Objective To study the specific killing effect of the eukaryotic expression vector containing PCA3 promoter and CD-TK gene which was constructed in pre-study on prostate cancer cells with the simultaneous action of prodrug in vitro. Methods The constructed eukaryotic recombinant plasmids of pHBAd-PCA3-CD-TK and control group were transfected into prostate cancer cells and and the cells in the control group, then Ganciclovir（GCV）125 μg/mL and 5-Fluorocytosine（5-FC）160 μg/mL were delivered together as the prodrug. MTT assay was used to detect and compare the viability of cells in vitro cytotoxicity experiment.Results The pHBAd-PCA3-CD-TK was successfully transfected into target cells and verified which only expressed in prostate cancer cells by Real-Time PCR. MTT assay showed that the cell viability of pHBAd-PCA3-CD-TK group was significantly lower in control group, the difference of experimental group and control groups was statistically significant. Conclusions The pHBAd-PCA3-CD-TK can specifically express and activate prodrugs in prostate cancer cells, which can specifically kill prostate cancer cells in vitro experiments.This study lays a preliminary foundation for follow-up research on precise gene therapy of prostate cancer based on PCA3 promoter.
