Optimizing prostate cancer suicide gene therapy using herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase active site variants.

An Enterovirus-Like RNA Construct for Colon Cancer Suicide Gene Therapy

Background: In gene therapy, the use of RNA molecules as therapeutic agents has shown advantages over plasmid DNA, including higher levels of safety. However, transient nature of RNA has been a major obstacle in application of RNA in gene therapy. Methods: Here, we used the internal ribosomal entry site of encephalomyocarditis virus and the 3’ non-translated region of Poliovirus to design an en...

Restriction Enzyme Analysis of Thymidine Kinase Gene in Four Iranian Isolates of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1

Phase I study of replication-competent adenovirus-mediated double suicide gene therapy for the treatment of locally recurrent prostate cancer.

Adenovirus-mediated suicide gene therapy may hold promise in the treatment of human cancer. We have developed a novel approach that utilizes a lytic, replication-competent adenovirus (Ad5-CD/TKrep) to deliver a cytosine deaminase/herpes simplex virus-1 thymidine kinase fusion gene to tumors. The cytosine deaminase and herpes simplex virus-1 thymidine kinase suicide genes render malignant cells ...

PCR detection of thymidine kinase gen of latent herpes simplex Virus type 1 in mice trigeminal ganglia

  Herpes simplex virus type 1 establishes a latent infection in the peripheral nervous system following primary infection. During latent infection, virus genome exhibit limited transcription, with the HSV LATs consistently detected in latency infected ganaglia. Following ocular infection viral latency develops in the trigeminal ganglia. In this study PCR has been used for detection of HSV-1 nuc...

The Role of Herpes Simplex Virus-1 Thymidine Kinase Alanine 168 in Substrate Specificity

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV) thymidine kinase (TK) has been widely used in suicide gene therapy for the treatment of cancer due to its broad substrate specificity and the inability of the endogenous human TK to phosphorylate guanosine analogs such as ganciclovir (GCV). The basis of suicide gene therapy is the introduction of a gene that encodes a prodrug-activating enzyme into tumor cells....