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Treatment of colon cancer with oncolytic herpes simplex virus in preclinical models

Gene Therapy volume 23, pages 450–459 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are a rare population in any type of cancer, including colon cancer, are tumorigenic and responsible for cancer recurrence and metastasis. CSCs have been isolated from a number of different solid tumors recently, although the isolation of CSCs in colon cancer is still challenging. We cultured colon cancer cells in stem cell medium to obtain colonosphere cells. These cells possessed the characteristics of CSCs, with a high capacity of tumorigenicity, migration and invasion in vitro and in vivo. The isolation and identification of CSCs have provided new targets for the therapeutics. Oncolytic herpes simplex viruses (oHSV) are an effective strategy for killing colon cancer cells in preclinical models. Here, we examined the efficacy of an oncolytic herpes simplex virus type 2 (oHSV2) in killing colon cancer cells and colon cancer stem-like cells (CSLCs). oHSV2 was found to be highly cytotoxic to the adherent and sphere cells in vitro, and oHSV2 treatment in vivo significantly inhibited tumor growth. This study demonstrates that oHSV2 is effective against colon cancer cells and colon CSLCs and could be a promising strategy for treating colon cancer patients.

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Acknowledgements

echnical assistance from Jianwu Jiang and Xiaolan Li is appreciated. This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, Grant No. 2012CB917100), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81172160) and 863 Program of China (863 Program, Grant No. 2012AA02A407).

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Author notes

  1. H Yang, T Peng and J Li: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    H Yang, P Zhang, T Du & Q Yan

  2. Hubei Provincial Cooperative Innovation Center of Industrial Fermentation, Hubei University of Technology, Wuchang, Wuhan, China

    H Yang, Y Wang & B Liu

  3. Department of Blood Transfusion, Cancer Institute and Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China

    T Peng

  4. Department of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery, The Third Hospital of Wuhan City, Wuhan, China

    J Li

  5. Department of Immunology, Cancer Institute and Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China

    W Zhang

  6. Department of Geriatric Medicine, Puai Hospital of Wuhan City, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    S Peng

  7. School of Pharmacology, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning, China

    Y Li & B Liu

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  1. H Yang
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  2. T Peng
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Correspondence to Q Yan or B Liu.

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Yang, H., Peng, T., Li, J. et al. Treatment of colon cancer with oncolytic herpes simplex virus in preclinical models. Gene Ther 23, 450–459 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/gt.2016.15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/gt.2016.15

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