scholarly journals Recombinant adeno-associated viruses as a gene delivery vehicle for the use in molecular medicine

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
AV Blagov

Breast cancer (BC) is a cancer with a high prevalence and mortality among women worldwide. With the current diagnostics methods, BC may remain undetected at its early stages, and the therapies developed for the disease are associated with severe side effects. Oncolytic viruses can be the basis of the new, effective BC treatment approaches. The viruses destroy tumor cells directly and launch the antitumor immune response; this dual action supports their efficacy. It is possible to make the oncolytic virus therapy more effective by designing genetically modified viruses that can target BC cells better and/or induce a stronger antitumor immune response. This review outlines the directions of development of oncolytic viruses in BC treatment, covers the optimal ways of delivering viruses to the tumor and the efficacy of their use in combination with other therapeutic agents (methods) and presents the prospects of using oncolytic viruses in antitumor vaccines.

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 3386
Author(s):  
Bart Spiesschaert ◽  
Katharina Angerer ◽  
John Park ◽  
Guido Wollmann

The focus of treating cancer with oncolytic viruses (OVs) has increasingly shifted towards achieving efficacy through the induction and augmentation of an antitumor immune response. However, innate antiviral responses can limit the activity of many OVs within the tumor and several immunosuppressive factors can hamper any subsequent antitumor immune responses. In recent decades, numerous small molecule compounds that either inhibit the immunosuppressive features of tumor cells or antagonize antiviral immunity have been developed and tested for. Here we comprehensively review small molecule compounds that can achieve therapeutic synergy with OVs. We also elaborate on the mechanisms by which these treatments elicit anti-tumor effects as monotherapies and how these complement OV treatment.


Cancers ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justyna Struzik ◽  
Lidia Szulc-Dąbrowska

In recent years, oncolytic virotherapy became a promising therapeutic approach, leading to the introduction of a novel generation of anticancer drugs. However, despite evoking an antitumor response, introducing an oncolytic virus (OV) to the patient is still inefficient to overcome both tumor protective mechanisms and the limitation of viral replication by the host. In cancer treatment, nuclear factor (NF)-κB has been extensively studied among important therapeutic targets. The pleiotropic nature of NF-κB transcription factor includes its involvement in immunity and tumorigenesis. Therefore, in many types of cancer, aberrant activation of NF-κB can be observed. At the same time, the activity of NF-κB can be modified by OVs, which trigger an immune response and modulate NF-κB signaling. Due to the limitation of a monotherapy exploiting OVs only, the antitumor effect can be enhanced by combining OV with NF-κB-modulating drugs. This review describes the influence of OVs on NF-κB activation in tumor cells showing NF-κB signaling as an important aspect, which should be taken into consideration when targeting tumor cells by OVs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. i28-i29
Author(s):  
Montserrat Puigdelloses ◽  
Virginia Laspidea ◽  
Dolores Hambardzumyan ◽  
Zhihong Chen ◽  
Sumit Gupta ◽  
...  

Abstract Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is the leading cause of brain tumor-related death in children. It is characterised for having a non-inflammatory microenvironment and be immunologically inert. Therefore, strategies aiming to break the microenvironment status-quo in this disease could provide therapeutic benefit. The complement system promotes tumor progression due to the continuous production of anaphylatoxins leading to the infiltration of myeloid cells, which express high levels of complement receptors (C3aR and C5aR1). We have in silico data showing the high expression of C5aR1 in DIPGs. Thus, we wanted to assess first whether complement C5aR1 could constitute an actionable target, and second whether combining C5aR1 inhibitors with oncolytic virus could result in a superior antitumor immune response than either agent alone in DIPG. In this study, we used two different peptide inhibitors of C5aR1, PMX53 and PMX205 combined with the virus Delta-24-ACT (an oncolytic virus armed with 4-1BBL). We performed in vivo studies to evaluate the efficacy of this combination in immunocompetent DIPG models. Our data showed that the combination Delta-24-ACT/PMX53 significantly extended the median survival of the animals when compared with either agent alone, and led to long-term survivors that generated immune memory. The combination treatment modulated the tumor microenvironment promoting an increase in lymphocytes, mainly CD8+ cells presenting an active phenotype, and a reduction in C5aR1 expression in the myeloid compartment. We are currently evaluating in vivo whether PMX205, which has an improved ability to cross the blood brain barrier, leads to better therapeutic response. In summary, the combination of Delta-24-ACT with a C5aR1 inhibitor showed the capacity to shake the DIPG tumor microenvironment and unleashed an antitumor immune response. These data underscore the possibilities to combine oncolytic virus with targets of the tumor microenvironment to improve their therapeutic benefit in DIPGs.


Author(s):  
NYu Usman ◽  
DV Rebrikov

Viral mechanisms for the delivery of genetic material are widely used in molecular medicine. Recombinant adeno-associated viruses (rAAV) represent a promising tool for in vivo gene delivery. The review considers nosological spectrum, molecular mechanisms, the choice of drug administration route depending on target structures, the choice of serotype, and the methods of active ingredient manufacturing for rAAV-mediated gene therapy.


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