Weietal.JournalofExperimental&ClinicalCancerResearch2013,32:5 http://www.jeccr.com/content/32/1/5 RESEARCH Open Access Pharmacokinetics of combined gene therapy expressing constitutive human GM-CSF and hyperthermia-regulated human IL-12 Fang Wei1†, Huiping Wang1†, Jufeng Zhang1, Xiafang Chen1, Chuanyuan Li2* and Qian Huang1* Abstract Background: Anadenovirus that expresses both interleukin (IL)-12 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating-factor (GM-CSF) has been proven to be very effective in treating several tumors, but causes serious normal tissue toxicities. Methods: In this study, a novel adenoviral vector was constructed by placingthe human GM-CSF gene under the control of theCMV-IE promoter and human IL-12 gene under the control of heatshockprotein 70Bgene promoter. Both hGM-CSF and hIL-12 expressionsin virus-infectedtumor cells were analyzedin vitro and in vivo when underlying single or multiple rounds ofhyperthermia. Results: We observed constitutive high expression of humanGM-CSF and heat-induced expression ofhumanIL-12 after a single round ofhyperthermia post viral infection. The heat-induced hIL-12 expression exhibited a pulse-like pattern with a peakat 24 hrsfollowed bya decline 48 hrspost heat stress. Repeated heattreatmentwas more effective ininducing hIL-12 expression than a one-time heattreatment. Interestedly, wealso observed that constitutive expression ofhGM-CSFcould be stimulated by heat stress in testedtumor cells. Conclusion: Our study provided a novel strategy for combined gene therapy that allows constitutive expression of a non-toxic gene such as GM-CSFand heat-induced expression of a toxic gene such as IL-12. Inaddition, our study also showed that hyperthermia can be used to trigger gene expression in temporal and special manner. Keywords: GM-CSF, IL-12, Adenovirus,Hsp70, Hyperthermia Introduction protein therapy, gene therapy proved to be as efficient Theuniqueabilityofcancertoexploittheimmunesystem while inducing less toxicity [3]. Among these cytokine- in order to promote tumor growth and suppress immune based gene therapies, an adenovirus that expresses both response makes cancer therapy difficult. However, modu- interleukin (IL)-12 and granulocyte-macrophage colony- lation of the immune system should provide promising stimulating-factor (GM-CSF) has been proven to be very results. Cytokines are a large family of intercellular signa- effectiveintreatingseveraltumors[4,5].However,current ling peptides that function in the regulation of immune adenoviruses deliver constitutive IL-12 gene expression, response. Cytokine therapy has been reported to be an whichcausesseriousnormaltissuetoxicity[6]. effective strategy at inducing strong antitumor immune GM-CSF is a growth factor capable of enhancing antitu- response[1]. However, initial studiesusingsystemictreat- mor activity by activating dendritic cells (DCs) to improve ment with recombinant cytokines produced discouraging antigen presentation. GM-CSF can also activate macro- results due to dose-limiting toxicities [2]. Compared to phages and induce the release of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) [7] to achieve an antitumor effect. In addition, *Correspondence:[email protected];[email protected] GM-CSF can indirectly stimulate T-cell activation via †Equalcontributors interleukin-1 release [8]. However, increased cellular GM- 2DepartmentofDermatology,DukeUniversityMedicalCenter,Durham,NC CSF expression also leads to counter-regulatory immune 27710,USA 1ExperimentalResearchCenter,FirstPeople’sHospital,SchoolofMedicine, responses to decrease the expansion of cytotoxic T cells ShanghaiJiaotongUniversity,85WujinRoad,Shanghai200080,China ©2013Weietal.;licenseeBioMedCentralLtd.ThisisanOpenAccessarticledistributedunderthetermsoftheCreative CommonsAttributionLicense(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0),whichpermitsunrestricteduse,distribution,and reproductioninanymedium,providedtheoriginalworkisproperlycited. Weietal.JournalofExperimental&ClinicalCancerResearch2013,32:5 Page2of7 http://www.jeccr.com/content/32/1/5 (Tc), thereby limiting its antitumor activity [7]. In contrast, Adenoviruspreparation IL-12 has been shown to exert potent immunostimulatory The adenovirus used to establish constitutively high effectsoncertainhelperTcellsaswellascytotoxicTlym- expression of human GM-CSF and heat-inducible ex- phocytes(CTL)andnaturalkiller(NK)cells[9].Therefore, pression of human IL-12 was constructed according to the combined use of GM-CSF and IL-12 can counteract established protocols [12] using commercially available thecounter-regulatoryroleofGM-CSFonTcandincrease plasmids (Microbix,Toronto, Canada). To construct the theimmunebenefitsofGM-CSF. heat-inducible IL-12 expression cassette, cDNAs for Human IL-12 is a disulfide-linked heterodimer com- both the p40 and p35 subunits of human IL-12 were posed of 35 and 40 kDa subunits. Preclinical studies and inserted into the E1 region under control of the human clinicaltrialsofIL-12genetherapyshowedthatthistreat- hsp70B gene promoter [13,14]. The p40 and p35 subu- ment can induce remarkable anti-tumor response in nits were connected using an internal ribosome entry various tumors, including melanoma, sarcoma, and site sequence [15] so that both subunits could be tran- adenocarcinoma[3].However,bothpreclinicalandclinical scribed under the control of the same promoter. The tests revealed that IL-12 gene therapy can induce highly human GM-CSF expression cassette was constructed by toxic side effects [3]. This is because high constitutive placing the human GM-CSF gene under the control of a IL-12 expression increases IFN-γ production [10]. Thus, constitutively active CMV-IE promoter in the E1 region IL-12 expression in gene therapy requires regulation. [16] (see Figure 1). The completed adenovirus called However, the current adenovirus coexpressing GM-CSF Adcmv-GMCSF-HSP-IL12 will establish constitutive and IL-12 genes does not account for the regulation of expression of human GM-CSF and heat-inducible ex- IL-12. Heat-based gene regulation is a ubiquitous stress pression of human IL-12. Large scale preparation of re- responsetoheat shock in mammaliancells.Based onthis combinant Adcmv-GMCSF-HSP-IL12 was accomplished feature, heat shock protein 70 promoter (hsp70B) has as previously described [17]. The control vector is an been widely used in gene therapy to control gene expres- adenovirusexpressingGFPprotein(Figure 1). sion [6]. The pharmacokinetics of GM-CSF and IL-12 productionaswellaspossibleinteractionsbetweenconsti- Invitroheatingexperiments tutiveGM-CSFexpressionandheat-inducedIL-12expres- A549 and Hep3B cells were seeded in 24-well plates at a sion should be investigated before clinical use. However, density of 6 × 104 cells/well. After cells were cultured there is the dilemma that IL-12 has a restrict species- for 24 hrs, 100, 500, and 1000vp (viral particles) of specificity.Forexample,humanIL-12showsnoactivityin Adcmv-hGMCSF-hsp-hIL12 virus were added into each animalmodelsandmouseIL-12hasnoactivityinhuman. well. Twenty-four hours later, the culture medium was Althoughthe efficacyand toxicityofsustainedhumanIL- replaced with 1 ml of fresh medium containing 2% FCS 12expressioncannotbeevaluatedinananimalmodel,the and cells were heated in a 45°C water bath for 45 min. expression pattern of the adenoviral vector must be first Twenty-four hours later, the medium was collected for testedinananimalmodelbeforeenteringclinicaltrials. hGM-CSF and hIL-12 measurement and replaced with Currently, gene therapy with combined GM-CSF and 1 ml of fresh medium. Cells were heated again (45°C, IL-12 has been established in several kinds of tumors 45 min) and the medium was collected 24 hrs post using adenovirus to express constitutive GM-CSFand IL- heating. 