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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Inducible and Reversible Dominant-negative (DN) Protein Inhibition
Published on: January 7, 2019
Suppressive effect of modified dominant negative RAS mutant on human cancer by gene transfer with non-viral vector
Hayato Suzuki1, Satoshi Kuzumaki, Koji Nakagawa
1Cancer Gene Regulation, Graduate School of Dental Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
Abstract:
N116Y, H-RAS mutant, has dominant negative activity in the RAS function and a suppressive effect on the growth of various types of cancer cells. However, a replication error of N116Y is of potential concern for carcinogenesis in clinical application. To decease the concern, we constructed modified N116Y by deleting the carboxyl terminus, which is necessary for the oncogenic function of Ras. One of the C-terminal deletion mutants of N116Y, N116Y-Cdel2 showed a growth-suppressing effect on various human cancer cell lines in vitro: the cervical cancer cell line HeLa, the pancreatic cancer cell line PCI43, the colon cancer cell lines SW480 and LoVo, and the tongue cancer cell line SAS. In addition, the suppressive effect of N116Y-Cdel2 on LoVo cells was also observed in vivo using a nonviral gene transfer vector, HVJ envelope. Our experiments suggest that the modified N116Y is a potential candidate gene for human cancer gene therapy.
Insights
Modified N116Y, a RAS mutant, effectively suppresses various cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo. This modified gene shows promise for future human cancer gene therapy applications.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Molecular Biology
- Gene Therapy
Background:
- The H-RAS mutant N116Y exhibits dominant negative activity and suppresses cancer cell growth.
- Replication errors of N116Y raise concerns for clinical application due to potential carcinogenesis.
- The carboxyl terminus of Ras is essential for its oncogenic function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a modified N116Y with reduced carcinogenic potential for cancer gene therapy.
- To evaluate the growth-suppressing efficacy of a C-terminal deletion mutant of N116Y.
Main Methods:
- Construction of a modified N116Y mutant (N116Y-Cdel2) by deleting the carboxyl terminus.
- In vitro assessment of N116Y-Cdel2's effect on human cancer cell lines (HeLa, PCI43, SW480, LoVo, SAS).
- In vivo evaluation of N116Y-Cdel2's suppressive effect on LoVo cells using the HVJ envelope nonviral gene transfer vector.
Main Results:
- N116Y-Cdel2 demonstrated significant growth suppression across multiple human cancer cell lines in vitro.
- The suppressive effect of N116Y-Cdel2 was confirmed in vivo in LoVo cells.
- The modified N116Y mutant retained anti-cancer properties while addressing concerns of replication errors.
Conclusions:
- The modified N116Y (N116Y-Cdel2) is a promising candidate for human cancer gene therapy.
- Deletion of the carboxyl terminus mitigates oncogenic concerns associated with N116Y.
- Further research into N116Y-Cdel2 could lead to novel therapeutic strategies for various cancers.
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