Laboratory of Tick-Borne Encephalitis and Other Viral Encephalitides, Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune-and-Biological Products of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 108819, Russia.
Institute of Translational Medicine and Biotechnology, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow 119991, Russia.
Viruses. 2023 Sep 22;15(10):1973. doi: 10.3390/v15101973.
Oncolytic viruses offer a promising approach to tumor treatment. These viruses not only have a direct lytic effect on tumor cells but can also modify the tumor microenvironment and activate antitumor immunity. Due to their high pathogenicity, flaviviruses have often been overlooked as potential antitumor agents. However, with recent advancements in genetic engineering techniques, an extensive history with vaccine strains, and the development of new attenuated vaccine strains, there has been a renewed interest in the Flavivirus genus. Flaviviruses can be genetically modified to express transgenes at acceptable levels, and the stability of such constructs has been greatly improving over the years. The key advantages of flaviviruses include their reproduction cycle occurring entirely within the cytoplasm (avoiding genome integration) and their ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, facilitating the systemic delivery of oncolytics against brain tumors. So far, the direct lytic effects and immunomodulatory activities of many flaviviruses have been widely studied in experimental animal models across various types of tumors. In this review, we delve into the findings of these studies and contemplate the promising potential of flaviviruses in oncolytic therapies.
溶瘤病毒为肿瘤治疗提供了一种很有前景的方法。这些病毒不仅对肿瘤细胞具有直接的溶瘤作用，还可以改变肿瘤微环境并激活抗肿瘤免疫。由于其高致病性，黄病毒通常被忽视为潜在的抗肿瘤药物。然而，随着基因工程技术的最新进展、广泛的疫苗株历史以及新型减毒疫苗株的开发，黄病毒属重新引起了人们的兴趣。黄病毒可以进行基因修饰，以在可接受的水平上表达转基因，并且这些构建体的稳定性近年来得到了极大的改善。黄病毒的主要优势包括其繁殖周期完全在细胞质中进行（避免基因组整合），以及其能够穿过血脑屏障，从而有利于针对脑肿瘤的全身性传递溶瘤剂。到目前为止，许多黄病毒在各种类型肿瘤的实验动物模型中的直接溶瘤作用和免疫调节活性已得到广泛研究。在这篇综述中，我们深入探讨了这些研究的结果，并思考了黄病毒在溶瘤治疗中的有前途的潜力。
