TY - THES A1 - Kirscher, Lorenz T1 - Melanogene rekombinante Vaccinia-Viren als diagnostisches und therapeutisches Agenz zur Tumorbehandlung T1 - Melanogenic recombinant Vaccina Viruses as diagnostic and therapeutic agent for tumor treatment N2 - Die gängigen therapeutischen Behandlungsmethoden für die verschiedensten Krebserkrankungen zeigen nach wie vor Mängel bezüglich der Effizienz sowie zahlreiche Nebenwirkungen während und nach der Behandlung. Maßgeblich für diese Defizite ist die teilweise geringe Sensitivität der meisten konventionellen diagnostischen Systeme und damit einhergehend die oftmals zu späte Identifikation entarteter Gewebsbereiche. Zur Lösung dieser Problematik bieten onkolytische Vaccinia-Viren einen Ansatz, sowohl die Effizienz der Therapie wie auch die Diagnostik zu verbessern. In beiden Fällen sind die Tumorzell-spezifische Vermehrung der Viren und die Möglichkeit entscheidend, die Viren als Vektorsystem zur Expression therapeutischer oder diagnostischer Fremdgenkassetten zu nutzen. Um ein auf Vaccinia-Virus-basierendes Reportersystem zum diagnostischen Nachweis von Krebszellen mittels Tiefengewebs-Tomographie bereit zu stellen, wurden die für die murine Tyrosinase (mTyr) und das Tyrosinase-Helferprotein 1 (Tyrp1) kodierenden Gene in das Genom eines onkolytischen Vaccinia-Virus inseriert. Die Tyrosinase ist das Schlüsselenzym der Melaninsynthese. Bereits die solitäre Expression der Tyrosinase führt in der transformierten Zelle zur Melaninproduktion. Das Tyrosinase-Helferprotein 1 ist an der Prozessierung und Stabilisierung der Tyrosinase beteiligt. Bereits in verschiedenen Studien konnte gezeigt werden, dass Melanin als Reportermolekül für die Magnetresonanz sowie für die multispektrale optoakustische Tomographie einsetzbar ist. Es wurde deswegen angestrebt, die Kombination aus dem therapeutischen Potential des onkolytischen Vaccinia-Virus und der diagnostischen Anwendung des Melanins als Reporter auszunutzen. Sämtliche in dieser Arbeit aufgeführten rekombinanten Vaccinia-Viren (rVACV) wurden von der Firma Genelux Corporation zur Verfügung gestellt und in dieser Arbeit hinsichtlich der therapeutischen Effizienz und des diagnostischen Potentials untersucht. In ersten Zellkultur-Versuchen wurde anhand verschiedener konstitutiv melanogener rVACV-Konstrukte festgestellt, dass die Kombination aus dem Vaccinia-Virus-spezifischen synthetic early/late Promotor und dem Enzym Tyrosinase (GLV-1h327) bzw. den Enzymen Tyrosinase und Tyrosinase-Helferprotein 1 (GLV-1h324) die höchste Melaninsynthese-Rate zeigte. Anschließend wurde mittels der Bestimmung der spektralen Absorption und der Enzymaktivität der viral kodierten Melanin synthetisierenden Enzyme sowie mikroskopischer Analysen gezeigt, dass es mit diesen auf 8 Vaccinia-Virus-basierenden melanogenen Reportersystemen möglich ist, die Melaninsynthese in nicht-melanogenen Zellen zu induzieren. Anhand elektronenmikroskopischer Untersuchungen in Zellkultur und ex vivo konnte gezeigt werden, dass die nach rVACV-Infektion stattfindende Melaninsynthese in den Lysosomen der Wirtszelle abläuft. Eine Analyse der atomaren Zusammensetzung des viral vermittelten Melanins ergab, dass es sich um eine Mischform aus Eu- und Phäomelanin handelt. Dieser Melanin-Mix ähnelte dem Melanin aus Haut und Augen, jedoch lagen an Melanin-gebundene Metallionen in erhöhtem Maß vor... N2 - The common therapeutic approaches available to treat various cancers still have deficiencies concerning their efficiency and side effects. Decisive for these deficiencies is the poor sensitivity of most of the conventional diagnostic systems and associated with that the late, sometimes too late, identification of tumorous tissue. The oncolytic vaccinia virus is an opportunity to enhance the efficiency of both the therapy and the diagnosis of tumor tissue. In both cases, the specificity for tumor cells and the simplicity of inserting foreign gene cassettes into the viral genome are key factors. The genes encoding murine tyrosinase (mTyr) and tyrosinase related protein 1 (Tyrp1) were inserted into the genome of an oncolytic vaccinia virus. Tyrosinase