Transcriptome Analysis of Human Glioblastoma Cells Susceptible to Infection with the Leningrad-16 Vaccine Strain of Measles Virus

Human Melanoma and Glioblastoma Cells Express Cathepsins Supporting Reovirus Moscow Strain Infection

This study evaluates the oncolytic potential of the Moscow strain of reovirus against human metastatic melanoma and glioblastoma cells. The Moscow strain effectively infects and replicates within human melanoma cell lines and primary glioblastoma cells, while sparing non-malignant human cells. Infection leads to the selective destruction of neoplastic cells, mediated by functional viral replication. A positive correlation was identified between viral RNA accumulation and tumor cell death, with no replication observed in non-malignant cells. This study highlights the critical roles of cathepsins B, L, and S as mediators of the oncolytic process. The pharmacological inhibition of these enzymes significantly attenuated reovirus-induced cytotoxicity in melanoma and glioblastoma cells. Conversely, PKR production analysis revealed minimal activation in reovirus-infected tumor cells, suggesting that the hyperactivation of the RAS-signaling pathway and subsequent PKR inhibition do not directly contribute to the selective efficacy of reovirus. Moreover, infected tumor cells exhibited features of both apoptotic and non-apoptotic death, emphasizing the intricate mechanisms of reovirus-mediated oncolysis. These findings underscore the therapeutic promise of the Moscow strain of reovirus as a selective and potent oncolytic agent for targeting melanoma and glioblastoma cells.

Dimeric Bis-Benzimidazole-Pyrroles DB2Py(n) - AT-Site-Specific Ligands: Synthesis, Physicochemical Analysis, and Biological Activity

Its broad spectrum of biological activity makes benzimidazole a fundamental pharmacophore in pharmaceutics. The paper describes newly synthesized AT-specific fluorescent bis-benzimidazole molecules DB2Py(n) that contain a pyrrolcarboxamide fragment of the antibiotic drug netropsin. Physico-chemical methods using absorption, fluorescence, and circular dichroism spectra have shown the ability of bis-benzimidazole- pyrroles to form complexes with DNA. The new DB2Py(n) series have turned out to be more toxic to human tumor lines and less vulnerable to non-tumor cell lines. Bis-benzimidazole-pyrroles penetrated the cell nucleus, affected the cell-cycle synthesis (S) phase, and inhibited eukaryotic topoisomerase I in a cellfree model at low concentrations. A real-time tumor cell proliferation test confirmed the molecule's enhanced toxic properties upon dimerization. Preliminary cytotoxicity data for the bis-benzimidazole-pyrroles tested in a cell model with a MDR phenotype showed that monomeric compounds can overcome MDR, while dimerization weakens this ability to its intermediate values as compared to doxorubicin. In this respect, the newly synthesized cytotoxic structures seem promising for further, in-depth study of their properties and action mechanism in relation to human tumor cells, as well as for designing new AT-specific ligands.

Virus-Host Protein Interaction Network of the Hepatitis E Virus ORF2-4 by Mammalian Two-Hybrid Assays

Throughout their life cycle, viruses interact with cellular host factors, thereby influencing propagation, host range, cell tropism and pathogenesis. The hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an underestimated RNA virus in which knowledge of the virus-host interaction network to date is limited. Here, two related high-throughput mammalian two-hybrid approaches (MAPPIT and KISS) were used to screen for HEV-interacting host proteins. Promising hits were examined on protein function, involved pathway(s), and their relation to other viruses. We identified 37 ORF2 hits, 187 for ORF3 and 91 for ORF4. Several hits had functions in the life cycle of distinct viruses. We focused on SHARPIN and RNF5 as candidate hits for ORF3, as they are involved in the RLR-MAVS pathway and interferon (IFN) induction during viral infections. Knocking out (KO) SHARPIN and RNF5 resulted in a different IFN response upon ORF3 transfection, compared to wild-type cells. Moreover, infection was increased in SHARPIN KO cells and decreased in RNF5 KO cells. In conclusion, MAPPIT and KISS are valuable tools to study virus-host interactions, providing insights into the poorly understood HEV life cycle. We further provide evidence for two identified hits as new host factors in the HEV life cycle.