title: Myxoma virus expressing human interleukin-12 does not induce myxomatosis in European rabbits.
abstract: Myxoma virus (MV) is a candidate for oncolytic virotherapy due to its ability to selectively infect and kill tumor cells, yet MV is a species-specific pathogen that causes disease only in European rabbits. To assess the ability of MV to deliver cytokines to tumors, we created an MV (vMyxIL-12) that expresses human interleukin-12 (IL-12). vMyxIL-12 replicates similarly to wild-type MV, and virus-infected cells secrete bioactive IL-12. Yet, vMyxIL-12 does not cause myxomatosis, despite expressing the complete repertoire of MV proteins. Thus, vMyxIL-12 exhibits promise as an oncolytic candidate and is safe in all known vertebrate hosts, including lagomorphs.
authors.affiliation: Biotherapeutics Research Group, Robarts Research Institute, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Western Ontario, London, ONT, Canada.
authors.forename: Marianne M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Stanford
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.forename: Philippe-Alexandre
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bankert
authors.forename: Grant
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McFadden
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D009233:Myxoma virus / Q000235:genetics*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D050130:Oncolytic Virotherapy; D050504:Oncolytic Viruses / Q000235:genetics*; D011817:Rabbits
chemical_list: D018664:Interleukin-12