IMR Press / FBL / Volume 13 / Issue 8 / DOI: 10.2741/2910

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Article
Replication-competent retrovirus vectors for cancer gene therapy
Show Less
1 Department of Life Science and Institute of Molecular Biology, National Chung Cheng University, Min-Hsiung, Chia-Yi, Taiwan
2 Departments of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), 675 Charles E. Young Drive South, MRL-1551, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, U.S.A.
3 Departments of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), 675 Charles E. Young Drive South, MRL-1551, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, U.S.A.

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

 

Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2008, 13(8), 3083–3095; https://doi.org/10.2741/2910
Published: 1 January 2008
Abstract

Oncolytic virotherapy represents an emerging field with tremendous promise for harnessing the replicative capabilities of viruses against rapidly proliferating cancer cells. Among the different replicating virus technologies being tested, replication-competent retrovirus (RCR) vectors based on murine leukemia virus (MLV) exhibit unique characteristics. MLV exhibits intrinsic tumor selectivity due to its inability to infect quiescent cells, and can achieve highly selective and stable gene transfer throughout entire solid tumors in vivo at efficiencies of up to >99%, even after initial inoculation at MOIs as low as 0.01. RCR vectors with suicide genes mediate synchronized cell killing after prodrug administration, and due to their ability to undergo stable integration, residual cancer cells serve as a reservoir for long-term viral persistence even as they migrate to new sites, enabling multiple cycles of prodrug to achieve prolonged survival benefit. Further testing in various tumor models, new vector targeting and delivery strategies, and development of GMP manufacturing, are being pursued through a multi-national consortium, and preparations are now being undertaken for clinical trials using RCR vectors in glioblastoma.

Share
Back to top