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Connexin Overexpression Differentially Suppresses Glioma Growth And Contributes To The Bystander Effect Following Hsv-Thymidine Kinase Gene Therapy, T. Jiminez, W. Fox, C. Naus, J. Galipeau, Daniel Belliveau

Daniel J. Belliveau

Neoplastic transformation is frequently associated with a loss of gap junctional intercellular communication and reduced expression of connexins. The introduction of connexin genes into tumor cells reverses the proliferative characteristics of such cells. However, there is very little comparative information on the effects of different connexins on cancer cell growth. We hypothesized that Cx26, Cx32, or Cx43 would display differential growth suppression of C6 glioma cells and uniquely modulate the bystander effect following transduction of C6 cells with HSVtk followed by suicide gene therapy. The bystander phenomenon is the death of a greater number of tumor cells than are expressing …