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FasL gene therapy: a new therapeutic modality for head and neck cancer

Cancer Gene Therapy volume 13, pages 739–745 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the in vitro and in vivo efficacy of Fas ligand (FasL) gene therapy for the treatment of head and neck cancer. Three head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cell lines (SCC-1, SCC-12, and SCC-14a) were treated with the Fas agonist CH-11, a monoclonal antibody to the Fas receptor, or with a replication-incompetent adenovirus (AdGFPFasL) expressing a modified murine Fas ligand gene fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP). A replication-incompetent adenovirus containing the GFP gene alone was used as a control for viral transduction toxicity (AdGFP). Cell death was quantified using a tetrazolium-based (MTS) assay. Cells were analyzed by flow cytometry to determine the expression of adenoviral and Fas receptors on the surface of the cells. Our results showed that the head and neck cancer cell lines are resistant to cell death induction when treated with the anti-Fas monoclonal antibody CH-11. This resistance can be overcome with AdGFPFasL, which was able to induce cell death in all three cell lines. Apoptosis induction was demonstrated using Western blotting by evaluating poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, and caspase 9 cleavages. In addition, intratumoral injections of AdGFPFasL into SCC-14a xenografts induced significant growth suppression of tumors, indicating that FasL gene therapy may provide a new efficient therapeutic modality for HNSCC that is worthy of a clinical trial.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Janie Nelson for excellent secretarial assistance and the NIH funded viral vector core for production of AdGFPFasLTET and AdGFP. This research was supported by the NIH/NCI PO1 CA97132, HCC/DOD N6311601MD10004, and 1R24 CA82933.

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Author notes

  1. S ElOjeimy and J C McKillop: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    S ElOjeimy, J C McKillop, A M El-Zawahry, D H Holman, X Liu, D A Schwartz, J-Y Dong & J S Norris

  2. Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    T A Day

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  1. S ElOjeimy
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Correspondence to J S Norris.

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ElOjeimy, S., McKillop, J., El-Zawahry, A. et al. FasL gene therapy: a new therapeutic modality for head and neck cancer. Cancer Gene Ther 13, 739–745 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.cgt.7700951

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