Construction of a fully retargeted herpes simplex virus 1 recombinant capable of entering cells solely via human epidermal growth factor receptor 2.

ABSTRACT: A novel frontier in the treatment of tumors that are difficult to treat is oncolytic virotherapy, in which a replication-competent virus selectively infects and destroys tumor cells. Herpes simplex virus (HSV) represents a particularly attractive system. Effective retargeting to tumor-specific receptors has been achieved by insertion in gD of heterologous ligands. Previously, our laboratory generated an HSV retargeted to human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), a receptor overexpressed in about one-third of mammary tumors and in some ovarian tumors. HER2 overexpression correlates with increased metastaticity and poor prognosis. Because HER2 has no natural ligand, the inserted ligand was a single-chain antibody to HER2. The objective of this work was to genetically engineer an HSV t

SUBMITTER: Menotti L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2566291 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature