title: Apoptin enhances the oncolytic properties of Newcastle disease virus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Naturally occurring strains of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) have demonstrated the potential to kill cancer cells in both preclinical and clinical studies. Previous studies showed that apoptin, the VP3 protein of chicken infectious anemia virus, is a p53-independent, Bcl-2-insensitive apoptotic protein with the ability to specifically induce apoptosis in transformed cells. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that apoptin enhances NDV-mediated tumor cell death.
  
  
  METHODS
  Reverse genetics was used to engineer an oncolytic NDV strain, FMW, to express apoptin. The antitumor effects of the recombinant virus (rFMW/AP) were also evaluated in the tumor cell lines and tumor-bearing mice.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared to the parental strain FMW, rFMW/AP was more potent in killing A459 and SMMC7721 tumor cells. Recombinant NDV also exhibited higher efficacy in suppressing tumor growth in mice bearing A549-induced tumors. Furthermore, rFMW/AP did not display apparent toxic effects in either normal cells or control mice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that the recombinant NDV expressing apoptin is a promising novel antitumor agent.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Lab for Avian Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yantao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Xiaorong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiaobo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shunlin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Xiufan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Songshu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D017727:Chicken anemia virus / Q000235:genetics; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy; D009522:Newcastle disease virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D050130:Oncolytic Virotherapy / Q000379:methods; D050504:Oncolytic Viruses / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014774:Virulence; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D036022:Capsid Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C091717:VP3 protein, Chicken anemia virus; D037521:Virulence Factors