摘要
We attempted to improve the activity of hTERT promoter by fusing the vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF） enhancer. To determine the potential as cancer specific promoters, we measured the reporter gene transfection assay driven by the hTERT promoter and the VEGF enhancer in human cancer cells. We found that the hTERT promoter containing VEGF enhancer conferred strong expression of the reporter gene only in different cancer cell lines but not in normal human cells. Retrovirus vector expressing HSV-TK controlled by the hTERT promoter and the VEGF enhancer was constructed. A549 cells infected with LN-enh-hT-TK was significantly suppressed and induced to apoptosis more than those infected with LN-hT-TK. The apoptosis ratio ofA549 cell infected with two kinds of retrovirus cell with GCV in lower concentration is 20.94% and 50.7%. It suggested that there is significant differentiation between the assay groups. Our results demonstrated the possible application of hTERT promoter and the VEGF enhancer in targeted cancer gene therapy.
