Duriya Fongmoon; Amin Hajitou; Keittisak Suwan; Chanathip Taengoon; Minta Nagong; Rungtiwa Luangyai; Sudtida Bunsueb & Sitthichai Iamsaard

Currently, the bacteriophages have been applied as the phage therapy for using as a new technology for treating many cancers including lung cancer. This recent study explored the of a double cyclic form of arginine-glycine-aspartic acid with four cysteine residues (RGD) modified phage particles carrying the tumor necrosis factor therapeutic gene to suppress tumor growth. Adult male BALB/ c nude mice were injected with A549 lung cancer cells to induce xenograft tumor growth. The control animals were subcutaneously injected with PBS while M13 and RGD-TNF animals were injected with M13 (control phage) and RGD-TNF phage, respectively. At the end of experiment. the tumor mass size was measured. Removed tumor masses and lung tissues of all groups were performed for immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis against Ki67, TNF-α, IL-2, and IFNγ antibodies. The results obviously showed that RGD-TNF phage could suppress the xenograft tumor growth. Additionally, the tissues of tumor mass and lung were localized with all cancer markers. It was revealed that RGD-TNF phage could significantly decrease the expressions of Ki67, TNF-α, and IL-2, but increase that of IFNγ in tumor mass. Only Ki67 and TNF-α expressions were decreased in lung tissue of mice treated with A549 lung cancer cells. It was concluded that RGD-TNF phage is a potential phage therapy for lung cancer treatment to reduce the tumor mass and to regulate the cancer markers.

KEY WORDS: Lung cancer; A 549 cells; Tumor markers; Phage therapy; Xenograft tumor.

FONGMOON, D.; HAJITOU, A.; SUWAN, K.; TAENGOON, C.; NAGONG, M.; LUANGYAI, R.; BUNSUEB, S. & IAMSAARD, S. Using Arginine-Glycine-Aspartic Acid (RGD)-Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) modified phage for lung cancer treatment: Suppressing tumor mass growth and tumor marker expressions in nude mouse model. Int. J. Morphol., 42(6):1739-1745, 2024.