TY  - JOUR
A1  - Gentschev, Ivaylo
A1  - Adelfinger, Marion
A1  - Josupeit, Rafael
A1  - Rudolph, Stephan
A1  - Ehrig, Klaas
A1  - Donat, Ulrike
A1  - Weibel, Stephanie
A1  - Chen, Nanhai G.
A1  - Yu, Yong A.
A1  - Zhang, Qian
A1  - Heisig, Martin
A1  - Thamm, Douglas
A1  - Stritzker, Jochen
A1  - MacNeill, Amy
A1  - Szalay, Aladar A.
T1  - Preclinical Evaluation of Oncolytic Vaccinia Virus for Therapy of Canine Soft Tissue Sarcoma
JF  - PLoS One
N2  - Virotherapy using oncolytic vaccinia virus (VACV) strains is one promising new strategy for canine cancer therapy. In this study we describe the establishment of an in vivo model of canine soft tissue sarcoma (CSTS) using the new isolated cell line STSA-1 and the analysis of the virus-mediated oncolytic and immunological effects of two different Lister VACV LIVP1.1.1 and GLV-1h68 strains against CSTS. Cell culture data demonstrated that both tested VACV strains efficiently infected and destroyed cells of the canine soft tissue sarcoma line STSA-1. In addition, in our new canine sarcoma tumor xenograft mouse model, systemic administration of LIVP1.1.1 or GLV-1h68 viruses led to significant inhibition of tumor growth compared to control mice. Furthermore, LIVP1.1.1 mediated therapy resulted in almost complete tumor regression and resulted in long-term survival of sarcoma-bearing mice. The replication of the tested VACV strains in tumor tissues led to strong oncolytic effects accompanied by an intense intratumoral infiltration of host immune cells, mainly neutrophils. These findings suggest that the direct viral oncolysis of tumor cells and the virus-dependent activation of tumor-associated host immune cells could be crucial parts of anti-tumor mechanism in STSA-1 xenografts. In summary, the data showed that both tested vaccinia virus strains and especially LIVP1.1.1 have great potential for effective treatment of CSTS.
KW  - breast-tumors
KW  - animal-model
KW  - nude-mice
KW  - cell-line
KW  - in-vitro
KW  - glv-1h68
KW  - cancer
KW  - virotherapy
KW  - dogs
KW  - neutrophils
Y1  - 2012
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-129998
VL  - 7
IS  - 5
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Wang, Huiqiang
A1  - Chen, Nanhai G.
A1  - Minev, Boris R.
A1  - Szalay, Aladar A.
T1  - Oncolytic vaccinia virus GLV-1h68 strain shows enhanced replication in human breast cancer stem-like cells in comparison to breast cancer cells
JF  - Journal of Translational Medicine
N2  - Background: Recent data suggest that cancer stem cells (CSCs) play an important role in cancer, as these cells possess enhanced tumor-forming capabilities and are responsible for relapses after apparently curative therapies have been undertaken. Hence, novel cancer therapies will be needed to test for both tumor regression and CSC targeting. The use of oncolytic vaccinia virus (VACV) represents an attractive anti-tumor approach and is currently under evaluation in clinical trials. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate whether VACV does kill CSCs that are resistant to irradiation and chemotherapy. 
Methods: Cancer stem-like cells were identified and separated from the human breast cancer cell line GI-101A by virtue of increased aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1) activity as assessed by the ALDEFLUOR assay and cancer stem cell-like features such as chemo-resistance, irradiation-resistance and tumor-initiating were confirmed in cell culture and in animal models. VACV treatments were applied to both ALDEFLUOR-positive cells in cell culture and in xenograft tumors derived from these cells. Moreover, we identified and isolated CD44\(^+\)CD24\(^+\)ESA\(^+\) cells from GI-101A upon an epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). These cells were similarly characterized both in cell culture and in animal models. 
Results: We demonstrated for the first time that the oncolytic VACV GLV-1h68 strain replicated more efficiently in cells with higher ALDH1 activity that possessed stem cell-like features than in cells with lower ALDH1 activity. GLV-1h68 selectively colonized and eventually eradicated xenograft tumors originating from cells with higher ALDH1 activity. Furthermore, GLV-1h68 also showed preferential replication in CD44\(^+\)CD24\(^+\)ESA\(^+\) cells derived from GI-101A upon an EMT induction as well as in xenograft tumors originating from these cells that were more tumorigenic than CD44\(^+\)CD24\(^-\)ESA\(^+\) cells. 
Conclusions: Taken together, our findings indicate that GLV-1h68 efficiently replicates and kills cancer stem-like cells. Thus, GLV-1h68 may become a promising agent for eradicating both primary and metastatic tumors, especially tumors harboring cancer stem-like cells that are resistant to chemo and/or radiotherapy and may be responsible for recurrence of tumors.
KW  - tumors
KW  - therapy
KW  - metastasis
KW  - identification
KW  - lines
KW  - gene expression
KW  - in-vitro propagation
KW  - acute myeloid leukemia
KW  - epithelial-mesenchymal transition
KW  - subpopulation
Y1  - 2012
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-130019
VL  - 10
IS  - 167
ER  -