Approach for the development of new gene therapy method using cell signal transduction

Protein kinase C (PKC) alpha plays a key role in the differentiation and proliferation of tumor cell. The development of new carrier for the gene therapy and its application to animal were tested. The carrier was made by the synthesis of peptide with high phosphorylation reaction on PKC alpha and polyacrylamide. The anionic DNA was connected with cationic peptides and was released after the phosphorylation reaction with PKC alpha. Higher phosphorylation results from melanoma tissues were obtained, compared with normal subcutaneous tissues, suggesting that the new developed method using the cell signal transduction response to PKC alpha can be applied to tumor treatment.