scholarly journals Unleashing the Full Potential of Oncolytic Adenoviruses against Cancer by Applying RNA Interference: The Force Awakens

Cells ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tereza Brachtlova ◽  
Victor van Beusechem
Keyword(s):  
Rna Interference ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Oncolytic Viruses ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Anticancer Efficacy ◽  
Host Interactions ◽  
Oncolytic Adenoviruses ◽  
Cellular Factors ◽  
Immunotherapy Of Cancer ◽  
Cellular Pathways

Oncolytic virus therapy of cancer is an actively pursued field of research. Viruses that were once considered as pathogens threatening the wellbeing of humans and animals alike are with every passing decade more prominently regarded as vehicles for genetic and oncolytic therapies. Oncolytic viruses kill cancer cells, sparing healthy tissues, and provoke an anticancer immune response. Among these viruses, recombinant adenoviruses are particularly attractive agents for oncolytic immunotherapy of cancer. Different approaches are currently examined to maximize their therapeutic effect. Here, knowledge of virus–host interactions may lead the way. In this regard, viral and host microRNAs are of particular interest. In addition, cellular factors inhibiting viral replication or dampening immune responses are being discovered. Therefore, applying RNA interference is an attractive approach to strengthen the anticancer efficacy of oncolytic viruses gaining attention in recent years. RNA interference can be used to fortify the virus’ cancer cell-killing and immune-stimulating properties and to suppress cellular pathways to cripple the tumor. In this review, we discuss different ways of how RNA interference may be utilized to increase the efficacy of oncolytic adenoviruses, to reveal their full potential.

scholarly journals Oncolytic Adenovirus in Cancer Immunotherapy

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3354
Author(s):  
Malin Peter ◽  
Florian Kühnel
Keyword(s):  
Immune Responses ◽  
Adoptive Cell Transfer ◽  
Oncolytic Viruses ◽  
Effector Functions ◽  
Oncolytic Adenoviruses ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Immunotherapy Of Cancer ◽  
Infected Tumor ◽  
Complete Tumor

Tumor-selective replicating “oncolytic” viruses are novel and promising tools for immunotherapy of cancer. However, despite their first success in clinical trials, previous experience suggests that currently used oncolytic virus monotherapies will not be effective enough to achieve complete tumor responses and long-term cure in a broad spectrum of cancers. Nevertheless, there are reasonable arguments that suggest advanced oncolytic viruses will play an essential role as enablers of multi-stage immunotherapies including established systemic immunotherapies. Oncolytic adenoviruses (oAds) display several features to meet this therapeutic need. oAds potently lyse infected tumor cells and induce a strong immunogenic cell death associated with tumor inflammation and induction of antitumor immune responses. Furthermore, established and versatile platforms of oAds exist, which are well suited for the incorporation of heterologous genes to optimally exploit and amplify the immunostimulatory effect of viral oncolysis. A considerable spectrum of functional genes has already been integrated in oAds to optimize particular aspects of immune stimulation including antigen presentation, T cell priming, engagement of additional effector functions, and interference with immunosuppression. These advanced concepts have the potential to play a promising future role as enablers of multi-stage immunotherapies involving adoptive cell transfer and systemic immunotherapies.

scholarly journals Past, Present and Future of Oncolytic Reovirus

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3219
Author(s):  
Louise Müller ◽  
Robert Berkeley ◽  
Tyler Barr ◽  
Elizabeth Ilett ◽  
Fiona Errington-Mais
Keyword(s):  
Immune Responses ◽  
Therapeutic Agent ◽  
Tumour Microenvironment ◽  
Oncolytic Viruses ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Cellular Mechanisms ◽  
Tumour Immunity ◽  
Combination Strategies ◽  
Significant Attention ◽  
Promising Therapeutic Agent

Oncolytic virotherapy (OVT) has received significant attention in recent years, especially since the approval of talimogene Laherparepvec (T-VEC) in 2015 by the Food and Drug administration (FDA). Mechanistic studies of oncolytic viruses (OVs) have revealed that most, if not all, OVs induce direct oncolysis and stimulate innate and adaptive anti-tumour immunity. With the advancement of tumour modelling, allowing characterisation of the effects of tumour microenvironment (TME) components and identification of the cellular mechanisms required for cell death (both direct oncolysis and anti-tumour immune responses), it is clear that a “one size fits all” approach is not applicable to all OVs, or indeed the same OV across different tumour types and disease locations. This article will provide an unbiased review of oncolytic reovirus (clinically formulated as pelareorep), including the molecular and cellular requirements for reovirus oncolysis and anti-tumour immunity, reports of pre-clinical efficacy and its overall clinical trajectory. Moreover, as it is now abundantly clear that the true potential of all OVs, including reovirus, will only be reached upon the development of synergistic combination strategies, reovirus combination therapeutics will be discussed, including the limitations and challenges that remain to harness the full potential of this promising therapeutic agent.

