Conditionally replication-competent adenoviral vectors with enhanced infectivity for use in gene therapy of melanoma

To generate vector Ad.Tyr-E1A, which is cytolytic for tyrosinase-positive melanoma cells, we replaced the adenoviral E1A promoter with a human tyrosinase enhancer/promoter. To overcome the low transduction efficiency in populations of melanoma cells that exhibit a low level of the coxsackievirus-adenovirus receptor (CAR), we inserted an RGD-4C peptide into the HI loop of the fiber knob domain of the Ad.Tyr-E1A vector. The resulting vector was named Ad.Tyr-E1A(RGD). As a result of these changes, the transduction efficiency of the RGD-modified vector was increased both in vitro and in vivo. Western blot analysis proved that infection of cells with the Ad.Tyr-E1A(RGD) vector led to expression of the E1A gene selectively in tyrosinase-positive melanoma cell lines, but not in tyrosinase-negative cell lines. The Ad.Tyr-E1A(RGD) vector was as potent in its cytotoxic effect as a tumor nonselective vector (Ad.CMV-E1A) in tyrosinase-positive melanoma cell lines. The Ad.Tyr-E1A(RGD) vector produced a higher vector particle yield in tumor cells than did the Ad.Tyr-E1A vector. Intratumoral injection of the Ad.Tyr-E1A(RGD) vector into xenotransplanted human melanoma tumors led to tumor regression in vivo. The combination of tumor-specific replication and enhanced infectivity generates a more potent CRAD vector for gene therapy of melanoma.