Growth inhibition of subcutaneously transplanted human glioma by transfection-induced tumor necrosis factor-? and augmentation of the effect by ?-interferon

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Abstract
Using subcutaneous solid tumors produced by U251-MG human glioma cells, we studied thein vivo transfection of the cells with the tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) gene delivered by means of liposomes. When the tumor had become 7 mm in diameter, liposomes with entrapped TNF-α gene were injected into the center of the subcutaneous tumor. We found that mRNA of transfection-induced TNF-α, which was expressed in the tumor tissue, was detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method and its protein was demonstrated by enzyme-linked immunoassay. Growth of the tumor was inhibited when the injection was carried out five times at every other day. The growth-inhibitory effect by transfection-induced TNF-α was much remarkable as compared with exogenous TNF-α and the effect was enhanced by the intraperitoneal injection of γ-interferon (IFN-γ) 12 h prior to intratumoral injection of the liposomes.