Aerosol delivery of urocanic acid-modified chitosan/programmed cell death 4 complex regulated apoptosis, cell cycle, and angiogenesis in lungs of K-ras null mice.
The low efficiency of conventional therapies in achieving long-term survival of patients with lung cancer calls for development of novel treatment options. Although several genes have been investigated for their antitumor activities through gene delivery, problems surrounding the methods used, such as efficiency, specificity, and toxicity, hinder application of such therapies in clinical settings. Aerosol gene delivery as nonviral and noninvasive method for gene therapy may provide an alternative for a safer and more effective treatment for lung cancer. In this study, imidazole ring-containing urocanic acid-modified chitosan (UAC) designed in previous study was used as a gene carrier. The efficiency of UAC carrier in lungs was confirmed, and the potential effects of the programmed cell death protein 4 (PDCD4) tumor suppressor gene on three major pathways (apoptosis, cell cycle, and angiogenesis) were evaluated. Aerosol containing UAC/PDCD4 complexes was delivered into K-ras null lung cancer model mice through the nose-only inhalation system developed by our group. Delivered UAC/PDCD4 complex facilitated apoptosis, inhibited pathways important for cell proliferation, and efficiently suppressed pathways important for tumor angiogenesis. In summary, results obtained by Western blot analysis, immunohistochemistry, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated nick end labeling assay suggest that our aerosol gene delivery technique is compatible with in vivo gene delivery and can be applied as a noninvasive gene therapy.
Jin
Hua
H
Laboratory of Toxicology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea.
Kim
Tae Hee
TH
Hwang
Soon-Kyung
SK
Chang
Seung-Hee
SH
Kim
Hyun Woo
HW
Anderson
Hanjo K
HK
Lee
Han-Woong
HW
Lee
Kee-Ho
KH
Colburn
Nancy H
NH
Yang
Hsin-Sheng
HS
Cho
Myung-Haing
MH
Cho
Chong Su
CS
D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000336:Aerosols; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D048271:Chitosan / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011905:Genes, ras; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014560:Urocanic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage*
D000336:Aerosols; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; C114487:PDCD4 protein, human; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D048271:Chitosan; D014560:Urocanic Acid