title: Engineered embryonic endothelial progenitor cells as therapeutic Trojan horses.
abstract: While the hematogenic contribution of circulating endothelial cells to tumor angiogenesis is not entirely understood, one can exploit this phenomenon as a therapeutic strategy. In this issue of Cancer Cell, show that murine embryonic endothelial progenitor cells preferentially home to sites of lung metastases, evade immunological rejection, and can exert a bystander antitumor effect when modified to contain a suicide gene construct that activates a prodrug. Treatment with the prodrug led to improved survival in syngeneic and nonsyngeneic tumor-bearing mouse models. The conceptual advance put forward by this study might result in translational applications.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Wadih
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Arap
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pasqualini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000196:embryology*; D018390:Gene Targeting; D041722:Genes, Transgenic, Suicide; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D000860:Hypoxia; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy*; D051379:Mice; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000517:prevention & control; D011355:Prodrugs / Q000378:metabolism; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D011355:Prodrugs