12 levels. Although significant anti-tumor effect has been observed, the level of GM-CSF or IL-12 is not regulatory Invivoheatingexperiments [4,11]. In this study, we first constructed a novel adeno- Balb/C nude mice (BALB/c, nu/nu) weighing 20-22 g viralvectorthatallowedconstitutiveexpressionof human were provided by the animal center of Shanghai Bio- GM-CSF and heat-induced expression of human IL-12. logical Science Institution and housed in rooms under The pharmacokinetics of gene expression triggered by standard lighting conditions and temperature. Water hyperthermiawasthentestedincellcultureandinanani- and food were provided ad libitum. All animal experi- malmodel.Ourstudyprovidedinsightsontumortherapy ments were conducted under an approved protocol from bycombininggenetherapywithhyperthermia. Shanghai Jiaotong University and performed in accord- ance with the animal care guidelines of the Chinese Materials and methods Council. Hep3B tumors were introduced by subcutane- Cellculture ousinjectionof1×107Hep3Bcellsin50μLofPBSinto A549,ahumannon-smallcelllungcarcinomacellline,and the right hind limbs of mice. When tumor size reached Hep3B, a human hepatoma cell line, were purchased from 1 cm in diameter, a total of 2 × 108 Adcmv-hGMCSF- American Type Culture Collection. All cells were cultured hsp-hIL12 was injected into tumor. Mice were divided in RPMI 1640 with 10% fetal bovine serum, 100 units/mL into 3 groups: non-heating group, one-time heating penicillin,and100μg/mLstreptomycinat37°C,5%CO . group, and three-time heating group. In non-heating 2 Weietal.JournalofExperimental&ClinicalCancerResearch2013,32:5 Page3of7 http://www.jeccr.com/content/32/1/5 Figure1Aschematicdiagramofadenovirususedinthisstudy.HSP70-pro:heatshockprotein70genepromoter;hIL12:humaninterleukin 12;CMV-pro:CMVpromoter;hGMCSF:granulocyte-macrophagecolony-stimulating-factorgene;EGFP:enhancedGFP. group, animals were sacrificed on day 1, 2, 3 and 4 post GM-CSF and human IL-12 ELISA kits (R&D Systems, virus injection. In the one-time heating group, tumors Minneapolis,MN). were heatedonce 24hrs post virusinjection andanimals were sacrificed on day 1, 2, 3 and 4 post heat treatment. Results In three-time heating group, tumors were heated on day hGM-CSFandhIL-12expressioninAdcmv-hGMCSF-hsp- 1, 3, and 5 post virus injection and animals were sacri- hIL12virusinfectedA549andHep3Bcells ficed on day 4, 5, 6, 7 post first heat treatment. Tumors AsshowninFigure2,1000,500and100viralparticleper were heated to 42°C in a water bath for 40 min by cell(vp)infectedcellsexhibitedsignificantincreasesinthe immersing the tumor-bearing leg in the water bath [18]. production of hGM-CSF and hIL-12 in A549 after heat Tumor tissues were homogenized for hGM-CSF and treatment(Figure2A, B). InHep3B cell medium, 1000vp hIL-12detection. of virus infection significantly increased hIL-12 (p=0.001) and hGM-CSF (p = 0.008) production 24 hrs after heat DetectionofGM-CSFandIL-12levels treatment. 500 vp and 100 vp virus infected cells also The hGM-CSF and hIL-12 levels in cell culture medium exhibited significant increases in the production of hGM- andtumortissueshomogenateweredetectedwithhuman CSFand hIL-12 after heat treatment (Figure 2A, B). Heat Figure2hGM-CSFandhIL-12expressioninheattreatedA549andHep3Bcells.A549andHep3Bcellsin24-wellplateswereinfectedwith Adcmv-hGMCSF-hsp-hIL12virusfor24hrsandheatedat45°Cfor45min.Twenty-fourhourslate,mediumwascollectedforhGM-CSFandhIL-12 measurement.A)hIL-12expressionunderheatingandnoheatingtreatment.B)hGM-CSFexpressionunderheatingandnoheatingtreatment. C)RelativehGM-CSFandhIL-12expressioninA549cells.D)RelativehGM-CSFandhIL-12expressioninHep3Bcells.HT:heatingtreatment.N=5 repeatedexperiments. Weietal.JournalofExperimental&ClinicalCancerResearch2013,32:5 Page4of7 http://www.jeccr.com/content/32/1/5 treatment induced 8.79 ± 0.64 and 12.37 ± 2.41 fold actually lower than in non-heat treated A549 cells for 48 increases in hIL-12 production in 1000 vp and 500 vp hrs. In Hep3B cells, heat treatment for 24 hrs increased virusinfectedA549cells(Figure2C).InHep3Bcells,heat hGM-CSF levels, but hGM-CSF levels were equal to or treatment induced 6.13 ± 1.89 and 3.46 ± 0.36 fold higher than in non-heat treated Hep3B cells for 48 hrs. increases in cells infected with 1000 vp and 500 vp virus These results suggest that hGM-CSF expression is time- respectively, whereasheat treatment induced19.02 ± 4.95 dependentbut notheat-dependent. fold increase in