is the key enzyme during melanogenesis and expression of this enzyme alone can lead to melanin production. Tyrp1 is involved in processing and stabilizing tyrosinase. Various studies have demonstrated melanin to be an excellent reporter molecule for MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and MSOT (multispectral optoacoustic tomography). Therefore, melanogenic oncolytic vaccinia viruses were constructed to combine the therapeutic potential of this virus with diagnostic abilities of melanin. All recombinant vaccinia viruses (rVACV) mentioned were kindly provided by Genelux Corporation. In this thesis, we tested for their therapeutic efficiency and diagnostic potential. Initial cell culture experiments have shown that the combination of vaccinia virus-specific synthetic early/late promoter and the melanogenic enzyme tyrosinase (GLV-1h327) or the enzymes mTyr and Tyrp1 (GLV-1h324) have the highest melanin synthesis rate. It was observed that the infection of non-melanin producing cells with an rVACV-based melanogenic reporter system resulted in melanogenesis. Electron microscopy showed that the viral associated melanogenesis is localized in the lysosomes of the infected host cell. The atomic composition analysis of the virus-mediated melanin molecules revealed a mixture of eu- and pheomelanin. The virus-associated melanin is comparable to that in the skin and eye but showed higher amounts of melanin-bound metal ions. ... KW - Melanin KW - Vaccinia Virus KW - Onkolyse KW - MSOT KW - MRT KW - Tyrosinase Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-112074 ER - TY - THES A1 - Patil, Sandeep S. T1 - Oncolytic virotherapy and modulation of tumor microenvironment with vaccinia virus strains T1 - Onkolytische Virotherapie und Modulation des Tumormilieus mittels verschiedener Vaccinia Virus Typen N2 - Oncolytic viral therapies have shown great promise pre-clinically and in human clinical trials for the treatment of various cancers. Oncolytic viruses selectively infect and replicate in cancer cells, destroying tumor tissue via cell lysis, while leaving noncancerous tissues unharmed. Vaccinia virus (VACV) is arguably one of the safest viruses, which has been intensively studied in molecular biology and pathogenesis as a vaccine for the eradication of smallpox in more than 200 million people. It has fast and efficient replication, and cytoplasmic replication of the virus lessens the chance of recombination or integration of viral DNA into the genome of host cells. Anti-tumor therapeutic efficacy of VACV has been demonstrated for human cancers in xenograft models with a variety of tumor types. In addition recombinant oncolytic VACVs carrying imaging genes represent an advance in treatment strategy that combines tumor-specific therapeutics as well as diagnostics. As for other targeted therapies, a number of challenges remain for the clinical translation of oncolytic virotherapy. These challenges include the potential safety risk of replication of oncolytic virus in non-tumor tissue, the relatively poor virus spread throughout solid tumor tissue and the disadvantageous ratio between anti-viral and anti-tumoral immunity. However, manipulation of components of the tumor microenvironment may help oncolytic virus infection in killing the tumor tissue and thereby increasing the anti-tumor efficacy. Furthermore, dogs with natural cancer are considered as one of the best animal models to develop new drugs for cancer therapy. Traditionally, rodent cancer models have been used for development of cancer therapeutics. However, they do not adequately represent several features that define cancer in humans, including biology of initiation of tumor, the complexity of cancer recurrence and metastasis and outcomes to novel therapies. However, the tumor microenvironment, histopathology, molecular and genomics data from dog tumors has significant similarities with corresponding human tumors. These advantages of pet dog cancers provide a unique opportunity to integrate canine cancer patients in the studies designed for the development of new cancer drugs targeted against