Gene therapeutic approach to primary and metastatic brain tumors: I. CD44 variant pre-RNA alternative splicing as a CEPT control element.

Our laboratory and others have shown alternative splicing of up to ten exons at a discrete extracellular site to be primarily responsible for the generation of CD44 variant (CD44v) isoforms. Based on clear differences in the expression of these CD44v isoforms between normal and malignant tissues, we believe that elucidation of the mechanisms underlying the regulation of CD44 alternative splicing may provide a new gene therapeutic targeting approach based on CD44 pre-mRNA processing in vivo. This strategy incorporates utilization of CD44 alternative splicing control elements into a chimeric enzyme/prodrug therapy (CEPT), a novel modification of the virus-directed enzyme/prodrug therapy (VDEPT) approach for the treatment of brain metastases from tumors of systemic origin. As initial steps towards the development of a gene therapeutic approach based on targeting tumor cell expression of specific CD44v alternatively spliced isoforms, we have: (1) developed a novel in vivo assay system that allows the rapid analyses of potentially therapeutic CD44 alternative splicing minigene constructs; and (2) cloned the E. coli cytosine deaminase (CD) gene and fused its enzymatically active domain to alternatively spliced CD44 exons (CD44/CD). Deamination of cytosine by this CD44/CD chimeric fusion protein is demonstrated in E. coli cell lysates to be equal to that of wild type cytosine deaminase.

Gene therapeutic approaches to primary and metastatic brain tumors: II. ribozyme-mediated suppression of CD44 expression.

Glioblastomas are highly invasive intracerebral tumors that are known to express the CD44 cell adhesion molecule. Human glioma cell adhesion and invasion in vitro may in part be mediated by the interaction of CD44 with extracellular matrix proteins. To suppress the growth and invasive effects of CD44 expression on primary brain tumors we have designed two hammerhead ribozymes as potential gene therapeutic agents. Both ribozymes designed to target exon 2 of CD44 exhibited in vitro cleavage of in vitro transcribed CD44s and CD44R1 RNAs. The anti-CD44 effect of these ribozymes results from directed RNA cleavage, requiring both a target sequence and an appropriate catalytic center. Further, following transient transfection of one of these ribozymes into the SNB-19 glioma cell line, significant in vivo cleavage activity against cellular CD44 transcripts was demonstrated by flow cytometrical analysis. These preliminary results suggest that CD44-directed hammerhead ribozymes may be useful as gene therapeutic agents.

Polymorphism within the herpes simplex virus (HSV) ribonucleotide reductase large subunit (ICP6) confers type specificity for recognition by HSV type 1-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes.

A panel of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)-specific, CD8+, major histocompatibility complex class I (H-2Kb)-restricted cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) clones was derived from HSV-1-immunized C57BL/6 (H-2b) mice in order to identify the HSV-1 CTL recognition epitope(s) which confers type specificity. HSV-1 x HSV-2 intertypic recombinants were used to narrow the region encoding potential CTL recognition epitopes to within 0.51 to 0.58 map units of the HSV-1 genome. Using an inhibitor of viral DNA synthesis and an ICP6 deletion mutant, the large subunit of ribonucleotide reductase (ICP6, RR1) was identified as a target protein for these type-specific CTL. Potential CTL recognition epitopes within RR1 were located on the basis of the peptide motif predicted to bind to the MHC class I H-2Kb molecule. A peptide corresponding to residues 822 to 829 of RR1 was shown to confer susceptibility on H-2Kb-expressing target cells to lysis by the type 1-specific CTL. On the basis of a comparison of the HSV-1 RR1 epitope (residues 822 to 829) with the homologous sequence of HSV-2 RR1 (residues 828 to 836) and by the use of amino acid substitutions within synthetic peptides, we identified HSV-1 residue 828 as being largely responsible for the type specificity exhibited by HSV-1-specific CTL. This HSV-1 RR1 epitope, when expressed in recombinant simian virus 40 large T antigen in primary C57BL/6 cells, was recognized by the HSV-1 RR1-specific CTL clones. These results indicate that an early HSV protein with enzymatic activity provides a target for HSV-specific CTL and that type specificity is dictated largely by a single amino acid.

Epitope specificity of H-2Kb-restricted, HSV-1-, and HSV-2-cross-reactive cytotoxic T lymphocyte clones.

HSV-1-specific and HSV-1/HSV-2-cross-reactive H-2Kb-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) clones were derived from a pool of splenic memory CTL (CTLm) obtained from HSV-1-infected C57BL/6 mice. Two of the HSV-1/HSV-2-cross-reactive CTL clones recognized HSV gB since H-2b cells infected with a recombinant adenovirus vector expressing HSV glycoprotein B (gB) provided a target for these CTL clones. The CTL recognition epitope was precisely defined as HSV-1 gB residues 498-505 using synthetic peptides and conforms to a predicted H-2Kb-binding motif. Immunization of C57BL/6 mice with the free synthetic peptide corresponding to this predicted minimal epitope (HSV-1 gB498-505) resulted in the generation of HSV-gB epitope-specific CD8+ CTL in the popliteal lymph nodes. The peptide-induced CTL recognize and lyse HSV-1 infected H-2b cells or cells pulsed with the synthetic peptide, gB498-505. The availability of CTL clones directed to this predicted minimal HSV CTL epitope should be helpful in understanding processing of HSV glycoprotein B and presentation of this CTL recognition epitope.