Transduction of human pancreatic tumor cells with vesicular stomatitis virus G-pseudotyped retroviral vectors containing a herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase mutant gene enhances bystander effects and sensitivity to ganciclovir.

We examined the suitability of Moloney murine leukemia virus (MLV) 4070A-, cat endogenous virus (CEV) RD114-, or vesicular stomatitis virus G (VSV-G)-pseudotyped retroviruses containing the humanized enhanced green fluorescent protein (hEGFP) or one of two herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-TK) genes to transduce and provide gene expression in human pancreatic tumor cells. Fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis demonstrated that VSV-G-pseudotyped hEGFP vector infected a greater percentage of cells and generated more robust gene expression than MLV 4070A- or CEV RD114-pseudotyped vectors. Dot blot and Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA revealed up to 10-fold more gene copies in G418-selected VSV-G hEGFP vector-transduced cells compared with genomic DNA from cells transduced with MLV 4070A or CEV RD114 pseudotypes. Cells transduced with VSV-G pseudotypes of HSV-TK(WT) or the HSV-TK30 vectors were 5- to 10-fold more sensitive to ganciclovir (GCV) than other pseudotype-transduced cells. A 40- to 61-fold difference in sensitivity to GCV was observed between cells transduced with VSV-G HSV-TK30 vector and cells transduced with MLV 4070A HSV-TK(WT) vector in vitro. A 13-fold reduction in tumor volume was observed in severe combined immunodeficient mice inoculated with PancTuITK30 cells compared with mice inoculated with PancTuITK(WT) cells during GCV treatment. We conclude that the choice of glycoprotein envelope and the potency of a particular suicide gene were therapeutically additive and increased the number of HSV-TK-positive cells and sensitivity toward GCV in human pancreatic tumors cells for prodrug gene therapy.