both human and canine cancers. This dissertation centers on the use of VACV strains in canine cancer xenografts with the aim of understanding the effects of modulation of tumor microenvironment on VACV-mediated tumor therapy. In the first studies, wild-type VACV strain LIVP6.1.1 was tested for its oncolytic efficiency in canine soft tissue sarcoma (STSA-1) and canine prostate carcinoma (DT08/40) cells in culture and xenografts models. LIVP6.1.1 infected, replicated within, and killed both STSA-1 and DT08/40 cells in cell culture. The replication of virus was more efficient in STSA-1 cells compared to DT08/40 cells. In xenograft mouse models, LIVP6.1.1 was safe and effective in regressing both STSA-1 and DT08/40 xenografts. However, tumor regression was faster in STSA-1 xenografts compared to DT08/40 xenografts presumably due to more efficient replication of virus in STSA-1 cells. Biodistribution profiles revealed persistence of virus in tumors 5 and 7 weeks post virus injection in STSA-1 and DT08/40 xenografts, respectively, with the virus mainly cleared from all other major organs. Immunofluorescence staining detected successful colonization of VACV in the tumor. Consequently, LIVP6.1.1 colonization in the tumor showed infiltration of innate immune cells mainly granulocytes and macrophages in STSA-1 tumor xenografts. These findings suggest that virotherapy-mediated anti-tumor mechanism in xenografts could be a combination of direct viral oncolysis of tumor cells and virus-dependent infiltration of tumor-associated host immune cells. In further studies, the effects of modulation of tumor angiogenesis of VACV therapy were analyzed in canine cancer xenografts. GLV-1h109 VACV strain (derived from prototype virus GLV-1h68) encoding the anti-VEGF single chain antibody GLAF-1 was characterized for its oncolytic efficacy in STSA-1 and DT08/40 cancer cells in culture and tumor xenografts. Concomitantly, the effects of locally expressed GLAF- 1 in tumors on virus replication, host immune infiltration, tumor vascularization and tumor growth were also evaluated. GLV-1h109 was shown to be similar to the parental virus GLV-1h68 in expression of the two marker genes that both virus strains have in common (Ruc-GFP and gusA) in cell cultures. Additionally, the anti-VEGF single-chain antibody GLAF-1 was expressed by GLV-1h109 in both cell cultures and tumor xenografts. The insertion of GLAF-1 did not significantly affect the replication and cytotoxicity of GLV-1h109 in the STSA-1 and DT08/40 cell lines, although at early time points (24-48 hpi), the replication of GLV-1h109 was higher in STSA-1 cells compared to DT08/40 cells. In addition, STSA-1 cells were more susceptible to lysis with GLV-1h109 than DT08/40 cells. GLV-1h109 achieved a significant inhibition of tumor growth in both STSA-1 and DT08/40 canine xenografts models. Consequently, the significant regression of tumor growth was initiated earlier in STSA-1 tumor xenografts compared to regression in DT08/40 xenografts. The reason for the higher efficacy of GLV-1h109 in STSA-1 xenografts than DT08/40 xenografts was attributed to more efficient replication of virus in STSA-1 cells. In addition, tumor-specific virus infection led to a continued presence of GLAF-1 in peripheral blood, which could be useful as a pharmacokinetic marker to monitor virus colonization and persistence in GLV-1h109- injected xenograft mice. GLAF-1 is a single-chain antibody targeting human and murine VEGF. It was demonstrated that GLAF-1 was functional and recognized both canine and human VEGF with equal efficiency. Histological analysis of tumor sections 7 days after GLV-1h109 injection confirmed that colonization of VACV and intratumoral expression of GLAF-1 translated into a significant decrease in blood vessel number compared to GLV-1h68 or PBS-treated control tumors. Subsequently, reduction in blood vessel density significantly improved the spread and replication of VACV as observed by FACS analysis and standard plaque assay, respectively. Inhibition of tumor angiogenesis and increased replication of virus further improved the infiltration of