cells infected with 100 vp virus (Figure2D).InbothA549andHep3Bcells,hGM-CSFex- TheeffectofheattreatmentoninvivohGM-CSFand pression showed dependence on virus dosage. Although hIL12expression hGM-CSF was driven by CMV promoter, hGM-CSF ex- As shown in Figure 4, virus infection produced consist- pression was increased 1.48 ± 0.08 fold in A549 cells and ent hGM-CSF and hIL-12 expression under no heat 2.81±0.29foldinHepB3cellsafterheattreatment. treatment. hGM-CSF expression was significantly higher than hIL-12, but both reached their peak at 24 hrs after TheeffectofheattreatmentsonhGM-CSFandhIL-12 virusinfectionandbegantodeclineslowly at48hrspost expression virus infection until day 7 of our observation. Under AsshowninFigure3Ainnon-heatedA549cells,firstheat heat treatment, hIL-12 and hGM-CSF expressions were treatment significantly increased hIL-12 levels in A549 significantly increased and reached a peak at 24 hrs after cells infected with 100 vp 500 vp, 1000 vp virus, respec- eachheatingandbegantodecline 48hrsafterheating. tively, while the second heat treatment was more efficient AsshowninFigure4A,intratumoralinjectionofadeno- in increasing hIL-12 levels in A549 cells (p < 0.05 at all 3 viral vectors led to lower IL-12 expression. The first heat viral dosages). In non-heat treated Hep3B cells, first heat treatment elevated hIL-12 level from 2500 ± 506 pg/ml treatment significantly increased hIL-12 expressions in (noHT)to3966±661pg/ml(p=0.207),butsecondheat Hep3B cells 24 hrs after first heat treatment. The second treatmentinduced 9.53 fold increase in hIL-12expression heat treatment was also more efficient in increasing hIL- comparedtonoheattreatment(p=0.034)and4.1foldin- 12 levels in Hep3B (p < 0.05 at all 3 viral dosages). These creasecomparedtofirstheattreatment(HT1)(p=0.036). resultssuggestthathIL-12expressionisheat-inducible.In Althoughthethirdheattreatment(HT3)waslesseffective contrast,firstheattreatmentsignificantlyincreasedhGM- than the second heat treatment, hIL-12 level was still CSF expression in A549 cells infected with 500 vp and higher in heat treated tumors than in non-heat treated 1000 vp virus in non-heat treated A549 cells shown in tumorsonday7sincefirsttreatment(p=0.039),suggest- Figure 3B; however, second heat treatment did not signi- ing that multiple heat treatments could keep a constitu- ficantly increase hGM-CSF expression in A549 cells tivelylowhIL-12expressionwithapeak-likeexpressionat (p>0.05).Innon-heattreatedHep3Bcells,firstheattreat- 24hrsafterheating. ment increased hGM-CSF levels in Hep3B cells but AsshowninFigure4B,theexpressionofhGM-CSFwas showed no statistical difference (p > 0.05). After second controlledbyCMVpromoter;however,hGM-CSFexpres- heat treatment, significant difference was observed in sion in tumor tissues increased 2.04 fold (p = 0.009) after Hep3B cells infected with 1000 vp virus. These results first heat treatment compared to non-heat treated tumor suggest that heat treatment can increase hGM-CSF ex- tissues(p=0.013).TheexpressionofhGM-CSFincreased pression,buthGM-CSFexpressionisnotheat-dependent. intumortissueswithin24hoursafter2nd(p=0.002)and We further compared the expression of hIL-12 third (p = 0.013)heat treatments.However, thepeakcon- (Figure 3C) and hGM-CSF (Figure 3D) in A549 and centrations of hCM-GSF after heating were similar, and Hep3B cells infected with the virus underlying heat no significant difference was observed between first, sec- treatment for 24 hrs and no heat treatment for 24 and ond,andthirdheatingtreatments. 