Suicide Gene-Mediated Modulation of Graft-Versus-Host Disease

The development of suicide genes and progress in retroviral gene transfer to T-cells open new perspectives for the treatment of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for leukemia and lymphoma. Indeed, suicide genes that metabolize inactive prodrugs into compounds toxic for dividing cells provide a powerful means for the pharmacogenetic control of T-cell reactivity. Here, we demonstrate the selective destruction of activated TK-transgenic T-cells in vivo and develop two new transgenic lines which should be useful for preclinical studies of suicide gene therapy strategies for GVHD.