Platelet membrane-coated oncolytic vaccinia virus with indocyanine green for the second near-infrared imaging guided multi-modal therapy of colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a prevalent malignancy with insidious onset and diagnostic challenges, highlighting the need for therapeutic approaches to enhance theranostic outcomes. In this study, we elucidated the unique temperature-resistant properties of the oncolytic vaccinia virus (OVV), which can synergistically target tumors under photothermal conditions. To capitalize on this characteristic, we harnessed the potential of the OVV by surface-loading it with indocyanine green (ICG) and encapsulating it within a platelet membrane (PLTM), resulting in the creation of PLTM-ICG-OVV (PIOVV). This complex seamlessly integrates virotherapy, photodynamic therapy (PDT), and photothermal therapy (PTT). The morphology, size, dispersion stability, optical properties, and cellular uptake of PIOVV were evaluated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In vitro and in vivo experiments revealed specificity of PIOVV for cancer cells; it effectively induced apoptosis and suppressed CT26 cell proliferation. In mouse models, PIOVV exhibits enhanced fluorescence at tumor sites, accompanied by prolonged blood circulation. Under 808 nm laser irradiation, PIOVV significantly inhibited tumor growth. This strategy holds the potential for advancing phototherapy, oncolytic virology, drug delivery, and tumor-specific targeting, particularly in the context of CRC theranostics.

Tumor-targeted delivery of copper-manganese biomineralized oncolytic adenovirus for colorectal cancer immunotherapy.

Oncolytic viral therapy (OVT) is a novel anti-tumor immunotherapy approach, specifically replicating within tumor cells. Currently, oncolytic viruses are mainly administered by intratumoral injection. However, achieving good results for distant metastatic tumors is challenging. In this study, a multifunctional oncolytic adenovirus, OA@CuMnCs, was developed using bimetallic ions copper and manganese. These metal cations form a biomineralized coating on the virus's surface, reducing immune clearance. It is known that viruses upregulate the expression of PD-L1. Copper ions in OA@CuMnCs can decrease the PD-L1 expression of tumor cells, thereby promoting immune cell-related factor release. This process involves antigen presentation and the combination of immature dendritic cells, transforming them into mature dendritic cells. It changes "cold" tumors into "hot" tumors, further inducing immunogenic cell death. While oncolytic virus replication requires oxygen, manganese ions in OA@CuMnCs can react with endogenous hydrogen peroxide. This reaction produces oxygen, enhancing the virus's replication ability and the tumor lysis effect. Thus, this multifunctionally coated OA@CuMnCs demonstrates potent amplification in immunotherapy efficacy, and shows great potential for further clinical OVT. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Oncolytic virus therapy (OVs) is a new anti-tumor immunotherapy method that can specifically replicate in tumor cells. Although the oncolytic virus can achieve a therapeutic effect on some non-metastatic tumors through direct intratumoral injection, there are still three major defects in the treatment of metastatic tumors: immune response, hypoxia effect, and administration route. Various studies have shown that the immune response in vivo can be overcome by modifying or wrapping the surface protein of the oncolytic virus. In this paper, a multifunctional coating of copper and manganese was prepared by combining the advantages of copper and manganese ions. The coating has a simple preparation method and mild conditions, and can effectively enhance tumor immunotherapy.

The Ectopic Expression of SurvivinT34A and FilC Can Enhance the Oncolytic Effects of Vaccinia Virus in Murine Gastric Cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Anti-tumor vaccines have been shown to be effective in cancer therapeutics ever since the anti-HPV vaccine was developed. Compared to conventional chemotherapy, anti-tumor vaccines can specifically target cancer cells and they have lower side effects. We developed a recombinant vaccinia virus (VACV) (Western Reserve) WR strain, and we tested its anti-tumor effects in an animal model. METHODS: A recombinant VACV WR strain expressing mutant survivin T34A (SurT34A) and FilC was constructed and validated. Its oncolytic effect was tested in vitro using a CCK-8 assay, and its tolerance and anti-tumor effects were tested in a murine gastric cancer model. The proportion of lymphocytes in the spleen and tumor was determined after antibody-mediated immuno-depletion. RESULTS: The recombinant VACV showed a stronger replication ability in tumor cells, and it was safe in vivo, even at high doses. The combination of vv-SurT34A and vv-FilC resulted in a stronger anti-tumor effect compared to either construct alone. However, the inhibitory effect of vv-SurT34A was stronger than the combination. The recombinant VACV activated the host immune response, as indicated by lymphocyte infiltration in the spleen and tumor tissues. CONCLUSION: The recombinant VACV WR strain expressing SurT34A and FilC is a safe and effective anti-tumor vaccine.

