Acetylcholinesterase overexpression mediated by oncolytic adenovirus exhibited potent anti-tumor effect

BACKGROUND: Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) mainly functions as an efficient terminator for acetylcholine signaling transmission. Here, we reported the effect of AChE on gastric cancer therapy. METHODS: The expression of AChE in gastric cancerous tissues and adjacent non-cancerous tissues was examined by immunohistochemistry. Gastric cancer cells were treated with AChE delivered by replication-deficient adenoviral vector (Ad.AChE) or oncolytic adenoviral vector (ZD55-AChE), respectively, followed by measurement of cell viability and apoptosis by MTT assay and apoptosis detection assays. In vivo, the tumor growth of gastric cancer xenografts in mice treated with Ad.AChE or ZD55-AChE (1 × 10(9) PFU) were measured. In addition, the cell viability of gastric cancer stem cells treated with Ad.AChE or ZD55-AChE were evaluated by MTT assay. RESULTS: A positive correlation was found between higher level of AChE expression in gastric cancer patient samples and longer survival time of the patients. Ad.AChE and ZD55-AChE inhibited gastric cancer cell growth, and low dose of ZD55-AChE induced mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis in cells. ZD55-AChE repressed tumor growth in vivo, and the anti-tumor efficacy is greater than Ad.AChE. Moreover, ZD55-AChE suppressed the growth of gastric cancer stem cells. CONCLUSION: ZD55-AChE represented potential therapeutic effect for human gastric cancer. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2407-14-668) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.