The Anti-Tumor Effects of Adipose Tissue Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transduced with HSV-Tk Gene on U-87-Driven Brain Tumor

PLoS One. 2015 Jun 12;10(6):e0128922. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0128922. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Glioblastoma (GBM) is an infiltrative tumor that is difficult to eradicate. Treating GBM with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that have been modified with the HSV-Tk suicide gene has brought significant advances mainly because MSCs are chemoattracted to GBM and kill tumor cells via a bystander effect. To use this strategy, abundantly present adipose-tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs) were evaluated for the treatment of GBM in mice. AT-MSCs were prepared using a mechanical protocol to avoid contamination with animal protein and transduced with HSV-Tk via a lentiviral vector. The U-87 glioblastoma cells cultured with AT-MSC-HSV-Tk died in the presence of 25 or 50 μM ganciclovir (GCV). U-87 glioblastoma cells injected into the brains of nude mice generated tumors larger than 3.5 mm2 after 4 weeks, but the injection of AT-MSC-HSV-Tk cells one week after the U-87 injection, combined with GCV treatment, drastically reduced tumors to smaller than 0.5 mm2. Immunohistochemical analysis of the tumors showed the presence of AT-MSC-HSV-Tk cells only within the tumor and its vicinity, but not in other areas of the brain, showing chemoattraction between them. The abundance of AT-MSCs and the easier to obtain them mechanically are strong advantages when compared to using MSCs from other tissues.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adipose Tissue / metabolism*
  • Adipose Tissue / pathology
  • Animals
  • Bystander Effect / drug effects
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Female
  • Ganciclovir / pharmacology
  • Glioblastoma / metabolism*
  • Glioblastoma / pathology
  • Glioblastoma / therapy
  • Humans
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / enzymology*
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / pathology
  • Mice
  • Mice, Nude
  • Simplexvirus / enzymology
  • Simplexvirus / genetics*
  • Thymidine Kinase / biosynthesis*
  • Thymidine Kinase / genetics
  • Transduction, Genetic*
  • Viral Proteins / biosynthesis*
  • Viral Proteins / genetics

Substances

  • Viral Proteins
  • Thymidine Kinase
  • Ganciclovir

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the Fundação de ampara a pesquisa do estado de São Paulo (FAPESP): 2012/21861-1. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.