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Cancer gene therapy using a pro-apoptotic gene, caspase-3

Abstract

Caspase-3 is a member of the cysteine protease family, which plays a crucial role in apoptosis. We applied the human caspase-3 gene as a novel form of anticancer gene therapy. Overexpression of human caspase-3 alone could not induce apoptosis of tumor cell lines, but apoptosis was markedly enhanced by the addition of etoposide. In an AH130 liver tumor model, transduction of human caspase- 3, but not the empty vector, induced extensive apoptosis and reduced tumor volume when combined with etoposide administration. However, this effect was not observed with a Bcl-2 overexpressing tumor. In conclusion, caspase-3 gene transduction accompanied by an additional death stimulus may be a useful method of anticancer gene therapy, except for Bcl-2 overexpressing tumors.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a grant for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture of Japan.

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Yamabe, K., Shimizu, S., Ito, T. et al. Cancer gene therapy using a pro-apoptotic gene, caspase-3. Gene Ther 6, 1952–1959 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gt.3301041

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