumors. The rate-limiting step in intracellular ara-C activation is phosphorylation of the prodrug by deoxycytidine kinase (dCK). The present results demonstrate that both retroviral and adenoviral vector-mediated transduction of the dCK cDNA results in marked sensitization of glioma cells lines to the cytotoxic effects of ara-C in vitro. We also demonstrate that ara-C treatment of established intradermal and intracerebral gliomas transduced with dCK results in significant antitumor effects in vivo. These data suggest that viral vector transduction of the dCK gene followed by treatment with ara-C represents a new chemosensitization strategy for cancer gene therapy.

publication date

  • May 1, 1996

Research

keywords

  • Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic
  • Brain Neoplasms
  • Cytarabine
  • Deoxycytidine Kinase
  • Gliosarcoma
  • Prodrugs

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 0029924620

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1038/nm0596-567

PubMed ID

  • 8616717

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 2

issue

  • 5