Integrating Bioinformatics Strategies in Cancer Immunotherapy: Current and Future Perspectives

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 687-698 ◽  
Author(s):  
Houda N. Washah ◽  
Elliasu Y. Salifu ◽  
Opeyemi Soremekun ◽  
Ahmed A. Elrashedy ◽  
Geraldene Munsamy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Immunotherapy ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Cell Cancer ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Future Perspectives ◽  
The Past ◽  
Bioinformatics Tools ◽  
Treatment Paradigm ◽  
Immunotherapy Of Cancer ◽  
Significant Attention

For the past few decades, the mechanisms of immune responses to cancer have been exploited extensively and significant attention has been given into utilizing the therapeutic potential of the immune system. Cancer immunotherapy has been established as a promising innovative treatment for many forms of cancer. Immunotherapy has gained its prominence through various strategies, including cancer vaccines, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), adoptive T cell cancer therapy, and immune checkpoint therapy. However, the full potential of cancer immunotherapy is yet to be attained. Recent studies have identified the use of bioinformatics tools as a viable option to help transform the treatment paradigm of several tumors by providing a therapeutically efficient method of cataloging, predicting and selecting immunotherapeutic targets, which are known bottlenecks in the application of immunotherapy. Herein, we gave an insightful overview of the types of immunotherapy techniques used currently, their mechanisms of action, and discussed some bioinformatics tools and databases applied in the immunotherapy of cancer. This review also provides some future perspectives in the use of bioinformatics tools for immunotherapy.

scholarly journals Combining Oncolytic Viruses and Small Molecule Therapeutics: Mutual Benefits

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 3386
Author(s):  
Bart Spiesschaert ◽  
Katharina Angerer ◽  
John Park ◽  
Guido Wollmann
Keyword(s):  
Immune Response ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Small Molecule ◽  
Antiviral Immunity ◽  
Oncolytic Viruses ◽  
Antitumor Immune Response ◽  
Antiviral Responses ◽  
Small Molecule Therapeutics ◽  
Immunosuppressive Factors

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.

scholarly journals Oncolytic Viruses for Malignant Glioma: On the Verge of Success?

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1294
Author(s):  
Yogesh R. Suryawanshi ◽  
Autumn J. Schulze
Keyword(s):  
Immune Responses ◽  
Malignant Glioma ◽  
Blood Brain Barrier ◽  
Tumor Heterogeneity ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Oncolytic Viruses ◽  
Brain Barrier ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Blood Brain ◽  
Federal Authority

Glioblastoma is one of the most difficult tumor types to treat with conventional therapy options like tumor debulking and chemo- and radiotherapy. Immunotherapeutic agents like oncolytic viruses, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and chimeric antigen receptor T cells have revolutionized cancer therapy, but their success in glioblastoma remains limited and further optimization of immunotherapies is needed. Several oncolytic viruses have demonstrated the ability to infect tumors and trigger anti-tumor immune responses in malignant glioma patients. Leading the pack, oncolytic herpesvirus, first in its class, awaits an approval for treating malignant glioma from MHLW, the federal authority of Japan. Nevertheless, some major hurdles like the blood–brain barrier, the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, and tumor heterogeneity can engender suboptimal efficacy in malignant glioma. In this review, we discuss the current status of malignant glioma therapies with a focus on oncolytic viruses in clinical trials. Furthermore, we discuss the obstacles faced by oncolytic viruses in malignant glioma patients and strategies that are being used to overcome these limitations to (1) optimize delivery of oncolytic viruses beyond the blood–brain barrier; (2) trigger inflammatory immune responses in and around tumors; and (3) use multimodal therapies in combination to tackle tumor heterogeneity, with an end goal of optimizing the therapeutic outcome of oncolytic virotherapy.

scholarly journals Adenovirus and Immunotherapy: Advancing Cancer Treatment by Combination

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mizuho Sato-Dahlman ◽  
Christopher J. LaRocca ◽  
Chikako Yanagiba ◽  
Masato Yamamoto
Keyword(s):  
Gene Therapy ◽  
Cancer Treatment ◽  
Viral Vectors ◽  
Therapeutic Strategy ◽  
Tumor Antigens ◽  
Oncolytic Viruses ◽  
The Past ◽  
Oncolytic Adenoviruses ◽  
Gene Therapy Vectors ◽  
Preclinical And Clinical Studies

Gene therapy with viral vectors has significantly advanced in the past few decades, with adenovirus being one of the most commonly employed vectors for cancer gene therapy. Adenovirus vectors can be divided into 2 groups: (1) replication-deficient viruses; and (2) replication-competent, oncolytic (OVs) viruses. Replication-deficient adenoviruses have been explored as vaccine carriers and gene therapy vectors. Oncolytic adenoviruses are designed to selectively target, replicate, and directly destroy cancer cells. Additionally, virus-mediated cell lysis releases tumor antigens and induces local inflammation (e.g., immunogenic cell death), which contributes significantly to the reversal of local immune suppression and development of antitumor immune responses (“cold” tumor into “hot” tumor). There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that the host immune response may provide a critical boost for the efficacy of oncolytic virotherapy. Additionally, genetic engineering of oncolytic viruses allows local expression of immune therapeutics, thereby reducing related toxicities. Therefore, the combination of oncolytic virus and immunotherapy is an attractive therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment. In this review, we focus on adenovirus-based vectors and discuss recent progress in combination therapy of adenoviruses with immunotherapy in preclinical and clinical studies.

