[Oncolytic Paramyxoviruses: Mechanism of Action, Preclinical and Clinical Studies].

Preclinical studies demonstrate that a broad spectrum of human and animal malignant cells can be killed by oncolytic paramyxoviruses, which includes cells of ecto-, endo- and mesodermal origin. In clinical trials, significant reduction or even complete elimination of primary tumors and established metastases has been reported. Different routes of virus administration (intratumoral, intravenous, intradermal, intraperito-neal, or intrapleural) and single- vs. multiple-dose administration schemes have been explored. The reported side effects were grades 1 and 2, with the most common among them being mild fever. There are certain advantages in using paramyxoviruses as oncolytic agents compared to members of other virus families exist. Thanks to cytoplasmic replication, paramyxoviruses do not integrate the host genome or engage in recombination, which makes them safer and more attractive candidates for widely used therapeutic oncolysis than ret-roviruses or some DNA viruses. The list of oncolytic Paramyxoviridae members includes the attenuated measles virus, mumps virus, low pathogenic Newcastle disease, and Sendai viruses. Metastatic cancer cells frequently overexpress certain surface molecules that can serve as receptors for oncolytic paramyxoviruses. This promotes specific viral attachment to these malignant cells. Paramyxoviruses are capable of inducing efficient syncytium-mediated lysis of cancer cells and elicit strong immune stimulation, which dramatically enforces anticancer immune surveillance. In general, preclinical studies and phases I-III of clinical trials yield very encouraging results and warrant continued research of oncolytic paramyxoviruses as a particularly valuable addition to the existing panel of cancer-fighting approaches.

Small-molecule RETRA suppresses mutant p53-bearing cancer cells through a p73-dependent salvage pathway.

Identification of unique features of cancer cells is important for defining specific and efficient therapeutic targets. Mutant p53 is present in nearly half of all cancer cases, forming a promising target for pharmacological reactivation. In addition to being defective for the tumor-suppressor function, mutant p53 contributes to malignancy by blocking a p53 family member p73. Here, we describe a small-molecule RETRA that activates a set of p53-regulated genes and specifically suppresses mutant p53-bearing tumor cells in vitro and in mouse xenografts. Although the effect is strictly limited to the cells expressing mutant p53, it is abrogated by inhibition with RNAi to p73. Treatment of mutant p53-expressing cancer cells with RETRA results in a substantial increase in the expression level of p73, and a release of p73 from the blocking complex with mutant p53, which produces tumor-suppressor effects similar to the functional reactivation of p53. RETRA is active against tumor cells expressing a variety of p53 mutants and does not affect normal cells. The results validate the mutant p53-p73 complex as a promising and highly specific potential target for cancer therapy.

Chromosome changes caused by alterations of p53 expression.

It has been proposed that p53 tumor-suppressor plays a key role in maintaining genome integrity in mammalian cells. We analyzed karyotype alterations in human and murine cell sublines expressing various exogenous human mutant (His175, Trp248, His273) or wild-type (wt) p53 cDNAs. In human pseudodiploid LIM1215 cells that contain two endogenous wt-p53 gene alleles, p53 mutants caused both an increase in the frequency of chromosome breaks and an emergence of hyperdiploid cells. Murine T12-/- and 10(1) fibroblasts lacking endogenous p53 expression have very unstable karyotypes and show a strong tendency to increase their ploidy levels during growth in culture. Transduction of a wt-p53 construct into p53-deficient cells inhibited an accumulation of highly polyploid cell variants. Transduction of mutant p53 did not show such an effect. Modification of endogenous and exogenous p53 expression by caffeine, which interferes with normal induction of p53 in response to DNA damage, showed no correlation between the induction of chromosome breaks and heteroploidy. We conclude that the caffeine- or mutant p53-induced increase in the frequency of chromosomal breaks in dividing LIM1215 cells is assonated with inactivation of wt-p53 function(s) responsible for control of G1 checkpoint and/or DNA repair, while numerical chromosome changes in these cells may be a result of elimination or modification of a separate p53 function, or due to gain-of-function activities of p53 mutants. p53 modifications may therefore cause chromosome instability by different pathways: (1) through changes in the system(s) preventing proliferation of cells with genomic alterations; and (2) by increasing the probability of events, such as chromosome non-disjunction and/or endoreduplication that can lead to chromosome gains.

