Baculovirus-based gene silencing of Humanin for the treatment of pituitary tumors

Pituitary tumors are the most common primary intracranial neoplasms. Humanin (HN) and Rattin (HNr), a rat homolog of HN, are short peptides with a cytoprotective action. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate whether endogenous HNr plays an antiapoptotic role in pituitary tumor cells. Thus, we u...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gottardo, María Florencia, Pidre, Matías Luis, Zuccato, Camila Florencia, Asad, Antonela Sofía, Imsen, Mercedes, Jaita, Gabriela, Candolfi, Marianela, Romanowski, Víctor, Seilicovich, Adriana
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:Argentina
Institución:Universidad Nacional de La Plata
Repositorio:SEDICI (UNLP)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/139708
Acceso en línea:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/139708
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Biología
Medicina
Humanin
Rattin
Baculovirus
ShRNA
Pituitary tumor
Apoptosis
Descripción
Sumario:Pituitary tumors are the most common primary intracranial neoplasms. Humanin (HN) and Rattin (HNr), a rat homolog of HN, are short peptides with a cytoprotective action. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate whether endogenous HNr plays an antiapoptotic role in pituitary tumor cells. Thus, we used RNA interference based on short-hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeted to HNr (shHNr). A plasmid including the coding sequences for shHNr and dTomato fluorescent reporter gene was developed (pUC-shHNr). Transfection of somatolactotrope GH3 cells with pUC-shHNr increased apoptosis, suggesting that endogenous HNr plays a cytoprotective role in pituitary tumor cells. In order to evaluate the effect of blockade of endogenous HNr expression in vivo, we constructed a recombinant baculovirus (BV) encoding shHNr (BV-shHNr). In vitro, BV-shRNA was capable of transducing more than 80% of GH3 cells and decreased HNr mRNA. Also, BV-shHNr increased apoptosis in transduced GH3 cells. Intratumor injection of BV-shHNr to nude mice bearing s.c. GH3 tumors increased the number of apoptotic cells, delayed tumor growth and enhanced survival rate, suggesting that endogenous HNr may be involved in pituitary tumor progression. These preclinical data suggests that the silencing of HN expression could have a therapeutic impact on the treatment of pituitary tumors.