PML has a predictive role in tumor cell permissiveness to interferon-sensitive oncolytic viruses

Oncolytic virotherapy in hepato-bilio-pancreatic cancer: The key to breaking the log jam?

Traditional therapies have limited efficacy in hepatocellular carcinoma, pancreatic cancer, and biliary tract cancer, especially for advanced and refractory cancers. Through a deeper understanding of antitumor immunity and the tumor microenvironment, novel immunotherapies are becoming available for cancer treatment. Oncolytic virus (OV) therapy is an emerging type of immunotherapy that has demonstrated effective antitumor efficacy in many preclinical studies and clinical studies. Thus, it may represent a potential feasible treatment for hard to treat gastrointestinal (GI) tumors. Here, we summarize the research progress of OV therapy for the treatment of hepato-bilio-pancreatic cancers. In general, most OV therapies exhibits potent, specific oncolysis both in cell lines in vitro and the animal models in vivo. Currently, several clinical trials have suggested that OV therapy may also be effective in patients with refractory hepato-bilio-pancreatic cancer. Multiple strategies such as introducing immunostimulatory genes, modifying virus capsid and combining various other therapeutic modalities have been shown enhanced specific oncolysis and synergistic anti-cancer immune stimulation. Combining OV with other antitumor therapies may become a more effective strategy than using virus alone. Nevertheless, more studies are needed to better understand the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of OV, and to design appropriate dosing and combination strategies.

Plasticity of Type I Interferon-Mediated Responses in Cancer Therapy: From Anti-tumor Immunity to Resistance

The efficacy of several therapeutic strategies against cancer, including cytotoxic drugs, radiotherapy, targeted immunotherapies and oncolytic viruses, depend on intact type I interferon (IFN) signaling for the promotion of both direct (tumor cell inhibition) and indirect (anti-tumor immune responses) effects. Malfunctions of this pathway in tumor cells or in immune cells may be responsible for the lack of response or resistance. Although type I IFN signaling is required to trigger anti-tumor immunity, emerging evidence indicates that chronic activation of type I IFN pathway may be involved in mediating resistance to different cancer treatments. The plastic and dynamic features of type I IFN responses should be carefully considered to fully exploit the therapeutic potential of strategies targeting IFN signaling. Here, we review available evidence supporting the involvement of type I IFN signaling in mediating resistance to various cancer therapies and highlight the most promising modalities that are being tested to overcome resistance.

Designing Herpes Viruses as Oncolytics

Oncolytic herpes simplex virus (oHSV) was one of the first genetically-engineered oncolytic viruses. Because herpes simplex virus (HSV) is a natural human pathogen that can cause serious disease, it is incumbent that it be genetically-engineered or significantly attenuated for safety. Here we present a detailed explanation of the functions of HSV-1 genes frequently mutated to endow oncolytic activity. These genes are non-essential for growth in tissue culture cells but are important for growth in post-mitotic cells, interfering with intrinsic antiviral and innate immune responses or causing pathology, functions dispensable for replication in cancer cells. Understanding the function of these genes leads to informed creation of new oHSVs with better therapeutic efficacy. Virus infection and replication can also be directed to cancer cells through tumor-selective receptor binding and transcriptional- or post-transcriptional miRNA-targeting, respectively. In addition to the direct effects of oHSV on infected cancer cells and tumors, oHSV can be 'armed' with transgenes that are: reporters, to track virus replication and spread; cytotoxic, to kill uninfected tumor cells; immune modulatory, to stimulate anti-tumor immunity; or tumor microenvironment altering, to enhance virus spread or to inhibit tumor growth. In addition to HSV-1, other alphaherpesviruses are also discussed for their oncolytic activity.

Inhibition of Indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) in Glioblastoma Cells by Oncolytic Herpes Simplex Virus

Successful oncolytic virus treatment of malignant glioblastoma multiforme depends on widespread tumor-specific lytic virus replication and escape from mitigating innate immune responses to infection. Here we characterize a new HSV vector, JD0G, that is deleted for ICP0 and the joint sequences separating the unique long and short elements of the viral genome. We observed that JD0G replication was enhanced in certain glioblastoma cell lines compared to HEL cells, suggesting that a vector backbone deleted for ICP0 may be useful for treatment of glioblastoma. The innate immune response to virus infection can potentially impede oncolytic vector replication in human tumors. Indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is expressed in response to interferon γ (IFNγ) and has been linked to both antiviral functions and to the immune escape of tumor cells. We observed that IFNγ treatment of human glioblastoma cells induced the expression of IDO and that this expression was quelled by infection with both wild-type and JD0G viruses. The role of IDO in inhibiting virus replication and the connection of this protein to the escape of tumor cells from immune surveillance suggest that IDO downregulation by HSV infection may enhance the oncolytic activity of vectors such as JD0G.

PML isoforms I and II participate in PML-dependent restriction of HSV-1 replication

Intrinsic antiviral resistance mediated by constitutively expressed cellular proteins is one arm of defence against virus infection. Promyelocytic leukaemia nuclear bodies (PML-NBs, also known as ND10) contribute to host restriction of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) replication via mechanisms that are counteracted by viral regulatory protein ICP0. ND10 assembly is dependent on PML, which comprises several different isoforms, and depletion of all PML isoforms decreases cellular resistance to ICP0-null mutant HSV-1. We report that individual expression of PML isoforms I and II partially reverses the increase in ICP0-null mutant HSV-1 plaque formation that occurs in PML-depleted cells. This activity of PML isoform I is dependent on SUMO modification, its SUMO interaction motif (SIM), and each element of its TRIM domain. Detailed analysis revealed that the punctate foci formed by individual PML isoforms differ subtly from normal ND10 in terms of composition and/or Sp100 modification. Surprisingly, deletion of the SIM motif from PML isoform I resulted in increased colocalisation with other major ND10 components in cells lacking endogenous PML. Our observations suggest that complete functionality of PML is dependent on isoform-specific C-terminal sequences acting in concert.

Adaptive antiviral immunity is a determinant of the therapeutic success of oncolytic virotherapy

Oncolytic virotherapy, the selective killing of tumor cells by oncolytic viruses (OVs), has emerged as a promising avenue of anticancer research. We have previously shown that KM100, a Herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV) deficient for infected cell protein 0 (ICP0), possesses substantial oncolytic properties in vitro and has antitumor efficacy in vivo, in part by inducing antitumor immunity. Here, we illustrate through T-cell immunodepletion studies in nontolerized tumor-associated antigen models of breast cancer that KM100 treatment promotes antiviral and antitumor CD8(+) cytotoxic T-cell responses necessary for complete tumor regression. In tolerized tumor-associated antigen models of breast cancer, antiviral CD8(+) cytotoxic T-cell responses against infected tumor cells correlated with the induction of significant tumoristasis in the absence of tumor-associated antigen-specific CD8(+) cytotoxic T-cells. To enhance oncolysis, we tested a more cytopathic ICP0-null HSV and a vesicular stomatitis virus M protein mutant and found that despite improved in vitro replication, oncolysis in vivo did not improve. These studies illustrate that the in vitro cytolytic properties of OVs are poor prognostic indicators of in vivo antitumor activity, and underscore the importance of adaptive antiviral CD8(+) cytotoxic T-cells in effective cancer virotherapy.