Liposomal plasmid DNA encoding human thymosin alpha and interferon omega potently inhibits liver tumor growth in ICR mice - DNA

Liposomal plasmid DNA encoding human thymosin alpha and interferon omega potently inhibits liver tumor growth in ICR mice
2006 Oct
Chen PF, Fu GF, Zhang HY, Xu GX, Hou YY.
J Gastroenterol Hepatol.
Aim: To evaluate the potential therapeutic effect of liposomal gene delivery, genes encoding for human thymosin alpha1 (Talpha(1)) and interferon omega(1) were injected via the tail vein into mice bearing a Hep-A-22 liver tumor. The cDNA of human Talpha(1) and interferon omega(1) were obtained by synthesis or reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively. Eukaryotic expressing vectors pIRES2, encoding Talpha(1) and/or interferon omega(1), were constructed and injected with liposome via the tail vein into ICR mice bearing a Hep-A-22 tumor. The potency of tumor inhibition was evaluated when three treated groups were compared with the group receiving the empty vector. Apoptosis of tumor cells was investigated by analyzing DNA fragmentation. Only the group treated with dual-gene plasmid reached an eligible level of tumor inhibition (43%). The difference in tumor weight was statistically significant between the Talpha(1) gene or the interferon omega(1) gene treated groups and the control (P < 0.05), and highly significant between the dual-gene treated group and the control (P < 0.01). DNA ladder was observed in the tumor cells from the purpose gene treated groups but not from the control. The dual-gene plasmid-liposome complex showed more potent inhibition than the single gene constructs on the growth of Hep-A-22 tumor cells in mice, which may be attributed to indirect and additive induction of apoptosis in tumor cells by increased expression of Talpha(1) and interferon omega(1).
PMID: 16928214 [PubMed - in process]