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  • Acquired Diseases
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Adenovirus-mediated ribozyme targeting of HER-2/neu inhibits in vivo growth of breast cancer cells

Gene Therapy volume 7, pages 241–248 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

HER-2/neu is overexpressed in 25–30% of human breast cancers. We prepared an anti-HER-2/neu hammerhead ribozyme expressed by a recombinant adenovirus (rAdHER-Rz). Human breast cancer cell lines were transduced with high efficiency, resulting in decreased HER-2/neu expression. In vivo injections of rAdHER-Rz into BT-474 tumors established in nude mice inhibited tumor growth to 20% of mock-treated controls. Similar in vivo effects were shown in MCF-7 cells, which do not overexpress HER-2/neu. The growth inhibitory effects of rAdHER-Rz were greater than those of an antisense-expressing vector. These results suggest the utility of anti-HER-2/neu ribozymes as a rational strategy for gene therapy of breast cancer.

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Acknowledgements

T Suzuki is supported by the grant from Uehara Memorial Foundation for Research of Life Science, Japan. O Engebraaten is supported by the Norwegian Cancer Society, the US–Norway Fulbright Foundation for Educational Exchange, and the Thomas Fearnley, Heddy and Nils Astrup Foundation. M Kashani-Sabet is supported by the Leaders Society Clinical Career Development Award of the Dermatology Foundation. We thank A Harty for preparing the manuscript. D Curiel is supported by NIH grants ROI-CA60245 and ROI-CA74242.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cancer Research Department, Berlex Biosciences, Richmond, CA, USA

    T Suzuki, T Ohkawa, A Irie, O Engebraaten & K J Scanlon

  2. UCSF/Mount Zion Cancer Center, Cancer Genetics Group, San Francisco, CA, USA

    B Anderegg

  3. Department of Experimental Pathology, Berlex Biosciences, Richmond, CA, USA

    M Halks-Miller

  4. Gene Therapy Program, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    P S Holm & D T Curiel

  5. UCSF/Mount Zion Cancer Center,

    M Kashani-Sabet

  6. San Francisco, CA, USA

    M Kashani-Sabet

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Suzuki, T., Anderegg, B., Ohkawa, T. et al. Adenovirus-mediated ribozyme targeting of HER-2/neu inhibits in vivo growth of breast cancer cells. Gene Ther 7, 241–248 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gt.3301065

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