Decreased sensitivity of multidrug-resistant tumor cells to cisplatin is correlated with sorcin gene co-amplification.

A set of multidrug resistant (MDR) murine leukemia P388 sublines processing 30-50-fold mdr1 gene amplification was obtained as a result of experimental chemotherapy with rubomycin, ruboxyl, vinblastine, vincristine, or combination of rubomycin and vincristine. Significant differences of developed MDR sublines in response to treatment with cisplatin, tiophosphamide, sarcolysin, and dopad were found. Strong correlation between drug sensitivity and a copy number of gene coding for 19-22 kDa calcium-binding sorcin gene co-amplification were hypersensitive to cisplatin and alkylating agents, the cell sublines showing amplification of sorcin DNA sequences did not possess such collateral sensitivity and even acquired cross-resistance. The dependence of sensitivity to cisplatin on sorcin gene co-amplification was confirmed by analysis of Djungarian hamster DM15 cell sublines that selected for MDR in vitro by colchicine.

Activation of p53-mediated cell cycle checkpoint in response to micronuclei formation.

Inactivation of p53 tumor-suppressor leads to genetic instability and, in particular, to accumulation of cells with abnormal numbers of chromosomes. In order to better define the role of p53 function in maintaining genome integrity we investigated the involvement of p53 in the control of proliferation of micronucleated cells resulting from abnormal chromosome segregation. Using cell lines expressing temperature-sensitive (ts) p53 or containing p53 genetic suppressor element (p53-GSE) we showed that inhibition of p53 function increases the frequency of cells with micronuclei. Immunofluorescence study revealed that in REF52 cell cultures with both spontaneous and colcemid-induced micronuclei the proportion of p53-positive cells is considerably higher among micronucleated variants as compared with their mononuclear counterparts. Analysis of 12(1)ConA cells expressing the beta-galactosidase reporter gene under the control of a p53-responsive promoter showed activation of p53-regulated transcription in the cells with micronuclei. Importantly, the percentage of cells manifesting specific p53 activity in colcemid-treated cultures increased with an augmentation of the number of micronuclei in the cell. Activation of p53 in micronucleated cells was accompanied by a decrease in their ability to enter S-phase as was determined by comparative analysis of 5-bromodeoxyuridine (5-BrdU) incorporation by the cells with micronuclei and their mononuclear counterparts. Inhibition of p53 function in the cells with tetracycline-regulated p53 gene expression, as well as in the cells expressing ts-p53 or p53-GSE, abolished cell cycle arrest in micronucleated cells. These results along with the data showing no increase in the frequency of chromosome breaks in REF52 cells after colcemid treatment suggest the existence of p53-mediated cell cycle checkpoint(s) preventing proliferation of micronucleated cells derived as a result of abnormal chromosome segregation during mitosis.

Restoration of p53 tumor-suppressor activity in human tumor cells in vitro and in their xenografts in vivo by recombinant avian adenovirus CELO-p53.

Human adenovirus (Ad) vectors are extensively used as gene transfer vehicles. However, a serious obstacle for the use of these vectors in clinical applications is due to pre-existing immunity to human Ads affecting the efficacy of gene transfer. One of the approaches to circumvent host immune response could be the development of vectors based on non-human Ads that are able to transduce genes into human cells. In this study, we explored the possibility of using avian Ad CELO vectors as gene-transfer vehicles. For this purpose, we constructed a set of recombinant CELO viruses and demonstrated that they are able to deliver transgenes into various organs on the background of pre-existing immunity to human Ad5. The created CELO-p53 vector restored the function of the p53 tumor suppressor both in cultured human tumor cells in vitro and in their xenografts in nude mice in vivo. The latter effect was accompanied by inhibition of tumor growth. Noteworthily, the delivery of CELO-p53 led to activation of p53 target genes in cells showing inactivation of endogenous p53 by three different mechanisms, that is, in the human epidermoid carcinoma A431, lung adenocarcinoma H1299, and cervical carcinoma HeLa.