The inhibitory effect of MSCs expressing TRAIL as a cellular delivery vehicle in combination with cisplatin on hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) has been demonstrated to induce cell apoptosis in many types of tumors, while many hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells display high resistance to TRAIL. Another outstanding limitation of TRAIL is the short half-life in vivo. Stem cell-based therapies provide a promising approach for the treatment of many types of tumors because of the ability of tropism. Therefore, as a new therapeutic strategy, the combination of chemotherapeutic agents and TRAIL gene modified MSCs (TRAIL-MSCs) would improve the therapeutic efficacy of HCC in vivo. This is the first time to show the potential of combination of chemotherapeutic agents and MSCs as a gene vector in the therapy of HCC.

Keywords: :

• TRAIL
• bioluminescence imaging
• cisplatin
• hepatocellular carcinoma
• lentiviral
• mesenchymal stem cells
• synergistic effect

Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest

No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Joint Funds of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Government of Guangdong Province (U1032002), National Natural Science Foundation of China (81071206, 81172193), Team Project of Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (05200177) and Sci-Tech Project Foundation of Guangdong Province (2009B030801026).