title: In vivo inhibition by a site-specific catalytic RNA subunit of RNase P designed against the BCR-ABL oncogenic products: a novel approach for cancer treatment.
abstract: One major obstacle to the effective treatment of cancer is to distinguish between tumor cells and normal cells. The chimeric molecules created by cancer-associated chromosomal abnormalities are ideal therapeutic targets because they are unique to the disease. We describe the use of a novel approach based on the catalytic RNA subunit of RNase P to destroy specifically the tumor-specific fusion genes created as a result of chromosome abnormalities. Using as a target model the abnormal BCR-ABL p190 and p210 products, we constructed M1-RNA with guide sequences that recognized the oncogenic messengers at the fusion point (M1-p190-GS and M1-p210-GS). To test the effectiveness and the specificity of M1-p190-GS and M1-p210-GS, we studied in vitro and in vivo effects of these RNA enzymes against BCR-ABL(p190) and BCR-ABL(p210), bearing in mind that both fusion genes share the ABL sequence but differ in the sequence coming from the BCR gene. We showed that M1-p190-GS and M1-p210-GS can act as sequence-specific endonucleases and can exclusively cleave target RNA that forms a base pair with the guide sequence (GS). We also demonstrated that when M1-p190-GS and M1-p210-GS were expressed in proper mammalian cell models, they abolished the effect of BCR-ABL by specifically decreasing the amount of the target BCR-ABL mRNA and preventing the function of the BCR-ABL oncogenes. These data clearly demonstrate the usefulness of the catalytic activity of M1-GS RNA to cleave specifically the chimeric molecules created by chromosomal abnormalities in human cancer and to represent a novel approach to cancer treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Growth and Differentiation, Institute of Microbiology and Biochemistry, CSIC/University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cobaleda
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sánchez-García
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001483:Base Sequence; D015195:Drug Design; D004722:Endoribonucleases / Q000737:chemistry*; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000235:genetics; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects*; D016313:Genes, abl; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D009857:Oncogenes; D016337:RNA, Catalytic / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000096:biosynthesis; D043262:Ribonuclease P; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D014162:Transfection; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D016337:RNA, Catalytic; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl; D004722:Endoribonucleases; C468368:RPP14 protein, human; D043262:Ribonuclease P