scholarly journals System-Based Approaches to Delineate the Antiviral Innate Immune Landscape

Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1196
Author(s):  
Karsten Krey ◽  
Aleksandra W. Babnis ◽  
Andreas Pichlmair
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Innate Immune ◽  
Host Interactions ◽  
Interferon Stimulated Genes ◽  
Cellular Processes ◽  
Virus Inhibition ◽  
Cellular Factors ◽  
Functional Factors ◽  
Infected Cells ◽  
Screening Approaches

Viruses pose substantial challenges for society, economy, healthcare systems, and research. Their distinctive pathologies are based on specific interactions with cellular factors. In order to develop new antiviral treatments, it is of central importance to understand how viruses interact with their host and how infected cells react to the virus on a molecular level. Invading viruses are commonly sensed by components of the innate immune system, which is composed of a highly effective yet complex network of proteins that, in most cases, mediate efficient virus inhibition. Central to this process is the activity of interferons and other cytokines that coordinate the antiviral response. So far, numerous methods have been used to identify how viruses interact with cellular processes and revealed that the innate immune response is highly complex and involves interferon-stimulated genes and their binding partners as functional factors. Novel approaches and careful experimental design, combined with large-scale, high-throughput methods and cutting-edge analysis pipelines, have to be utilized to delineate the antiviral innate immune landscape at a global level. In this review, we describe different currently used screening approaches, how they contributed to our knowledge on virus–host interactions, and essential considerations that have to be taken into account when planning such experiments.

scholarly journals Hitting the Target but Missing the Point: Recent Progress towards Adenovirus-Based Precision Virotherapies

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3327
Author(s):  
Tabitha G. Cunliffe ◽  
Emily A. Bates ◽  
Alan L. Parker
Keyword(s):  
Viral Genome ◽  
Recent Progress ◽  
Oncolytic Viruses ◽  
Transformed Cells ◽  
Immunogenic Cell Death ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Immune Mediated ◽  
Efficacious Treatment ◽  
Anti Cancer ◽  
Improvement In Survival

More people are surviving longer with cancer. Whilst this can be partially attributed to advances in early detection of cancers, there is little doubt that the improvement in survival statistics is also due to the expansion in the spectrum of treatments available for efficacious treatment. Transformative amongst those are immunotherapies, which have proven effective agents for treating immunogenic forms of cancer, although immunologically “cold” tumour types remain refractive. Oncolytic viruses, such as those based on adenovirus, have great potential as anti-cancer agents and have seen a resurgence of interest in recent years. Amongst their many advantages is their ability to induce immunogenic cell death (ICD) of infected tumour cells, thus providing the alluring potential to synergise with immunotherapies by turning immunologically “cold” tumours “hot”. Additionally, enhanced immune mediated cell killing can be promoted through the local overexpression of immunological transgenes, encoded from within the engineered viral genome. To achieve this full potential requires the development of refined, tumour selective “precision virotherapies” that are extensively engineered to prevent off-target up take via native routes of infection and targeted to infect and replicate uniquely within malignantly transformed cells. Here, we review the latest advances towards this holy grail within the adenoviral field.

scholarly journals Bacteria-triggered tumor-specific thrombosis to enable potent photothermal immunotherapy of cancer

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (33) ◽  
pp. eaba3546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuan Yi ◽  
Hailin Zhou ◽  
Yu Chao ◽  
Saisai Xiong ◽  
Jing Zhong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Responses ◽  
Photothermal Therapy ◽  
Tumor Metastasis ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Photoacoustic Imaging ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Blockade ◽  
Immune Memory ◽  
Immunotherapy Of Cancer ◽  
Rapid Clearance ◽  
Inhibit Tumor Metastasis

We discovered that attenuated Salmonella after intravenous injection would proliferate within various types of solid tumors but show rapid clearance in normal organs, without rendering notable toxicity. Bacteria-induced inflammation would trigger thrombosis in the infected tumors by destroying tumor blood vessels. Six types of tested tumors would all turn into darkened color with strong near-infrared absorbance, as observed by photoacoustic imaging. Under laser irradiation, those bacterial-infected tumors would be effectively ablated. Because of the immune-stimulation function, such bacteria-based photothermal therapy (PTT) would subsequently trigger antitumor immune responses, which could be further enhanced by immune checkpoint blockade to effectively suppress the growth of abscopal tumors. A robust immune memory effect to reject rechallenged tumors is also observed after bacteria-based PTT. Our work demonstrates that bacteria by themselves could act as a tumor-specific PTT agent to enable photoimmunotherapy cancer therapy to inhibit tumor metastasis and recurrence.

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