Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma–Targeted CREBBP/EP300 Inhibitory Protein 1 Promoter System for Gene Therapy and Virotherapy
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Research Article Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma–Targeted CREBBP/EP300 Inhibitory Protein 1 Promoter System for Gene Therapy and Virotherapy Takuya Fukazawa,1 Junji Matsuoka,1 Yoshio Naomoto,1 Yutaka Maeda,2 Mary L. Durbin,3 and Noriaki Tanaka1 1Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan; 2Division of Pulmonary Biology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio; and 3Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, California Abstract lioma has proven curative (6, 7). Moreover, the diffuse nature of Gene therapy and virotherapy are one of the approaches used pleural mesothelioma, which often covers most of the lung and the to treat malignant pleural mesothelioma. To improve the interlobular fissures, is the principal limitation to radiotherapy (8). efficiency of targeting malignant mesothelioma cells, we Long-term survival (>5 years) with any treatment modality is designed a novel system using the promoter of the CREBBP/ exceedingly rare in malignant pleural mesothelioma. Thus, there is EP300 inhibitory protein 1 (CRI1), a gene specifically expressed an urgent need for new therapeutic options for mesothelioma. in malignant pleural mesothelioma. Four tandem repeats of The first human gene therapy trial approved in the United States À the CRI1promoter (CRI1 138 4x) caused significantly high as a primary cancer treatment was aimed at mesothelioma. At least promoter activity in malignant pleural mesothelioma cells but four gene therapy trials have been carried out in mesothelioma patients using different vector systems (adenovirus and vaccinia little promoter activity in normal mesothelial cells and virus) and transgenes [herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV- normal fibroblasts. The recombinant adenoviral vector h expressing proapoptotic BH3-interacting death agonist or tk) combined with ganciclovir, interleukin-2, and IFN- ;ref.9]. À early region 1A driven by the CRI1 138 4x promoter induced However, no significant clinical responses were observed, indicat- cell death in malignant mesothelioma cells but not in normal ing that improvements are critically needed in gene therapy cells. Moreover, these viruses showed antitumor effects in a approaches for the treatment of mesothelioma (10). mesothelioma xenograft mouse model. Here, we describe a Another attractive method to treat malignant pleural mesothe- novel strategy to target malignant mesothelioma using the lioma is to induce apoptosis by the introduction of proapoptotic À138 4x genes (11, 12) or cell lysis by the replicative oncolytic adenovirus CRI1 promoter system. [Cancer Res 2008;68(17):7120–9] (13). To use these approaches, the development of a specific promoter system targeting mesothelioma but not normal cells is Introduction essential considering the side effects of proapoptotic genes and the Malignant pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive tumor of replicating adenovirus. To design a system for specific gene therapy mesenchymal origin and is increasing worldwide as a result of and virotherapy to treat malignant mesothelioma, we evaluated the widespread exposure to asbestos that was widely used in specificity of the promoters of four different mesothelioma-specific industrialized countries until approximately 1970. There is genes: calretinin (14), Wilms’ tumor suppressor gene (WT1; ref. 15), substantial interest in this disease because millions of people have mesothelin (16), and CREBBP/EP300 inhibitory protein 1 (CRI1; been exposed to asbestos fibers, and there are more than 3,000 ref. 17). Transient transfection assay showed that the CRI1 cases of mesothelioma seen annually in the United States (1). The promoter is highly active in malignant pleural mesothelioma cells median survival of patients with mesothelioma from time of (H2452, MSTO-211H, H2052, and H28) but much less active in diagnosis ranges between 1 and 2years (2,3). The mortality is normal mesothelial cells and pleural cells. However, the other three expected to increase, at least until 2020, which is mainly due to the promoters of mesothelioma-specific genes (calretinin, WT1, and long latency (30–50 years) of the disease (4). mesothelin) showed high promoter activity not only in the Despite considerable advances in the understanding of its mesothelioma cells but also in normal cells. pathogenesis and etiology, malignant mesothelioma remains In the present study, we have assessed the capability of largely unresponsive to standard modalities of cancer therapy (5). adenovirus-mediated transgene expression induced by the CRI1 In some cases, extrapleural pneumonectomy can prolong the promoter specifically in mesothelioma