innate immune cells mainly granulocytes and macrophages in STSA-1 tumor xenografts. Both the results, i.e. improved virus spread and increased infiltration of innate immune cells in tumor, were explained by a phenomenon called “vascular normalization”, where anti-VEGF therapy normalizes the heterogeneous tumor vasculature thereby improving delivery and spread of VACV. In summary, the effects of inhibition of tumor angiogenesis on virus spread and replication were demonstrated using a vaccinia virus caring an anti- angiogenic payload targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in canine cancer xenografts. In the final studies, the effects of VACV therapy on modulation of the immune system were analyzed in canine cancer patients enrolled in a phase I clinical trial. V-VET1 (clinical grade LIVP6.1.1 VACV) injection significantly increased the percentages of CD3+CD8+ T lymphocytes at 21 days after initiation of treatment. CD3+CD8+ T lymphocytes are mainly cytotoxic T lymphocytes that have potential to lyse cancer cells. Subsequently, the frequency of immune suppressor cells, mainly MDSCs and Treg was also analyzed in peripheral blood of canine cancer patients. Increase in the MDSC population and decreased CD8/Treg ratio is known to have inhibitory effects on the functions of cytotoxic T cells. We demonstrated that injection of V-VET1 in canine cancer patients significantly reduced the percentages of MDSCs at 21 days post initiation of treatment. Additionally, CD8/Treg ratio was increased 21 days after initiation of V-VET1 treatment. We also showed that changes in the frequency of immune cells neither depends on dose of virus nor depends on tumor type according to the data observed from this clinical trial with eleven analyzed patients. This preclinical and clinical data have important clinical implications of how VACV therapy can be used for the treatment of canine cancers. Moreover, dogs with natural cancers can be used as an ideal animal model to improve the oncolytic virotherapy for human cancers. Furthermore, modulation of tumor microenvironment mainly tumor angiogenesis and tumor immunity has significant impact on the success of oncolytic virotherapy. N2 - Therapien für verschiedenste Krebsarten mittels onkolytischer Viren zeigten sowohl in präklinischen- als auch in humanen klinischen Studien ein erfolgversprechendes Potenzial. Onkolytische Viren infizieren selektiv Krebszellen und replizieren ausschließlich in diesen. In der Folge zerstören sie Tumorgewebe durch Zelllyse, während gesundes Gewebe unbeeinträchtigt bleibt. Das Vaccinia-Virus besitzt ein äußerst geringes Risikopotential, und wurde intensiv auf molekularbiologischer Ebene und in Bezug auf seine Pathogenese untersucht. All das qualifizierte es als Vakzin zur Ausrottung der Pocken und seit Markteinführung mehr als 200 Millionen Menschen injiziert. Das Vaccinia-Virus zeigt eine schnelle und effiziente Replikation, welche im Zytoplasma der Zelle stattfindet. Dies verringert die Möglichkeit der Rekombination oder Integration der viralen DNA in das Wirtsgenom. Die therapeutische Wirksamkeit onkolytischer Vaccinia-Viren (VACVs) wurde in humanen Xenograft-Mausmodellen mit unterschiedlichen Tumorarten gezeigt. Rekombinante onkolytische VACVs, welche mit fluoreszierenden Genen ausgestattet sind, kombinieren die Vorteile tumorspezifischer Therapeutika und dienen gleichzeitig als Diagnostika. Wie auch andere spezifische Therapien, steht auch die onkolytische Virustherapie vor einer Reihe von Herausforderungen. Dazu gehören die Replikation onkolytischer Viren in nicht-kanzerogenem Gewebe, relativ schlechte Virusverbreitung durch solides Tumorgewebe und ein unvorteilhaftes Verhältnis zwischen antiviraler und antitumoraler Immunität. Die gezielte Manipulation einzelner Komponenten des Tumormikromilieus kann jedoch zu einer verbesserten Virusinfektion und Lyse des Tumorgewebes führen und somit die Effizienz der antitumoralen Therapie verstärken. ... KW - Onkolyse KW - Vaccinia-Virus KW - Tumor microenvironment KW - Oncolytic Virotherapy Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-99514 ER -