Recombinant Oncolytic Vaccinia Viruses Expressing Human ß-Defensin 2 Enhance Anti-tumor Immunity.

Cancer is still a leading of cause of death worldwide. Among the bio-therapy strategies for cancer, vaccinia virus (VV) has been widely used as an expression vector because of its potent oncolytic activities in addition to its large capacity for insertion of foreign genes and excellent safety records. In the present study, a novel recombinant VV, VV-HBD2-lacZ, expressing human ß-defensin 2 (HBD2), an anti-microbial peptide of the innate immune system, was constructed. First, the chemotaxis characteristics of HBD2 expressed on VV-HBD2-lacZ-infected cells toward dendritic cells (DCs) in vitro and in vivo were demonstrated. The anti-tumor effects of VV-HBD2-lacZ in vitro and in vivo in a mouse melanoma cancer model were then investigated. It was found that VV-HBD2-lacZ was able to inhibit tumor growth and metastasis significantly. It was further demonstrated that VV-HBD2-lacZ induced potent cytotoxic activity by increasing the tumor-infiltrating CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. These results indicate that HBD2-expressing VV recruited plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) to the tumor location, leading to cytotoxic T cell response against the tumor, and thus inhibited tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, oncolytic HBD2-expressing VV provides an effective treatment for tumors by triggering innate and adaptive immunity.

[Cloning short gene fragment and constructing recombinant plasmid based on restoration of antibiotic resistance].

Molecular cloning is one of the most important and widely used technologies in molecular biology research. Generally, the target DNA fragment and the vector are separately digested by restriction enzyme, then purified and recovered, and then ligated with DNA-ligase. For some very short gene fragments (<300 bp), the recovery efficiency of the purified fragment is very low after digestion and cleavage, leading to the difficulty in its inserting into the expression vector. To address this issue, we developed a cloning method based on restoration of antibiotic resistance in constructing recombinant plasmid, which proved highly efficient in cloning very short gene fragments.

Anti-inflammatory effect and prostate gene expression profiling of steryl ferulate on experimental rats with non-bacterial prostatitis.

Steryl ferulate (SF) is a bioactive mixture extracted from rice bran and shows higher inhibitory activity against inflammation than the corresponding free sterols. In this study, the aim was to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect and prostate gene expression profiling of SF using a Xiaozhiling-induced non-bacterial prostatitis (NBP) rat model. The anti-inflammatory effect was evaluated by prostate weight, prostate index, acid phosphatase, density of lecithin corpuscles (DLC), white blood cell count (WBC), and prostatic histologic section. Prostate gene expression profiling was assessed by a cDNA microarray and validated by quantitative real-time PCR of five selected genes. Pathway analysis and Gene ontology (GO) analysis were applied to determine the roles of these differentially expressed genes involved in these biological pathways or GO terms. SF treatment could significantly inhibit prostate weight, prostate index, total acid phosphatase, prostatic acid phosphatase and WBC, suppress the severity of histological lesion and increase the DLC. Compared with the control group, the SF treatment group contained 238 up-regulated genes and 111 down-regulated genes. GO analysis demonstrated that the most significant expression genes were closely related to the terms of fibrinolysis, inflammatory response, high-density lipoprotein particle, protein-lipid complex, enzyme inhibitor activity, peptidase inhibitor activity and others. Canonical pathway analysis indicated five pathways were significantly regulated, which were associated with inflammation and tumorgenesis. In conclusion, SF may be used as a health supplement to prevent NBP, in that it could inhibit prostate inflammation in NBP patients by affecting the expression of genes in the related GO terms and pathways.