cells in vitro and the median survival time of more than 2years; however, this approach feasibility of targeting malignant mesothelioma in both in vitro cell is suitable for only a few patients. Most surgical intervention is culture and in vivo in a mesothelioma xenograft mouse model. often impossible because of intrapleural spread. Although chemo- therapy can ameliorate the symptoms of the disease, including pain and breathlessness with pleural effusion, no regimen for mesothe- Materials and Methods Tissues and cell lines. The human malignant mesothelioma cells H2452, MSTO-211H, H2052, and H28, the human lung adenocarcinoma cells H322 and A549, and the human breast cancer cells MCF7 were obtained from the Note: Supplementary data for this article are available at Cancer Research Online (http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/). American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) and grown in Ham’s F12(A549 Requests for reprints: Takuya Fukazawa, Department of Gastroenterological cells), RPMI 1640 (H2452, MSTO-211H, H2052, H28, and H322 cells), or Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and DMEM high glucose (MCF7) supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated fetal Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Okayama 700-8558, Japan. Phone: 81-86- bovine serum (FBS). Normal pleural rat cells 4/4 R.M.-4 obtained from 235-7257; Fax: 81-86-221-8775; E-mail: [email protected]. I2008 American Association for Cancer Research. ATCC were grown in Ham’s F12K supplemented with 15% heat-inactivated doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-08-0047 FBS. The human hepatoblastoma cells Hep3B obtained from ATCC were Cancer Res 2008; 68: (17). September 1, 2008 7120 www.aacrjournals.org Downloaded from cancerres.aacrjournals.org on September 24, 2021. © 2008 American Association for Cancer Research. CRI1 for Gene Therapy and Virotherapy À À À grown in Eagle’ MEM supplemented with 1 mmol/L sodium pyruvate, 0.1% Ad-CRI1 2586/GFP, Ad-CRI1 138 4x/GFP, Ad-CRI1 138 4x/HA-BID, and Ad- À nonessential amino acids, and 10% heat-inactivated FBS. The normal CRI1 138 4x/E1A were generated by homologous recombination (18, 19). human lung fibroblasts (NHLF) obtained from Clonetics and the normal The viral titer for each vector was determined by plaque assay and the human mesothelial cells obtained from Dominion Pharmakine were grown optimal multiplicity of infection (MOI) was determined by infecting each in culture medium supplied by the manufacturer. All cell lines were cultured cell line with Ad-CMV/GFP and assessing the expression of GFP by flow j in 10% CO2 at 37 C. Additionally, normal human pleura specimens were cytometric analysis. H2452 cells were infected with the recombinant obtained from a consenting patient undergoing treatment for diseases other adenoviral vectors at a MOI of 50 plaque-forming units (pfu)/cell, and all than mesothelioma (84-y-old male). The lysates of normal human lung other human cells were infected at a MOI of 20 pfu/cell. For infection of the protein were obtained from Chemicon International. conditionally replicating adenovirus (CRAd), H2452 cells were infected with À Plasmids. The human CRI1, calretinin, WT1, and mesothelin promoters Ad-CRI1 138 4x/E1A at a MOI of 10 pfu/cell, and all other human cells were À were obtained from purified human genomic DNA (Clontech) by PCR. The infected at a MOI of 4 pfu/cell. Ad-CRI1 138 4x/GFP was used as control. The position of the transcription initiation site (+1) was determined by the human CRI1 short hairpin RNA (shRNA) lentiviral transfer vector for human Ensembl Human Genome browser.4 The luciferase reporter construct CRI1 gene was obtained from Sigma (MISSION shRNA Bacterial Glycerol À pGL.Calretinin 2179 was generated by subcloning the promoter region of Stock). The transformed human embryonic kidney 293T cells (1 Â 106) were calretinin À2179/+70 from the genomic DNA using PCR primers (5¶- plated in a 10-cm dish and cotransfected the following day with 26 AL of the tttggtaccKpnIaatacttttacacaaagcgtggcctg and 5¶-aaaHindIIIaagcttgagctggtgc- Lentivirus Packaging Mix (Sigma) and the shRNA transfer vector (2.6 Ag) by cgaccaccacacccgggagccggcgg). The PCR-generated fragment was digested lipofection. Twenty-four and 48 h later, viral supernatants were collected in with KpnI and HindIII and subcloned directly into the pGL3-Basic luciferase serum-free medium and filtered through 0.45-Am pore size filters. The À À reporter construct (Promega). pGL.WT1 1887, pGL.Mesothelin 2310, and nontarget shRNA lentiviral (Sigma) vector was used as a control. The viral À pGL.CRI1 2586 were constructed in the same manner using the following titer was measured by HIV p24 Antigen ELISA kit (ZeptMetrix; refs. 20–22). primers: mesothelin, 5¶-tttctcgagggggtcaggcttgtgctcccgggagtcctg and 5¶- Cells were infected with the recombinant