Combined Cytosine Deaminase Expression, 5-Fluorocytosine Exposure, and Radiotherapy Increases Cytotoxicity to Cholangiocarcinoma Cells

Lee C. Pederson, Selwyn M. Vickers, Donald J. Buchsbaum, Sreekanth R. Kancharla, Matthew S. Mayo, David T. Curiel, Murray A. Stackhouse

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cholangiocarcinoma is a malignancy that is resistant to current therapy. We applied the toxin gene therapy strategy of cytosine deaminase conversion of the nontoxic prodrug 5-fluorocytosine to 5-fluorouracil combined with radiotherapy to cholangiocarcinoma. The transduction efficiency of SK-ChA-1 cholangiocarcinoma cells was determined by fluorescence-activated cell-sorting analysis following infection with recombinant adenovirus AdCMVLacZ, which encodes the gene for β-galactosidase. To evaluate cytosine deaminase-mediated conversion of 5-fluorocytosine to 5-fluorouracil and subsequent cytotoxicity, SK-ChA-1 cells were infected with the recombinant adenovirus AdCMVCD, which encodes cytosine deaminase, and exposed to 5-fluorocytosine for 6 to 8 days. Additive cytotoxicity of radiation therapy was evaluated by cobalt-60 exposure following AdCMVCD infection and 5-fluorocytosine treatment. SK-ChA-1 cells were transduced (98.4%) by AdCMVLacZ at 100 plaque-forming units per cell. Following infection with AdCMVCD and exposure to 5 to 100 μg/ml of 5-fluorocytosine, 20% to 64% of SK-ChA-1 cells were killed. A combination of radiation and cytosine deaminase/5-fluorocytosine therapy resulted in enhanced cell killing (83.5% to 91.5%). Cholangiocarcinoma cells were transduced by recombinant adenoviral vectors and were killed by cytosine deaminase-mediated production of 5-fluorouracil. Enhanced cytotoxicity was seen with the addition of external beam radiation. These results provide a foundation for multimodality therapy for human cholangiocarcinoma that combines gene therapy technology with radiation therapy.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)283-291
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Gastrointestinal Surgery
Volume2
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 1998

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