AB141. Synthetic Bax-Anti Bcl 2 combination module actuated by super artificial hTERT promoter selectively inhibits malignant phenotypes of bladder cancer

Objective: We aimed to construct a synthetic combination module driven by a super artificial hTERT promoter and to investigate its influence on the malignant phenotypes of bladder cancer.

Methods: The dual luciferase assay system was used to verify the driven efficiency and tumor-specificity of the artificial hTERT promoter and to confirm the relationship between ETS-1 and the driven efficiency of the artificial hTERT promoter. CCK-8 assay and MTT assay were used to test the effects of the Bax-Anti Bcl 2 combination module driven by the artificial hTERT promoter on cell proliferation. Simultaneously, the cell apoptosis was detected by the caspase 3 ELISA assay and the flow cytometry analysis after transfection. The results of CCK-8 assay and MTT assay were analyzed by ANOVA. The independent samples t-test was used to analyze other data.

Results: We demonstrated that the artificial hTERT promoter had a higher driven efficiency which might be regulated by transcription factor ETS-1 in bladder cancer cells, compared with wild-type hTERT promoter. Meanwhile, the artificial hTERT promoter showed a strong tumor-specific effect. The cell proliferation inhibition and apoptosis induction were observed in artificial hTERT promoter—Bax-Anti Bcl 2 combination module—transfected bladder cancer 5637 and T24 cells, but not in the module-transfected normal human fibroblasts.

Conclusions: This module offers us a useful synthetic biology platform to inhibit the malignant phenotypes of bladder cancer in a more specific and effective way.

Keywords: hTERT promoter; Bax/Bcl 2; bladder cancer