Activity and tissue-specificity of the AFP promoter.

<p>(A) Construction of recombinant lentiviral vectors containing GFP reporter gene driven by AFP promoter or CMV promoter (AFP-GFP and CMV-GFP) for AFP promoter assay. (B,D) The AFP promoter is active and HCC tissue-specific. GFP was highly expressed in AFP-producing HCC cells (HepG2, Hep3B, and HCCLM3) but not in non-HCC cells (normal hepacyte L-02, cervical cancer cell Hela, and colon cancer cell SW1116). (C,E) The AFP promoter was efficient for transgenic expression but its activity was weaker than CMV-promoter, as exemplified by HCCLM3 cells infected with AFP-GFP (MOI = 5–80) and CMV-GFP (MOI = 5).