This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Fukazawa, T. Articles by Owen-Schaub, L. B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Fukazawa, T. Articles by Owen-Schaub, L. B.

Development of a Cancer-Targeted Tissue-Specific Promoter System

¹Departments of Biomedical Sciences and ²Cell Biology and Neuroscience, University of California, Riverside, California

Present cancer gene therapy using proapoptotic genes has had limited success because the therapy is prone to cause side effects as a result of the lack of tissue and cancer specificity. To target cancer cells without damaging normal cells, we have designed a novel dual promoter system in which a tissue-specific transcription system under the control of a cancer-specific promoter drives expression of a therapeutic gene. The applicability of this system was demonstrated by adapting it to target lung cancer. We termed this lung cancer system TTS (TTF1 gene under the control of human telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter and human surfactant protein A1 promoter). The TTS system showed much higher promoter activity in lung cancer cells compared with other kinds of cancer and normal lung cells, including stem cells. Moreover, insertion of negative glucocorticoid responsive elements in the system allows it to be drug controllable. The approaches that we have used could be adapted to target other types of cancer. We report a novel cancer-targeted tissue-specific dual promoter system designed for gene therapy.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. L. Arendt, L. Nasir, and I. M. Morgan A novel two-step transcriptional activation system for gene therapy directed toward epithelial cells Mol. Cancer Ther., December 1, 2009; 8(12): 3244 - 3254. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Fukazawa, Y. Maeda, M. L. Durbin, T. Nakai, J. Matsuoka, H. Tanaka, Y. Naomoto, and N. Tanaka Pulmonary adenocarcinoma-targeted gene therapy by a cancer- and tissue-specific promoter system Mol. Cancer Ther., January 1, 2007; 6(1): 244 - 252. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. Maeda, T. C. Hunter, D. E. Loudy, V. Dave, V. Schreiber, and J. A. Whitsett PARP-2 Interacts with TTF-1 and Regulates Expression of Surfactant Protein-B J. Biol. Chem., April 7, 2006; 281(14): 9600 - 9606. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. T. Cheung, S. Y. Wong, K. L. Leung, X. Chen, S. So, I. O. Ng, and S. T. Fan Granulin-Epithelin Precursor Overexpression Promotes Growth and Invasion of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Clin. Cancer Res., November 15, 2004; 10(22): 7629 - 7636. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]