Producing vesicular stomatitis virus G (VSVG) protein and assessment of its cytotoxic activity against breast cancer cells

Abstract

Background: The vesicular stomatitis virus G (VSVG) protein is a transmembran glycoprotein, which is involved in virus attachment to the specific receptor at the cell surface. This protein has been widely used to study therapeutic gene delivery. However, the major limitation of its usage in gene therapy is toxicity of protein for host cells in high concentrations. Methods: The vesicular stomatitis virus G protein was produced via transfection of HEK-293T cells with using polyfection kit. The cytotoxic activity was examined against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines and human embryonic kidney normal cell line (HEK293) using MTT 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide and morphology changes assay. Findings: The cytotoxic activity of vesicular stomatitis virus G protein against MCF-7 and MDAMB-231 cells was significantly more than that of the normal cells (P < 0.05). In addition, cancer cells treated with vesicular stomatitis virus G protein showed morphology changes. Conclusion: The results indicated that cytotoxic activity of vesicular stomatitis virus G protein against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells was more than that of the normal cells and it could be an appropriate candidate for in-vivo testing as cytotoxic agent. © 2015, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences(IUMS). All rights reserved.