48hrs.Resultsshowed thattherewerenosignificantdif- ferences in hIL-12 levels between 24 and 48 hrs in both Discussion A549 and Hep3B cells infected with 3 different viral Combined gene delivery has been widely adopted in gene doses underlying no heat treatment, but a significant in- therapy to increase therapeutic efficacy. However, some crease in A549 and Hep3B cells was observed after 24 geneproductsareverytoxictonormaltissues,whichlimit hrs of heat treatment. These results suggest that hIL-12 effective clinical application. To overcome this obstacle, expression is heat-inducible, but not time-dependent. In the expression of one or more genes in the combined de- contrast, significant differences in hGM-CSF levels were livery should be regulated. Gene therapy utilizing a com- observed in A549 and Hep3B cells infected with 500 vp bination of IL-12 and GM-CSF has been previously and 1000 vp virus underlying no heat treatment for 24 established [4,5]. In this strategy, GM-CSF is able to and 48 hrs. In A549 cells, heat treatment for 24 hrs stimulate proliferation, maturation, and function of anti- increased hGM-CSF levels, but hGM-CSF levels were gen representation cells, while IL-12 is able to enhance Weietal.JournalofExperimental&ClinicalCancerResearch2013,32:5 Page5of7 http://www.jeccr.com/content/32/1/5 Figure3ThetimedependenceofhGM-CSFandhIL-12expressioninheattreatedA549andHep3Bcells.Cellswereinfectedandheated asdescribedinFigure2.Mediumwascollectedat24and48hrsafterheatingtreatment.A)hIL-12expressioninA549andHep3Bcells. B)hGM-CSFexpressioninA549andHep3bcells.C)ComparisonofhIL-12expressionbetweencellsheatedfor24hrsandcellswithoutheating for24and48hrs.D)ComparisonofhGM-CSFexpressionbetweencellsheatedfor24hrsandcellswithoutheatingfor24and48hrs.N=5 repeatedexperiments. T-helper1cell’simmunity,increase cytotoxicityofT-lym- via a heat-inducible promoter. After viral infection, heat phocytes, and inhibit angiogenesis [5,8]. Another benefit stressinducedapulse-likeexpressionof hIL-12andahigh of this strategy is that IL-12 can counteract the negative constitutiveexpressionofhGM-CSFinvitroandinvivo. regulation of GM-CSF on Tc cells [7]. However, high Consistent with previous reports, constitutive hIL-12 toxicity was observed with this combination due to the expression was very low in both the A549 and Hep3B consistently high IL-12 expression. To overcome the high cells under no heating. Heat stress induced 15 to 19 fold toxicity, we constructed an adenovirus to constitutively increases in hIL-12 expression in cultured cells, while it expresshumanGM-CSFwhilecontrollingIL-12expression induced a 16.9 fold increase in Hep3B tumor tissues Weietal.JournalofExperimental&ClinicalCancerResearch2013,32:5 Page6of7 http://www.jeccr.com/content/32/1/5 producedrelativelyhigheramplificationrateinhIL-12ex- pressiondue tothe existence oflowleak in hsp promoter activity. This observation supports the idea that the virus dose can be selected for clinical application. We acknow- ledgethatwedidn’ttestthetemperature-dependenteffect of IL-12 expression and that is a weakness to this study. However, previous studies demonstrated a temperature- dependent effect in hsp70 promoter controlled gene ex- pression [19,20]. The second weakness is that the activity andtoxicityofinduciblehumanIL-12cannotbetestedin the animalmodelbecause human IL-12 shows noactivity in animals and the nude mice used in this study are immunodeficient. In this study, the adenovirus was constructed with a CMV-IEpromotertocontrolhumanGM-CSFexpression. The CMV promoter should produce highly constitutive hGM-CSF expression. However, heat treatment at 45°C increased hGM-CSF expression by 1-1.5 folds in A549 cells and 2-3 folds in Hep3B cells. In addition, the in vivo heating study revealed that although the first heat treat- ment induced a 2-fold increase in hGM-CSF expression, the second and third heat treatments didn’t increase hGM-CSF expression as much as the first treatment. In contrast, hGM-CSF expression was stable for 6 days after first heat treatment and declined on day 7. This observa- tionsuggeststhattheheat-induciblehGM-CSFexpression isnotheat-dependentbuttime-dependent.Wealsonoted thatheatinductionof hGM-CSFexpressionismoreobvi- ousinHep3BcellsthaninA549cells,suggestingcelltype dependence. Recently, the stimulating effect of heat stress Figure4hGM-CSFandhIL-12expressioninHep3Btumor on CMV promoter activity has been studied [21,22]. Al- tissues.Adcmv-GMCSF-hsp-hIL12wasintratumorlyinjected.Tumors thoughthepossiblemechanismsmightbecomplex,acon- werenotheated,heatedfor1time,2time,and3timesat42°Cfor siderable homology to the heat stress element core 