title: The antitumor effect of suicide gene therapy using Bifidobacterium infantis-mediated herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase/ganciclovir in a nude mice model of renal cell carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To confirm the effectivity of Bifidobacterium infantis-mediated herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase/ganciclovir suicide gene system on the treatment of renal cell carcinoma in nude mice and further explore the mechanisms.
  
  
  METHODS
  A B infantis thymidine kinase (B infantis-TK) suicide gene system was constructed in our previous study. Tumor-bearing nude mice were randomized into 4 groups and injected with normal saline, B infantis, B infantis/pGEX-1λT, and B infantis-TK, respectively, via tail vein, followed by intraperitoneal injection of ganciclovir. The treatment effects were evaluated by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxynucleotide triphosphate nick end labeling assay, quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, and Western blotting. Side effects were also recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with the other 3 treatments, the treatment with B infantis-TK resulted in a significant effective antitumor activity and stronger apoptotic response. Western blot analysis showed that the expression levels of Rel A and Bcl-xL were significantly lower, whereas those of caspase 3 and Bax were significantly higher in tumor tissues resected from group B infantis-TK, which were consistent with the quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction results.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The B infantis-TK/ganciclovir therapy system exhibits an effective antitumor activity by promoting tumor cell apoptosis through both the intrinsic and the extrinsic apoptotic pathways.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Ren
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, The Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bei
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China. Electronic address: tangwei2060@163.com.
authors.forename: Tang
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wei
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001644:Bifidobacterium; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D015774:Ganciclovir / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D041722:Genes, Transgenic, Suicide; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008819:Mice, Nude; D018139:Simplexvirus; D013937:Thymidine Kinase / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D013937:Thymidine Kinase; D015774:Ganciclovir