1. Enhanced Control of Oncolytic Measles Virus Using MicroRNA Target Sites
- Author
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Christoph Springfeld, Sophie Caroline Anker, Sascha Bossow, Mathias F. Leber, Christof von Kalle, Russell Barkley, Jessica Albert, Guy Ungerechts, Birgit Hoyler, Dirk Jäger, Christine E. Engeland, Hans Martin Singh, Marc Andrea Baertsch, and Luisa Henkel
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Untranslated region ,Cancer Research ,microRNA target sites ,vector safety ,Context (language use) ,Computational biology ,lcsh:RC254-282 ,Genome ,Article ,Measles virus ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,microRNA ,Pharmacology (medical) ,Virotherapy ,Gene ,biology ,lcsh:Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens ,biology.organism_classification ,post-entry targeting ,microRNAs ,Oncolytic virus ,030104 developmental biology ,Oncology ,oncolytic viruses ,measles virus ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Molecular Medicine ,vector engineering - Abstract
Measles viruses derived from the live-attenuated Edmonton-B vaccine lineage are currently investigated as novel anti-cancer therapeutics. In this context, tumor specificity and oncolytic potency are key determinants of the therapeutic index. Here, we describe a systematic and comprehensive analysis of a recently developed post-entry targeting strategy based on the incorporation of microRNA target sites (miRTS) into the measles virus genome. We have established viruses with target sites for different microRNA species in the 3′ untranslated regions of either the N, F, H, or L genes and generated viruses harboring microRNA target sites in multiple genes. We report critical importance of target-site positioning with proximal genomic positions effecting maximum vector control. No relevant additional effect of six versus three miRTS copies for the same microRNA species in terms of regulatory efficiency was observed. Moreover, we demonstrate that, depending on the microRNA species, viral mRNAs containing microRNA target sites are directly cleaved and/or translationally repressed in presence of cognate microRNAs. In conclusion, we report highly efficient control of measles virus replication with various miRTS positions for development of safe and efficient cancer virotherapy and provide insights into the mechanisms underlying microRNA-mediated vector control. Keywords: measles virus, oncolytic viruses, vector engineering, vector safety, microRNAs, microRNA target sites, post-entry targeting
- Published
- 2018
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