title: Tumor suppression after tumor cell-targeted tumor necrosis factor alpha gene transfer.
abstract: The tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) gene was introduced by retroviral gene transfer into the TNF-alpha-insensitive tumor cell line J558L. Production of 40 pg/ml TNF-alpha by clone J2T12 consistently did not change the growth rate in vitro, but drastically suppressed tumor growth when injected into syngeneic BALB/c mice. Within 2 wk, 90% of the mice inoculated with J558L cells developed a tumor, but none of the mice injected with J2T12 did so. Within the observation period (greater than 3 mo), 60% of the mice inoculated with J2T12 did not develop a tumor. In the other 40% of the mice, tumor manifestation was significantly delayed. Mice injected simultaneously with J2T12 cells and an anti-TNF-alpha monoclonal antibody developed tumors similar to parental J558L cells. Similarly, the tumor-suppressive effects of TNF-alpha were abolished, e.g., by injection of an anti-type 3 complement receptor (CR3) monoclonal antibody that is known to prevent migration of inflammatory cells. These results and the observation of tumor-infiltrating macrophages suggest that lack of tumorigenicity of J2T12 cells is due to the TNF-alpha secretion by the tumor cells and that TNF-alpha acts indirectly by a mechanism that involves chemotactic recruitment and activation of cells, predominantly of macrophages. In contrast, the tumor growth was not affected when, instead of TNF-alpha, interleukin 6 was expressed by J558L cells. Together, our results support the concept of tumor cell-targeted cytokine gene transfer as a tool for cancer treatment, and particularly demonstrate that extremely low doses of TNF-alpha produced by tumor cells are sufficient to inhibit tumor growth without detectable side effects.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Immunologie, Universitätsklinikum Steglitz, Freie Universität Berlin, FRG.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Blankenstein
authors.forename: Z H
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uberla
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rosen
authors.forename: H D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Volk
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Diamantstein
mesh_terms: D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000502:physiology; D016147:Genes, Tumor Suppressor / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D016177:Macrophage-1 Antigen / Q000276:immunology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D010641:Phenotype; D010954:Plasmacytoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics; D014162:Transfection / Q000235:genetics*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D015850:Interleukin-6; D016177:Macrophage-1 Antigen; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase