Purine salvage rescue by xanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (XGPRT) potentiates methotrexate resistance conferred by transfer of a mutated dihydrofolate reductase gene

Shin Mineishi, Saori Nakahara, Naoka Takebe, Shi Cheng Zhao, Debabrata Banerjee, Joseph R. Bertino

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

We have previously shown that successful gene transfer of a mutated dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) cDNA confers resistance to methotrexate (MTX) upon infected cells. We constructed a retrovirus vector, DC/SV6S31GPT, which carries both the Escherichia coli xanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase gene and the mutated Serine 31 DHFR gene. Mouse fibroblast NIH3T3 cells infected with DC/SV6S31GPT are more resistant to MTX than cells infected with DC/SV6S31, which carries the Serine 31 DHFR and the neomycin resistance gene cDNA. The mechanism of this augmented resistance is the increased salvaging of purines due to expression of xanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase, as the augmentation does not occur when dialyzed serum, containing little xanthine or guanine, is used for cytotoxicity assays. These results indicate that coexpression of a metabolically related gene can potentiate the resistance carried by a drug resistance gene. This vector may be useful in clinical gene therapy to protect bone marrow from the toxic effects of MTX.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)144-149
Number of pages6
JournalCancer gene therapy
Volume5
Issue number3
StatePublished - 1998

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Molecular Medicine
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cancer Research

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