The histone deacetylase inhibitor valproic acid enhances equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1)-mediated oncolysis of human glioma cells.

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors represent a promising new therapy against malignant glioma. When used in conjunction with oncolytic viral vectors, these compounds have been shown to augment virotherapy. In the current study, we examined the antitumor effect of combining the lytic animal virus equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) with the HDAC inhibitor valproic acid (VPA). Pretreatment of two human glioblastoma cell lines (U251 and SNB19) with VPA resulted in a significant increase in virus entry, replication, cell to cell spread and cell lysis. Overall, these data indicate that VPA significantly improves EHV-1-mediated oncolysis of human glioma cells that are only moderately killed by EHV-1 alone.

HSV trafficking and development of gene therapy vectors with applications in the nervous system.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is a neurotropic double-stranded DNA virus that causes cold sores, keratitis, and rarely encephalitis in humans. Nonpathogenic HSV-1 gene transfer vectors have been generated by elimination of viral functions necessary for replication. The life cycle of the native virus includes replication in epithelial cells at the site of initial inoculation followed by retrograde axonal transport to the nuclei of sensory neurons innervating the area of cutaneous primary infection. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the molecular basis for HSV cell entry, nuclear transport of the genome, virion egress following replication, and retrograde and anterograde axonal transport in neurons. We discuss how each of these properties has been exploited or modified to allow the generation of gene transfer vectors with particular utility for neurological applications. Recent advances in engineering virus entry have provided proof of principle that vector targeting is possible. Furthermore, significant and potentially therapeutic modifications to the pathological responses to various noxious insults have been demonstrated in models of peripheral nerve disease. These applications exploit the natural axonal transport mechanism of HSV, allowing transgene expression in the cell nucleus within the inaccessible trigeminal ganglion or dorsal root ganglion, following the noninvasive procedure of subcutaneous vector inoculation. These findings demonstrate the importance of understanding basic virology in the design of vector systems and the powerful approach of exploiting favorable properties of the parent virus in the generation of gene transfer vectors.