Alexandra Pisklakova1, Brienne McKenzie1, Franz Zemp1, Xueqing Lun1, Rajappa S Kenchappa1, Arnold B Etame1, Masmudur M Rahman1, Karlyne Reilly1, Shari Pilon-Thomas1, Grant McFadden1, Ebba Kurz1, Peter A Forsyth1. 1. Department of Neuro-Oncology and Tumor Biology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida (A.P., R.S.K., A.B.E., P.A.F.); Southern Alberta Cancer Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada (B.M., F.Z., X.L., E.K., P.A.F.); Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida (M.M.R., G.M.); Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland (K.R.); Department of Immunology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida (S.P.-T.).
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Myxoma virus (MYXV) is a promising oncolytic agent and is highly effective against immortalized glioma cells but less effective against brain tumor initiating cells (BTICs), which are believed to mediate glioma development/recurrence. MYXV encodes various proteins to attenuate host cell apoptosis, including an antiapoptotic Bcl-2 homologue known as M011L. Such proteins may limit the ability of MYXV to kill BTICs, which have heightened resistance to apoptosis. We hypothesized that infecting BTICs with an M011L-deficient MYXV construct would overcome BTIC resistance to MYXV. METHODS: We used patient-derived BTICs to evaluate the efficacy of M011L knockout virus (vMyx-M011L-KO) versus wild-type MYXV (vMyx-WT) and characterized the mechanism of virus-induced cell death in vitro. To extend our findings in a novel immunocompetent animal model, we derived, cultured, and characterized a C57Bl/6J murine BTIC (mBTIC0309) from a spontaneous murine glioma and evaluated vMyx-M011L-KO efficacy with and without temozolomide (TMZ) in mBTIC0309-bearing mice. RESULTS: We demonstrated that vMyx-M011L-KO induces apoptosis in BTICs, dramatically increasing sensitivity to the virus. vMyx-WT failed to induce apoptosis as M011L protein prevented Bax activation and cytochrome c release. In vivo, intracranial implantation of mBTIC0309 generated tumors that closely recapitulated the pathological and molecular profile of human gliomas. Treatment of tumor-bearing mice with vMyx-M011L-KO significantly prolonged survival in immunocompetent-but not immunodeficient-mouse models, an effect that is significantly enhanced in combination with TMZ. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that vMyx-M011L-KO is an effective, well-tolerated, proapoptotic oncolytic virus and a strong candidate for clinical translation.
BACKGROUND:Myxoma virus (MYXV) is a promising oncolytic agent and is highly effective against immortalized glioma cells but less effective against brain tumor initiating cells (BTICs), which are believed to mediate glioma development/recurrence. MYXV encodes various proteins to attenuate host cell apoptosis, including an antiapoptotic Bcl-2 homologue known as M011L. Such proteins may limit the ability of MYXV to kill BTICs, which have heightened resistance to apoptosis. We hypothesized that infecting BTICs with an M011L-deficient MYXV construct would overcome BTIC resistance to MYXV. METHODS: We used patient-derived BTICs to evaluate the efficacy of M011L knockout virus (vMyx-M011L-KO) versus wild-type MYXV (vMyx-WT) and characterized the mechanism of virus-induced cell death in vitro. To extend our findings in a novel immunocompetent animal model, we derived, cultured, and characterized a C57Bl/6J murine BTIC (mBTIC0309) from a spontaneous murineglioma and evaluated vMyx-M011L-KO efficacy with and without temozolomide (TMZ) in mBTIC0309-bearing mice. RESULTS: We demonstrated that vMyx-M011L-KO induces apoptosis in BTICs, dramatically increasing sensitivity to the virus. vMyx-WT failed to induce apoptosis as M011L protein prevented Bax activation and cytochrome c release. In vivo, intracranial implantation of mBTIC0309 generated tumors that closely recapitulated the pathological and molecular profile of humangliomas. Treatment of tumor-bearing mice with vMyx-M011L-KO significantly prolonged survival in immunocompetent-but not immunodeficient-mouse models, an effect that is significantly enhanced in combination with TMZ. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that vMyx-M011L-KO is an effective, well-tolerated, proapoptotic oncolytic virus and a strong candidate for clinical translation.
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