A novel recombinant immuno-tBid with a furin site effectively suppresses the growth of HER2-positive osteosarcoma cells in vitro

Oncol Rep. 2011 Feb;25(2):325-31. doi: 10.3892/or.2010.1074. Epub 2010 Dec 7.

Abstract

Immunotherapy is a promising strategy for the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive tumors. Previously, we constructed an immuno-carboxy terminal fragment of Bid (immuno-tBid) and reported its specific and effective destruction of HER2-positive tumor cells. In this study, in order to further reduce the immunogenicity of the previous immuno-proapoptotic protein, we constructed a novel immuno-tBid by replacing domain II of Pseudomonas exotoxin A with a short furin cleavage sequence from the diphtheria toxin. In order to explore the possible application of this novel immuno-tBid in the treatment of osteosarcoma, we first examined the expression of the HER2 protein in a subclone of a human osteosarcoma cell line with relatively high metastatic potential (SOSP-9607-E10), as well as in clinical specimens of osteosarcoma. Quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot analysis revealed that the expression of HER2 was up-regulated in the SOSP-9607-E10 cells, while immunohistochemical analysis revealed that HER2 was overexpressed in 37% of the tissue specimens examined. Both HER2-positive SOSP-9607-E10 and SKBR-3 cells, as well as HER2-negative HeLa cells were transiently transfected with the novel immuno-tBid in order to study its specific pro-apoptotic effect. We demonstrate here that this novel immuno-tBid induces the specific destruction of HER2-overexpressing SOSP-9607-E10 cells through the release of cytochrome C. These results suggest that the novel immuno-tBid with a minimized exogenous fragment could represent a competitive approach for the treatment of HER2-positive osteosarcoma.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • BH3 Interacting Domain Death Agonist Protein / chemistry
  • BH3 Interacting Domain Death Agonist Protein / pharmacology*
  • Binding Sites
  • Bone Neoplasms / genetics
  • Bone Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Bone Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects*
  • Down-Regulation / drug effects
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical
  • Furin / metabolism
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Immunoconjugates / chemistry
  • Immunoconjugates / pharmacology
  • Osteosarcoma / genetics
  • Osteosarcoma / metabolism
  • Osteosarcoma / pathology*
  • Peptide Fragments / chemistry
  • Peptide Fragments / pharmacology
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary / physiology
  • Receptor, ErbB-2 / genetics
  • Receptor, ErbB-2 / metabolism
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / chemistry
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / pharmacology
  • Transfection
  • Tumor Cells, Cultured

Substances

  • BH3 Interacting Domain Death Agonist Protein
  • Immunoconjugates
  • Peptide Fragments
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins
  • ERBB2 protein, human
  • Receptor, ErbB-2
  • Furin