Enhanced green fluorescent protein fusion proteins of herpes simplex virus type 1 thymidine kinase and cytochrome P4504B1: Applications for prodrug-activating gene therapy

To monitor therapeutic transgene expression, we developed fusion genes of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) with two different prodrug-activating enzyme genes: herpes simplex virus type 1 thymidine kinase (HSV-tk) and rabbit cytochrome P450 4B1 (cyp4b1). Expression of the resulting fusion proteins, TK-EGFP and 4B1-EGFP, rendered transduced human and rodent glioma cells sensitive to cytotoxic treatment with the corresponding prodrugs ganciclovir and 4-ipomeanol. Ganciclovir and 4-ipomeanol sensitivity was comparable with that achieved with the native HSV-TK and CYP4B1 proteins. As shown by fluorescence microscopy, TK-ECFP was expressed predominantly intranuclearly, whereas 4B1-EGFP was detectable in the cytoplasm, thereby displaying the orthotopic subcellular distribution of the corresponding native enzymes. The fluorescence intensity correlated well with the corresponding prodrug sensitivity, as shown by fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis. EGFP expression was also used for the selection of stably HSV-tk-transduced cells by flow cytometric cell sorting. Resulting cell populations showed a homogeneity of fluorescence intensity similar to single-cell clones after antibiotic selection. In conclusion, tk-egfp and 4b1-egfp fusion genes are valuable tools for monitoring prodrug-activating gene therapy in living cells. EGFP fusion genes/proteins provide a simple and reproducible means for the detection, selection, and characterization of cells expressing enzyme genes for prodrug activation.