Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Wroclaw, Poland.
Arch Microbiol. 2010 May;192(5):315-20. doi: 10.1007/s00203-010-0559-7. Epub 2010 Mar 16.
Bacteriophages can be used effectively to cure bacterial infections. They are known to be active against bacteria but inactive against eukaryotic cells. Nevertheless, novel observations suggest that phages are not neutral for higher organisms. They can affect physiological and immunological processes which may be crucial to their expected positive effects in therapies. Bacteriophages are a very differentiated group of viruses and at least some of them can influence cancer processes. Phages may also affect the immunological system. In general, they activate the immunological response, for example cytokine secretion. They can also switch the tumor microenvironment to one advantageous for anticancer treatment. On the other hand, bacteriophages are used as a platform for foreign peptides that may induce anticancer effects. As bacterial debris can interfere with bacteriophage activity, phage purification is significant for the final effect of a phage preparation. In this review, results of the influence of bacteriophages on cancer processes are presented which have implications for the perspective application of phage therapy in patients with cancer and the general understanding of the role of bacteriophages in the human organism.
噬菌体可以有效地用于治疗细菌感染。它们被认为对细菌有效，但对真核细胞无效。然而，新的观察结果表明，噬菌体对高等生物并非没有影响。它们可以影响生理和免疫过程，而这些过程对于它们在治疗中的预期积极作用可能至关重要。噬菌体是一组非常多样化的病毒，其中至少有一些可以影响癌症过程。噬菌体还可能影响免疫系统。一般来说，它们会激活免疫反应，例如细胞因子的分泌。它们还可以将肿瘤微环境转变为有利于抗癌治疗的环境。另一方面，噬菌体被用作可以诱导抗癌效果的外源肽的平台。由于细菌碎片可能会干扰噬菌体的活性，因此噬菌体的纯化对于噬菌体制剂的最终效果非常重要。在这篇综述中，介绍了噬菌体对癌症过程的影响，这些影响对于噬菌体治疗在癌症患者中的应用前景以及对噬菌体在人体中的作用的一般理解具有重要意义。
