[Tumor-targeted human telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter/tk gene therapy against human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells in vitro].

Objective: To investigate the targeted killing effect of human telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter (hTERTp)/tk gene on human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells.

Methods: The recombinant plasmid hTERTp/tk/pGL3 was transfected into human NPC HNE1 cells and the expressions of TK and telomerase were investigated. The targeted killing effect induced by hTERTp/tk on HNE1 cells was assessed using RT-PCR and MTT assay.

Results: TK gene expression was detected in HNE1 cells transfected by hTERTp/tk/pGL3, and the cells showed reduced telomerase and hTERT expression as compared with the control cells. hTERTp/tk/pGL3 resulted in target killing of HNE1 cells but not of the normal control cells. The tumor cell-killing effect of hTERTp/tk/pGL3 was slightly milder than that of the positive control CMV/tk/pGL3 that produced nonselective cell killing.

Conclusion: hTERTp/tk, a tumor-specific expression system, allows targeted tumor cell killing and reduces the activity of telomerase in NPC cells in vitro.