Investigating the Use of the Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen as a Receptor for Retroviral Gene-Transfer Agents.

摘要

The goal of this proposal is to attempt a novel strategy for the use of viruses in the delivery of anti-cancer genes to prostate cancer cells. Current methods involving the use of viruses to deliver therapeutic genes for the treatment of any disease are hindered by the inability to target viral agents specifically to diseased tissue or organs. Recently, a protein marker has been characterized on the surface of prostate cancer cells. This marker, called the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), is readily detectable on prostate cancer cells from a large percentage of patients with prostate cancer. The abundance of this marker on cancerous prostate cells allows such cells to be detected and discriminated from both normal prostate cells and the cells of other bodily tissues.