40min.Animalsweresacrificedatdifferenttimepointandtumor consensus(GA–TCC)within18bpelementsinIEenhan- tissueswerehomogenizedforhGM-CSFandhIL12detection.A)hIL-12 expressionintumortissues.B)hGM-CSFexpressionintumortissues. cer might be the most reasonable explanation [21,23]. N=5micepergroup. Heat stress might regulate CMV-IE activity directly and indirectly through heat-activated transcription factors. Heat stress inducing various transcriptional factors, in- after a second heat treatment. This suggests that hsp70 cluding those activating the CMV-IE promoter, has been promoter is highly inducible with low background acti- reported [21,22]. Therefore, the cell type dependence vity. Consistent with our previous findings, heat-induced might reflect the high specificity of the signaling pathway hIL-12 expression peaked at 24 hrs and began to decline andtranscriptionfactors. at 48 hrs post heat treatment [18]. This pattern can re- In this study, we established constitutive high expres- ducethe consistentlyhighIL-12expression-inducedtox- sion of human GM-CSF and heat-induced expression of icity. In addition, we found that the second heat human IL-12 with a single adenoviral vector. The heat- treatment is more effective than the first heat treatment induced hIL-12 expression has a pulse like shape with a in inducing hIL-12 expression, but the third heat treat- peak at 24 hrs post heat stress that is maintained for ment is less effective than the second heat treatment. 24 hrs in tumor tissues. Repeated heat treatments are ef- The lower efficacy of the third heat treatment in indu- fective but limited by the clearance of non-replicating cing gene expression may suggest that one injection of adenovirus. Together with the low background activity non-replicating adenovirus can only support a limited of hsp70 promoter, heat induced gene expression number of heat treatments that induce gene expression. enables a fairly strict control of gene expression, which Inaddition,highvirusdosecouldproducehighhIL-12ex- diminishes the cytotoxicity of toxic cytokines . We also pression under heat stress. However, low dose infection observed that the CMV-IE promoter driven constitutive Weietal.JournalofExperimental&ClinicalCancerResearch2013,32:5 Page7of7 http://www.jeccr.com/content/32/1/5 high expression of hGM-CSF could be stimulated by 18. HuangQ,HuJK,LohrF,ZhangL,BraunR,LanzenJ,LittleJB,DewhirstMW, heat stress in a cell type dependent manner. However, LiCY:Heat-inducedgeneexpressionasanoveltargetedcancergene therapystrategy.CancerRes2000,60:3435–3439. the CMV-IE promoter activity cannot be regulated by 19. DammeyerP,JaramilloMC,PipesBL,BadowskiMS,TsangTC,HarrisDT: heat stress. Our study provided solid evidence for the Heat-inducibleamplifiervectorforhigh-levelexpressionofgranulocyte- feasibility of heat-induced regulation of gene expression macrophagecolony-stimulatingfactor.IntJHyperthermia2006, 22:407–419. inacombinedgene deliveryvector. 20. SiddiquiF,LiCY,ZhangX,LarueSM,DewhirstMW,UllrichRL,AveryPR: Characterizationofarecombinantadenovirusvectorencoding Competinginterests heat-induciblefelineinterleukin-12foruseinhyperthermia-induced Allauthorsdeclarednoanyconflictofinterest. gene-therapy.IntJHyperthermia2006,22:117–134. 21. KobeltD,AumannJ,FichtnerI,SteinU,SchlagPM,WaltherW:Activation Authors’contribution oftheCMV-IEpromoterbyhyperthermiainvitroandinvivo:biphasic FW:Conductexperiments,preparemanuscriptHW:performexperiment,data heatinductionofcytosinedeaminasesuicidegeneexpression. analysisJZ:performexperimentsXC:cellcultureCL:experimentdesign, MolBiotechnol2010,46:197–205. manuscriptrevisionQH:experimentdesign,finalapprovalofmanuscript.All 22. PshenichkinS,SurinA,SurinaE,KlauzińskaM,GrajkowskaE,LuchenkoV, authorsreadandapprovedthefinalmanuscript. DolińskaM,WroblewskaB,WroblewskiJT:HeatshockenhancesCMV-IE promoter-drivenmetabotropicglutamatereceptorexpressionand Acknowledgement toxicityintransfectedcells.Neuropharmacology2011,60:1292–1300. ThisprojectwassupportedbygrantsfromNationalBasicResearchProgram 23. 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