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. 2016 Aug 2;7(36):58684–58695. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.11017

Figure 1. Engineered stem cells for metastatic cancer treatment.

Figure 1

a. Stem cells can be engineered to secrete antitumor molecules that function directly on tumor cells. For example, TRAIL, CD40L, IFN, and IL-12 bind to their receptors expressed by tumor cells and induce apoptosis. b. Stem cells can be engineered to express prodrug activating enzymes, including cytosine deaminase (CD) or carboxylesterase (CE), which converts a prodrug into a cytotoxic molecule. This induces suicide of the stem cell and apoptosis of tumor cells. c. Stem cells can be modified to express a syncytium formation factor on their membrane. The vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G) expressed on the stem cell surface bind with the tumor membrane. As a result, syncytium formation is promoted by stem cell in tumor microenvironment condition and induced tumor apoptosis.