Mesenchymal stem cell-released oncolytic virus: an innovative strategy for cancer treatment

Abstract

Oncolytic viruses (OVs) infect, multiply, and finally remove tumor cells selectively, causing no damage to normal cells in the process. Because of their specific features, such as, the ability to induce immunogenic cell death and to contain curative transgenes in their genomes, OVs have attracted attention as candidates to be utilized in cooperation with immunotherapies for cancer treatment. This treatment takes advantage of most tumor cells' inherent tendency to be infected by certain OVs and both innate and adaptive immune responses are elicited by OV infection and oncolysis. OVs can also modulate tumor microenvironment and boost anti-tumor immune responses. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are gathering interest as promising anti-cancer treatments with the ability to address a wide range of cancers. MSCs exhibit tumor-trophic migration characteristics, allowing them to be used as delivery vehicles for successful, targeted treatment of isolated tumors and metastatic malignancies. Preclinical and clinical research were reviewed in this study to discuss using MSC-released OVs as a novel method for the treatment of cancer.

Antiproliferative effects of mesenchymal stem cells carrying Newcastle disease virus and Lactobacillus Casei extract on CT26 Cell line: synergistic effects in cancer therapy

“…Du et al (2017) showed that MSCs as cell carriers for the herpes simplex virus are a unique and promising strategy for getting around obstacles and enhancing the effector function of oncolytic virotherapy in a tumor microenvironment [ 41 ]. Also, numerous studies evaluated the effectiveness of MSCs harboring oncolytic viruses for the cancer treatment [ 42 ]. Keshavarz et al (2020) showed that MSCs harboring oncolytic NDV immunotherapy by triggering splenic Th1 immune responses and death in the tumor microenvironment could be a valuable strategy [ 33 ].…”

Mesenchymal-Stem-Cell-Based Therapy against Gliomas

“…Multiple types of viruses can be combined with MSCs. But, there are several points that should be considered when using this kind of therapy in order to improve the benefits of the combination [59,[70][71][72]. First of all, viral infection of MSCs and viral replication into them is needed for an optimal tumor viral delivery; protection of virus recognition by the immune system should be guaranteed; MSCs should load their viruses near the tumor mass in such a way that a homogeneous production of new viral particles will be favored by the tumor mass; and MSCs should better keep their immunogenic capacity to promote an antitumor immune response.…”

Immunotherapeutic Approaches for the Treatment of Glioblastoma Multiforme: Mechanism and Clinical Applications

“…Immune cell infiltration by CD8 + and CD4 + T cells, that express the Th1-specific transcription marker, T-bet, was found, together with the downregulation of the transmembrane immunoglobulin mucin-3 (TIM-3) in the histopathologic examination of the specimen [ 110 ]. The mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be a novel delivery vehicle for the treatment of metastatic malignancies and isolated tumors with their tumor-trophic migration characteristics [ 111 ]. Therefore, employing viruses released from MSCs is a promising anti-cancer treatment modality addressing to a variety of cancers.…”