Abstract Purpose: Therapeutic monoclonal antibody is increasingly applied in many clinical applications, although complicated technologies and high cost still limit their wide applications. To obtain the sustained serum antibody concentration with one single injection and lower the cost of antibody protein therapy, an adenovirus-mediated full-length antibody gene therapy was developed. Experimental Design: Full-length antibody light-chain and heavy-chain sequences were linked with internal ribosome entry site and constructed into adenoviral vector under the control of cytomegalovirus promoter. Antibody expression in vitro and in vivo were tested with ELISA, and its antitumor efficacy was evaluated in SKOV-3-inoculated nude mice. Results: Ad5-TAb–generated anti-HER-2 antibody presented the similar binding specificity with commercial trastuzumab. A single i.v. injection of 2 × 109 plaque-forming units of Ad5-TAb per mouse resulted in not only a sustained over 40 μg/mL serum antibody level for at least 4 weeks but also significant tumor elimination in the ovarian cancer SKOV-3-inoculated nude mice. Conclusions: An in vivo full-length antibody gene delivery system allows continuous production of a full-length antibody at high concentration after a single administration. Bioactive antibody macromolecules can be generated via gene transfer in vivo. All the data suggest that this novel adenovirus-mediated antibody gene delivery can be used for the exploitation of antibodies, without being hampered by the sophisticated antibody manufacture techniques and high cost, and, furthermore, can shorten the duration and reduce the expense of antibody developments.
Supplementary Figure S1 from Array-Based Comparative Genomic Hybridization Analysis Identified Cyclin D1 as a Target Oncogene at 11q13.3 in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
Chronic fatigue is common in the general population. Complementary therapies are often used by patients with chronic fatigue or chronic fatigue syndrome to manage their symptoms. This study aimed to assess the effect of a 4-month qigong intervention program among patients with chronic fatigue or chronic fatigue syndrome. Sixty-four participants were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a wait list control group. Outcome measures included fatigue symptoms, physical functioning, mental functioning, and telomerase activity. Fatigue symptoms and mental functioning were significantly improved in the qigong group compared to controls. Telomerase activity increased in the qigong group from 0.102 to 0.178 arbitrary units (p < 0.05). The change was statistically significant when compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Qigong exercise may be used as an alternative and complementary therapy or rehabilitative program for chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome.
<div>Abstract<p>Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is highly prevalent in Southern China and Southeast Asia. To unveil the molecular basis of this endemic disease, high-resolution comparative genomic hybridization arrays were used for systematic investigation of genomic abnormalities in 26 nasopharyngeal carcinoma samples. A comprehensive picture of genetic lesions associated with tumorigenesis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma was generated. Consistent chromosomal gains were frequently found on 1q, 3q, 8q, 11q, 12p, and 12q. High incidences of nonrandom losses were identified on chromosomes 3p, 9p, 11q, 14q, and 16q. In addition to previously characterized regions, we have identified several novel minimal regions of gains, including 3q27.3-28, 8q21-24, 11q13.1-13.3, and 12q13, which may harbor candidate nasopharyngeal carcinoma–associated oncogenes. In this study, gain of 11q13.1-13.3 was the most frequently detected chromosomal aberration and a 5.3-Mb amplicon was delineated at this region. Within this 11q13 amplicon, concordant amplification and overexpression of <i>cyclin D1</i> (<i>CCND1</i>) oncogene was found in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines, xenografts, and primary tumors. Knockdown of cyclin D1 by small interfering RNA in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines led to significant decrease of cell proliferation. The findings suggest that <i>cyclin D1</i> is a target oncogene at 11q13 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and its activation plays a significant role in nasopharyngeal carcinoma tumorigenesis.</p></div>
Abstract Gene-viral therapy, which uses replication-selective transgene-expressing viruses to manage tumors, can exploit the virtues of gene therapy and virotherapy and overcome the limitations of conventional gene therapy. Using a human telomerase reverse transcriptase-targeted replicative adenovirus as an antiangiogenic gene transfer vector to target new angiogenesis and making use of its unrestrained proliferation are completely new concepts in tumor management. CNHK300-mE is a selective replication transgene-expressing adenovirus constructed to carry mouse endostatin gene therapeutically. Infection with CNHK300-mE was associated with selective replication of the adenovirus and production of mouse endostatin in telomerase-positive cancer cells. Endostatin secreted from a human gastric cell line, SGC-7901, infected with CNHK300-mE was significantly higher than that infected with nonreplicative adenovirus Ad-mE in vitro (800 ± 94.7 ng/ml versus 132.9 ± 9.9 ng/ml) and in vivo (610 ± 42 ng/ml versus 126 ± 13 ng/ml). Embryonic chorioallantoic membrane assay showed that the mouse endostatin secreted by CNHK300-mE inhibited angiogenesis efficiently and also induced distortion of pre-existing vasculature. CNHK300-mE exhibited a superior suppression of xenografts in nude mice compared with CNHK300 and Ad-mE. In summary, we provided a more efficient gene-viral therapy strategy by combining oncolysis with antiangiogenesis.
Over a period of 16 months, a total of 175 patients with newly diagnosed nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) were evaluated with plain radiography and computed tomography (CT) of nasopharynx and base of skull. 54 of 175 patients (30.9%) had CT evidence of skull base erosion. Plain radiography failed to demonstrate the skull base erosion in 22 of 54 patients (40.7%) and underestimated the extent of bony involvement in another 21 patients (38.9%). In 14 of 54 patients (25.9%), there was also false suspicion of bony erosion in the plain films in one or more regions of the skull base which was not substantiated by CT and subsequent clinical course. The present study shows that plain radiography lacks sensitivity and specificity in detecting skull base erosion by NPC. CT evaluation of NPC patients should include thin CT sections of base of skull for detection of subtle bone erosion, and this would allow better decision concerning the shielding of the pituitary-hypothalamic axis during radiotherapy for improvement in therapeutic ratio. For the investigation of individuals highly suspicious of harboring NPC, even when the plain radiography is negative, CT should still be performed as this may give the only clue to the presence of a small submucosally spreading NPC.