Butyric acid enhances in vivo expression of hTNF-α in transduced melanoma cell line

Butyric acid (NaBut) and its derivatives are well-known agents eliciting tumor cell differentiation and apoptosis. In experimental models, NaBut is also used to enhance the efficacy of viral vectors. With the use of B78 murine melanoma cells transduced with the retroviral vector containing human tumor necrosis factor a (hTNF-α) gene, we investigated the ability of NaBut to increase the cytokine expression. We observed an increase in hTNF-α expression in vitro after incubation with NaBut. We also describe that the NaBut pro-drug tributyrin is able to increase hTNF-α expression in transduced B78 cells in a tumor vaccination model in mice. This observation strongly suggests a novel potential role for NaBut and its derivatives in tumor therapy. It could be used not only as a therapeutic directly acting on tumor cells but, in parallel, as a genetic vaccine "enhancer".