Oncolytic virus-driven immune remodeling revealed in mouse medulloblastomas at single cell resolution.

Oncolytic viruses, modified for tumor-restricted infection, are a promising cancer immunotherapeutic, yet much remains to be understood about factors driving their activity and outcome in the tumor microenvironment. Here, we report that oncolytic herpes simplex virus C134, previously found to exert T cell-dependent efficacy in mouse models of glioblastoma, exerts T cell-independent efficacy in mouse models of medulloblastoma, indicating this oncolytic virus uses different mechanisms in different tumors. We investigated C134's behavior in mouse medulloblastomas, using single cell RNA sequencing to map C134-induced gene expression changes across cell types, timepoints, and medulloblastoma subgroup models at whole-transcriptome resolution. Our work details substantial oncolytic virus-induced transcriptional remodeling of medulloblastoma-infiltrating immune cells, 10 subpopulations of monocytes and macrophages collectively demonstrating M1-like responses to C134, and suggests C134 be investigated as a potential new therapy for medulloblastoma.
Competing Interests: The authors in full transparency disclose the following commercial interactions. E.R.M. reports PACT Pharma LLC, scientific advisory board membership, honorarium, and stock options; Scorpion Therapeutics, LLC, scientific advisory board membership, honorarium, and stock options; Qiagen N.V., supervisory board membership, stock; Singular Genomics, Inc., board of directors membership and stock. K.A.C. reports stock in Mustang Bio licensure.
(© 2023 The Author(s).)